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The Football Factory (Paperback)

by John King (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
Price: £4.98 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

The Football Factory + England Away + Headhunters
Price For All Three: £16.95

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  • This item: The Football Factory by John King

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • England Away by John King

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Product details

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; New edition edition (1 May 1997)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099731916
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099731917
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 13 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 202,917 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #10 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > K > King, John

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Product Description

Review

'The best book I've read about football and working-class culture in Britain in the nineties. Buy, steal or borrow a copy now' Irvine Welsh 'King's novel is not only an outstanding read, but also an important social document...This book should be compulsory reading for all those who believe in the existence, or even the attainability of a classless society' Sunday Tribune 'The Football Factory will do for hooligan culture what Trainspotting did for Edinburgh housing estates' Select ' Powerfully written and tells you more about the mentality of those who disrupt football matches than all the theses of the sociologist academics put together' Daily Mail 'Bleak, thought-provoking and brutal, The Football Factory has all the hallmarks of a cult novel' Literary Review --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


Product Description

A first novel about a seasoned Chelsea Football Club hooligan who represents a disaffected society operating by brutal rules. The story encompasses social degradation, unemployment, racism, casual violence, excessive drink and bad sex - and how they fall into a political context.
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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Football Factory
88% buy the item featured on this page:
The Football Factory 4.2 out of 5 stars (23)
£4.98
Headhunters
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Customer Reviews

23 Reviews
5 star:
 (11)
4 star:
 (8)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Crucial Reading, 11 Jan 2001
By A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Interesting and disturbing depiction of a contemporary working-class Londoner. The novel portrays a bleak England which has little to offer its poor, white natives. The central character--who one imagines must be loosely based on the author--is a nasty man, whose one outlet is football hooliganism. A Chelsea fan, he defines his existence not around actual matches and scores, so much as he does around the pre and post-match violence (if any). The book seems to suggest that for him, and his ilk, society has nothing to offer and he must retreat to the camaraderie of his fighting friends to find any release and meaning in his existence. The chapters alternate between focusing on the main character on match days, and peripheral characters (some only barely related to the novel at all) and slices of London life. Despite the very raw descriptions of violence and sex, the writing is too deft, and the message too sharp for the book to be considered a mere cult novel. King's subsequent novels, Headhunters, England Away, and Human Punk are all equally vital--if not as raw--reading. Great non-fiction companions to this book are Colin Ward's classic, Steaming In, and Nick Danziger's Danziger's Britain.
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6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Football stereotypes in the most blunt form possible, 25 Jul 2003
By Darren Simons (Middlesex, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
This book follows the story of a bunch of working class football fans who follow Chelsea, for whom the weekly highlight consists of a match at Stamford Bridge or an away game, a good punch-up with the opposing fans (before and after the match), a load of beer and a curry. The first sentence really sets the scene perfectly where the narrator (the book’s written in the first person, a clearly very nasty little man) tells you what he thinks of Coventry and their contribution to the war as part of the build up to Chelsea vs Coventry.

The book is racist, offensive, sexist and provides non-football fans with as much ammunition as they want to turn noses up at football fans. For football fans and in honesty non-football fans as well, it strangely gives an insight into being a football fan, what’s behind the bizarre addiction that is Saturday afternoon for 9 months of the year.

I found this book highly entertaining and wonderfully written – there are some bizarre chapters where the chapter is only one very very long paragraph which are a bit odd to read but all in all I think King has done a fantastic job on this book. However, two things which count against this book are the repetitiveness to the overall theme of the book, and the next book which King wrote called Headhunters which I thought was much better.

Also recommended by King is England Away which is in part a sequel to the Football Factory.

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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Two thumbs up!, 15 Feb 2006
By Thiago Bachiega "Thiago Bachiega" (Campinas, Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Football Factory (Paperback)
I first watched the film, then got interested and ordered the book on their official website.
I must tell you the book is even more humorous and sarcastic than the movie, John King is a very talented writer who can think inside the mind of a Hooligan, a traveller or a pensioner. The sentences are long sometimes, but only to you find out something very funny to read. I´m a football supporter from Brasil into my 20's and it´s fantastic how our lifes aren´t that different from Tom Johnson and his mates. I´m into "England Away" now which I ordered from Amazon and I´m sure I´ll soon order "Chelsea Headhunters". I recommend you to buy the three, and watch the movie, even that I prefer the Tom from the book who have more personality than the one in the screen.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Disillusioned and disaffected white young men beat lumps out of each other. Who cares?
This book doesn't read like a novel. It is more like a series of short stories, some of which have nothing to do with hooliganism or football. Read more
Published 2 months ago by noggy1810

2.0 out of 5 stars A silly little book but worth a quid from a charity shop.
... But, all in all, a pretty flawed enterprise.

Horrible blokes seek out fights with like minded retards; get drunk; shag birds; hate everybody except their staunch... Read more
Published on 18 Sep 2006 by W. Jones

2.0 out of 5 stars A little tale of nothing.
As another reviewer points out, this is not a novel. It is simply a series of events involving the narrator, who is a Chelsea hooligan. Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2006

5.0 out of 5 stars Kicking
King captures so much more than a generation of football going bad boys. I don't as a rule read fiction but I'd saw the film and took the trilogy on holiday with me. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2004 by sean keating

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutly Fantastic
An absolutly fantastic and truthfull book. All that happens in the book happen in life!
Through the years i have followed football i have seen and heard of what this book is... Read more
Published on 18 Jul 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a novel
This is a brilliant book about events surrounding football and a couple of main characters, but is in no way a standard novel with any set story line. Read more
Published on 24 Jun 2004 by M. Wilding

5.0 out of 5 stars moving
it is a really great book. no doubt about it. once i started reading it i could not put it down it is engaging to the maxinum. it isnt easy reading but is worth every second. Read more
Published on 15 May 2004 by MSS

5.0 out of 5 stars really great.
its not only a hooligan book but also shows the economical side of fans and workin class. The good thing is u dont have to be a British fan to read this book , the topic is... Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2004 by oktay

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent!!
This book is absolutely amazing! You may think I'm mad because I'm female but I found this book just as good as any other man would! Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2004 by Jaimey

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful, genuinely believable, and extremely funny.
The Football Factory is a fantastic book. It gives an insight into fanatical behaviour, which is genuine hooliganism. Read more
Published on 18 Sep 2001

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