Proud Sponsors of The Terrace Casuals Interviews. (click pic for link)
Chris Brown was born and bred in Bristol, he follows Bristol Rovers and got involved in a bit of football hooliganism, Chris also loves his music from ska, reggae, soul, funk, right through to punk. A few years back he decided to put pen to paper and has released 3 books to date. Bovver, Booted and Suited and Guilty Tiger.
Hiya Chris, Right firstly how did you get into football and when?
I was 10 years old when England won the World Cup in 1966 and the country went football mad, I couldn’t wait to go and see my first live games so went with my mates in my street down to Ashton Gate to watch the City but it just didn’t click for me down there, I couple of my mates said let’s try out Eastville instead, so I went there in 1968 and I was hooked. At the time it was a better ground than Ashton Gate and there was a much better atmosphere at Eastville and I just loved it.
What was your first memory of trouble at a football match?
The late 60s was when football violence really started, so for me as a youngster it just seemed part and parcel of the football experience, it was intrinsically linked – it seemed if you were a football fan you were into the violence, that obviously wasn’t true but it seemed like it to me. There had been some sort of trouble at virtually every match I went to in those early days but one game in particular in either 69 or 70 was unbelievable, it was a pre-season friendly at Eastville against Birmingham City and a huge mob of skinheads came down from Brum, there weren’t many coppers about it and the violence lasted the whole game, there were some real bad injuries on both sides – I was only a nipper so I just observed it, it made the national news if I remember.
When did you become a football casual?
Football casual? Me? Ha! Never really got into it to be honest, I was a skinhead and boot boy in the early days, you wore ‘fighting gear’ to football and your best clothes out on the night, never saw the point in spending a fortune on a designer jumper that you might then get ripped off your back. The whole casual scene passed me by – you went to football for a ruck, not to take part in a fashion show ? I appreciated the clothing as I got older and I could then afford it, but by then I had grown out of the aggro as well so it was all a bit irrelevant. Saying that I remember the grand-daddy of the trainers back in the earlier to mid-70s was Onitsuka Tigers and I had a cracking white pair but always thought those Pringle sweaters looked better on Ronnie Corbett to be honest ?
Who are your main rivals?
In a two-team city it’s always got to be your local rivals, hasn’t it? Obviously the Teds from across the river but also Cardiff, Swansea, Plymouth, and Swindon although Oxford have become quite a big rival of Rovers in recent years.
What was your biggest battle with them?
Too many to mention against the Teds – in the 70s we regularly went on their end and likewise they came on our end, there was a particularly big scrap with them at the start of the 74/75 season when a mob of us got on the East End – we were surrounded but had a hell of scrap with them during the game which continued after. In recent years they’ve had the upper hand and it’s been a scary place to go, saying that some of the biggest trouble with them has been in the pubs and clubs in Bristol away from the games.
Who else did you have a big battle with?
Aston Villa was a big rival of ours years back then and there used to be some huge scraps with them in the 70s, as we did with Cardiff and Swansea another game that springs to mind was against Stoke at Eastville in the 70s, the trouble lasted all night. Chelsea also came down in the late 70s and in 1980, a helluva lot of trouble with those Cockneys who took no prisoners. Millwall famously came in 1978 and really came unstuck. In more recent years there has been a fair bit of trouble with Plymouth and Oxford both home and away.
Who have you come unstuck against?
You can come unstuck virtually anywhere and at times at home if the situation allows it. There have been obvious places like Leeds where I genuinely feared for my life but Cardiff and Swansea have always been very unwelcoming for us. Swansea for me, in particular, was a very nasty place where I ended up in hospital. Although I wasn’t at the game I know Rovers had a particularly bad day at Barnet of all places several years ago when they encountered a heavy Spurs mob. I also had a slap at home from some Southend fans a couple of years back – they caught me on a bad day and I was not impressed.?
Name 5 firms you rate and why?
Like I said you can come unstuck in the most surprising of places so you can’t really say who are the top five firms because it can depend on the situation, the obvious ones that everyone quotes is generally because of the numbers they can call upon, so credit to all lads at all firms who have ever done their bit for their club – having said that, from personal experience – Leeds, West Ham, Chelsea, Cardiff and I hate to say it but Bristol City, they have got a very large and well-organised mob, so in a way, it speaks volumes that Rovers who haven’t got the kind of numbers that they have, have some times held their own with them over the years.
Name 5 firms you don’t rate and why?
I wouldn’t dream of listing 5 firms I don’t rate, I’ve been out of the scene for so long I’m hardly qualified to rate anyone. Mind you I do remember going to Leicester in the late 70s when they had a bit of a reputation and was surprised at little they had to offer.
What clobber do you wear down the match?
I do have a real Baracuta G9 Harrington jacket which I’ve had for a few years which will never go out of style so it’s usually that just teamed up with Levis jeans and trainers or Timberland boots, not forgetting a warm thermal vest as I’m getting on a bit these days!
What was your music scene on your awayday?
Always been a Soulboy and I love my ska and reggae – not 2-Tone mind, just the original stuff from Jamaica, love punk and new wave as well. Lucky to have seen The Jam and The Clash back in the day, still love their music but not so keen on Paul Weller mind, he’s disappeared up his own backside IMHO.
What’s your favourite all-time song?
All-time favourite song? That’s impossible! Maybe ‘Another girl, another planet’ by the Only Ones, ‘That’s Entertainment’ by The Jam or ‘What’s going on?’ by Marvin Gaye.
Can you tell us about the books you have written?
My first book was ‘Bovver’ which I wrote over twenty years ago, it was just my recollections of the 70s – the music, fashion and the aggro. I never claimed to be a top boy, I was just doing exactly the same as what other working-class kids were doing on a weekly basis up and down the country, it was no big deal, it was just our way of life back then, we lived for the weekend, still do I guess. ‘Booted and Suited’ was an updated version of it with contributions from some other lads I got to meet in Bristol after ‘Bovver’ first came out. My last book was ‘Guilty Tiger’ – a novel based in Bristol of a one time top lad who has now got mixed up in the modern-day drug scene.
And lastly, tell us what you enjoyed about being part of it all?
Loved the camaraderie of being a football lad but I was never a football casual, if I had been a few years younger I could see the appeal of it and I admire the lads who have stayed loyal to the scene for so long, especially when you consider the consequences, I mean my first fine at football was £8!! When you look back you realise it’s been the most enduring of all of the British street and terrace subcultures yet for most people it’s largely slipped under the radar due to its constant evolution. Having said that give me a pair of Onitsuka Tigers over Adidas Trimm Trab any day. UTG!
Proud Sponsors of The Terrace Casuals Interviews. (click pic for link)
