
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Former boxing champion and proud Evertonian Tony Bellew delves into the brutal world of football hooliganism. At its height in the 1970s and 1980s, it was labelled ‘the English Disease,’ a time when violence on the terraces was as much a part of the game as a half-time Bovril. Bellew hears from those who lived for the trouble, the men and women whose Saturdays weren’t complete without a brutal punch-up.
He speaks to the innocent victims caught up in the mayhem, the families of those who lost their lives at the hands of thugs, and the undercover police officers who risked everything to infiltrate some of England’s most notorious firms.
He also explores how government crackdowns, tougher laws, and the introduction of all-seater stadiums helped bring an end to widespread hooliganism.
Presenter: Tony Bellew
By BBC Radio 5 Live4.8
2929 ratings
Former boxing champion and proud Evertonian Tony Bellew delves into the brutal world of football hooliganism. At its height in the 1970s and 1980s, it was labelled ‘the English Disease,’ a time when violence on the terraces was as much a part of the game as a half-time Bovril. Bellew hears from those who lived for the trouble, the men and women whose Saturdays weren’t complete without a brutal punch-up.
He speaks to the innocent victims caught up in the mayhem, the families of those who lost their lives at the hands of thugs, and the undercover police officers who risked everything to infiltrate some of England’s most notorious firms.
He also explores how government crackdowns, tougher laws, and the introduction of all-seater stadiums helped bring an end to widespread hooliganism.
Presenter: Tony Bellew

7,672 Listeners

1,049 Listeners

5,546 Listeners

1,815 Listeners

1,881 Listeners

1,820 Listeners

1,055 Listeners

2,066 Listeners

1,028 Listeners

391 Listeners

243 Listeners

302 Listeners

318 Listeners

3,146 Listeners

130 Listeners

410 Listeners

53 Listeners

246 Listeners

237 Listeners

1,646 Listeners

139 Listeners

66 Listeners

91 Listeners

519 Listeners

33 Listeners