 Written and directed by Nick Love and based on the novel by John King, 'The Football Factory' follows the lives of four men, three of whom use their love of 'the beautiful game' as an excuse to be violent
a drug which they describe as being more potent than the ecstatic mix of Class A's and sex. Here it's fists though and not syringes that provide the hit!
As well as joining gangs and fighting what I can only describe as petty and pointless wars, these obsessed men (or should that be animals?), fed up with being failed by their country and continually told they're not good enough, are simply looking for a place to belong!
The action is narrated by central character Tommy Johnson (Danny Dyer), who with a good head on his shoulders, a decent job and close family you'd think would have more commonsense than to go around bashing people
the same could be said though of Billy Bright (Frank Harper), who at forty-something forms part of the older generation of the Chelsea Headhunters. Trouble is though he's a right wing fascist and to be honest an out-and-out nutter, who quite honestly belongs behind bars!
Then there's Zeberdee (Roland Manookian) who's all mouth and punches. A true hooligan if ever there was one, who acts before he thinks
probably because he's young, of little brain and has already ventured down the dead-end road of crime, pill popping and powder sniffing! Finally the only man who provides any sense to this brutal tale is Tommy's granddad, Bill Farrell (Dudley Sutton a.k.a. Tinker Dill from he TV series 'Lovejoy'), a seventy year old war veteran who tries to enjoy every day to the full at the same time as providing Tommy with some morals and wisdom
these do seem to go in one ear and out of the other though, which becomes particularly apparent at the showdown with the Millwall tribe. With the big day looming, Tommy finds himself plagued by bad dreams and hallucagenic images, including a reoccurring billboard which asks, 'Is it worth it, Tommy?'
the answer to which is clearly 'YES'! After all, according to the film's tagline, 'What else you gonna do on a Saturday?'
well to be honest, I can think of plenty. How about starting with a trip to the cinema to watch this film?! Although not as insightful or perhaps powerful as the most memorable football hooliganism film (for me anyway), 'I.D.' directed by Philip Davis in 1995, the action here does feel very real. It's even shot in a documentary style with hand held cameras, which emphasises this
and despite the blood and brutality it's actually quite funny as well! Don't miss our films section! You know you wanna have a nosey at it! The views expressed on this page are those of the contributor and the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the BBC. | 
