Hooligans: 4. Collateral Damage

Gangster

BBC

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 28 March 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

With firms doing battle up and down the country, it was only a matter of time before innocent people got hurt. Even some players were attacked as the hooligans went looking for their weekly adrenaline rush. Ordinary football fans were also caught up in the violence. Darts, bottles, fireworks, even sharpened coins would be thrown on the terraces.

This episode also hears from the families of those who died at the hands of thugs. 21 year old Wolves fan Gerald Comerford went to watch his team and never came home. His family describe the devastation of losing their brother. Tony Bellew also hears about the racism that was rife on the terraces. Black players were regularly subjected to vile, racist abuse, often coming from their own fans. Former Chelsea player, Paul Canoville describes the abuse he endured during his early career.

Presenter: Tony Bellew Series Producer: Emma Forde Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Development Producer: Holly Clemens Production Co-ordinator: Ellie Dover Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:04.7	A quick warning, this podcast contains strong and racist language, descriptions of violence
0:09.7	and some content you may find upsetting.
0:13.4	Remember our chat with Pat Nevin, former Everton, Chelsea and Scotland legend.
0:17.8	Just as we were finishing up, he started telling us a story which made all our jaws drop. So my producer Emma quickly turned that mic back on. Okay, we're back recording, Pat. Can you just tell me that story again? You're right to do this, actually. It was one game down at the middle wall, I think it was. And I was ill that day. I had it's foot poisoning. And I couldn't play. But I went to the game. And there was a play called Robert Isaac who didn't make the team either that day. He was a young player coming through. Next day, we found out he had been slashed all the way down his back by one of the Millwall fans that had recognised him that he was Chelsea, all the way down his back.
0:57.3	And it just shows you how close it was.
0:58.8	And it was, certainly I came close a few times.
1:01.1	I had knives drawn in me twice in that period of time,
1:04.4	once in a tube after a spurs game.
1:06.6	And I diverted the attention with some fruity language and a Glasgow accent
1:11.2	and smacked him one and liked it down the station.
1:14.9	And another time, knife pulled and made a clash concert in Brixton.
1:18.5	And that was definitely a football fan.
1:20.5	So it was there. It was weirdly. It was always there.
1:23.9	I mean, I got lucky in many ways.
1:26.1	Poor Robert Isaacs at the time. He didn't.
1:28.5	We knew we had to find Robert Ezer.
1:35.0	From BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 live, I'm Tony Bellew, and this is Gangster Presents Hooligans.
1:46.9	Episode 4, collateral damage.
1:49.3	I now work as a chauffeur, predominantly in the London area, after retiring from football in around 1990 due to the knee injury.
2:02.9	We met Robert outside the posholtel near Hyde Park corner.
2:06.1	We were expecting a sit-down chat in an office,
	...

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