Tracking the Hooligans: The History of Football Violence on the UK Rail Network
‘On an average Saturday, some thirty trains carried police escorts of between two and eight officers. Officers sometimes reached the destination with their uniforms soiled with spittle, and other filth, burnt with cigarette ends, or slashed.’Charting the history of violent acts committed by football hooligans on the British rail network and London Underground, numerous retired police officers offer a frightening, and often humorous, insight into how they battled ‘the English disease’. Recalling incidents of random, mindless violence, as well as organised acts carried out by some of the country’s top hooligan firms, the authors document the times where nothing but a truncheon and the power of speech stood between order and chaos.Exploring a period of fifty years, retired officers Michael Layton and Alan Pacey pay particular attention to the turbulent and dangerous times faced by the police in the 1970s and 1980s, when hooliganism in the United Kingdom was at its peak, as well as exploring more recent instances of disorder. Tracking the Hooligans is an essential account of the uglier side of the beautiful game, and a fitting tribute to those who gave their time, and sometimes their lives, keeping the public safe.
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Tracking the Hooligans: The History of Football Violence on the UK Rail Network
‘On an average Saturday, some thirty trains carried police escorts of between two and eight officers. Officers sometimes reached the destination with their uniforms soiled with spittle, and other filth, burnt with cigarette ends, or slashed.’Charting the history of violent acts committed by football hooligans on the British rail network and London Underground, numerous retired police officers offer a frightening, and often humorous, insight into how they battled ‘the English disease’. Recalling incidents of random, mindless violence, as well as organised acts carried out by some of the country’s top hooligan firms, the authors document the times where nothing but a truncheon and the power of speech stood between order and chaos.Exploring a period of fifty years, retired officers Michael Layton and Alan Pacey pay particular attention to the turbulent and dangerous times faced by the police in the 1970s and 1980s, when hooliganism in the United Kingdom was at its peak, as well as exploring more recent instances of disorder. Tracking the Hooligans is an essential account of the uglier side of the beautiful game, and a fitting tribute to those who gave their time, and sometimes their lives, keeping the public safe.
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Tracking the Hooligans: The History of Football Violence on the UK Rail Network

Tracking the Hooligans: The History of Football Violence on the UK Rail Network

by Michael Layton, Alan Pacey
Tracking the Hooligans: The History of Football Violence on the UK Rail Network

Tracking the Hooligans: The History of Football Violence on the UK Rail Network

by Michael Layton, Alan Pacey

Overview

‘On an average Saturday, some thirty trains carried police escorts of between two and eight officers. Officers sometimes reached the destination with their uniforms soiled with spittle, and other filth, burnt with cigarette ends, or slashed.’Charting the history of violent acts committed by football hooligans on the British rail network and London Underground, numerous retired police officers offer a frightening, and often humorous, insight into how they battled ‘the English disease’. Recalling incidents of random, mindless violence, as well as organised acts carried out by some of the country’s top hooligan firms, the authors document the times where nothing but a truncheon and the power of speech stood between order and chaos.Exploring a period of fifty years, retired officers Michael Layton and Alan Pacey pay particular attention to the turbulent and dangerous times faced by the police in the 1970s and 1980s, when hooliganism in the United Kingdom was at its peak, as well as exploring more recent instances of disorder. Tracking the Hooligans is an essential account of the uglier side of the beautiful game, and a fitting tribute to those who gave their time, and sometimes their lives, keeping the public safe.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781445651804
Publisher: Amberley Publishing
Publication date: 01/15/2016
Pages: 296
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Michael Layton reached the rank of Chief Superintendent before serving with the Sovereign Bases Police in Cyprus, eventually returning to the British Transport Police. He was awarded the Queens Police Medal for distinguished police service. He has written several books on the subject of policing the rail network and football violence.Alan Pacey left school to become an apprentice footballer. Although this never worked out as a career, he never stopped loving the game. After joining the British Transport Police, Alan eventually became Assistant Chief Constable. For much of his time as an Assistant Chief Constable, he was the national lead for the football policing operation of the British Transport Police.

Table of Contents

Foreword 7

Introduction 11

1 The Early Years 15

2 The Seventies - Trouble In The South West 23

3 The Seventies - A Frozen Rabbit Comes To The Rescue 35

4 The Seventies - A Death And A Murder Hits The Tartan Army 75

5 The Eighties - Mobile Units Arrive 87

6 The Eighties - Affray At St Pancras And The Temporal' Years 101

7 The Eighties - Chaos On The Konigin Beatrix 119

8 The Eighties - The BTP Go Undercover 135

9 The Nineties - Another Death 155

10 A New Century - No Change 173

11 2005-2009 - Ned Saves The Day 193

12 2010-2014 - Operation Skylark 233

13 From Police Constable To Gold Commander 251

14 2015 - The Hooligans Are Still Among Us 273

Epilogue 281

Acknowledgements 285

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