Little Hooliganz: The Inside Story of Glamorous Lads, Football Hooligans and Post-Subculturalism

Abstract

This essay draws on the final report of a football hooligan memoir research project looking at the connection between deviant football hooligan literature and the history of British football hooligan subcultures. The research is situated at the intersection between socio-legal studies, cultural criminology, subcultural studies and sport journalism. The present essay notes the relevance of the project for the international sub-disciplines of cultural criminology and post-subcultural studies and for what it describes as possible post-subcultural study in socio-legal studies and criminology. The full research project involved a comprehensive collection and reading of myriad football hooligan fan memoirs as well as interviews with participants and the essay showcases this original interview data. The essay claims that, if used carefully, hooligan literature can lead to informed ethnographies of subcultures and a more sustained post-subcultural perspective.