BBC Documentaries

Football Fight Club (2014x180)

Uitzenddatum: Aug 11, 2014

In Britain there is a new generation of young football fans, responsible for trebling violent incidents since 2007. Last season the police clamped down on football-related public disorder with 600 new football banning orders and nearly 3,000 arrests. This documentary follows Britain's youth football firms across the 2013/14 season. The film features members of three firms - 'The Blazing Squad', made up of Man City fans; The 'Yid Army' (Tottenham Hotspur) and 'The Interchange Riot Squad' (Bury) - and follows them home and away to tell the inside story of why a new group of young men are engaged in football-related violence, even though the clubs obviously don't condone their actions. They allow us into their lives to meet their families, girlfriends and show the secretive network of organised fights that take place every week. We meet 18-year-old Paul, studying engineering at college, who has been in Bury FC's firm since he was 16. Aaron is 17 years old and the new recruit who wants to join Manchester City's youth firm. The firm is run by Carl, who at 24 is the 'top boy' and has a banning order that prevents him from watching the club he loves. In London, Dante's dedication to Tottenham Hotspur has resulted in three convictions for football violence. Recently released from prison, he has got engaged to his fiancée Harley. But can she keep him on the straight and narrow?