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The casual subculture is a subsection of association football culture that is typified by football hooliganism and the wearing of expensive designer clothing (known as “clobber�). The subculture originated in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s when many hooligans started wearing designer clothing labels and expensive sportswear in order to avoid the attention of police and to intimidate rivals. They did not wear club colours, so it was allegedly easier to infiltrate rival groups and to enter pubs. Some casuals have worn clothing items similar to those worn by mods. Casuals have been portrayed in films and television programmes such as ID and The Firm. 1970s to 1980s The casual subculture began in the late 1970s after Liverpool F.C.and Everton F.C. fans introduced the rest of England to European fashions that they somehow acquired while following their teams at European games in Nottingham, Tblisi, Donegal and Prague. [citation needed], These fans returned to England with expensive Italian and French designer sportswear, most of which they looted from stores.[citation needed], They brought back many unique clothing brands that had not been seen before in the country. Soon, other fans were clamouring for these rare items such as Lacoste and Sergio Tacchini shirts, and unusual Adidas trainers.[citation needed], At the time, many police forces were still on the lookout for skinhead fans wearing Dr. Martens boots, and paid little attention to fans in expensive designer clothing.[citation needed], Fashion trends frequently changed, and the casual subculture reached its peak in the late 1980s. With the arrival of the acid house, rave and Madchester music scenes, the violence of the casual subculture faded.[citation needed], 1990s and 2000s
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In the mid-1990s, the casual subculture experienced a revival, but emphasis on style had changed slightly. Many football fans adopted the casual look as a kind of uniform, identifying them as different from the ordinary club supporters. In the late 1990s, many football supporters began to move away from the brands that were considered the casual uniform, because of the police attention that these brands attracted. Several designer labels also withdrew certain designs from the market after they became associated with casuals. Casual fashion experienced an increase in popularity in the 2000s, with British music acts such as The Streets and The Mitchell Brothers sporting casual outfits in their music videos. Although some casuals have continued to wear Stone Island clothing in the 2000s, many have detached the compass badge so as to be less obvious. However, with the two buttons still attached, those in the know are still able to recognise the clothing items. Many casuals have adopted a more subtle and underground look, avoiding more mainstream clothing brands for independent clothing labels. (Source: Wikipedia) What the Skinheads started on the football terraces of Britain, the Casuals set out to finish in the late 70s. Out went the Dr Martens and jeans, and in moved expensive European designer wear. The casual subculture was not born in London, but began to grow as Liverpool football fans travelled to games in Europe, such as when a troupe of Liverpudlians followed their beloved team to a European Cup quarterfinal against French side St Etienne. With every subsequent trip a new swag bag full of French and Italian designer fashions would follow. There was a strong association between football hooliganism and the casual subculture. The fashions helped the fans blend in with crowds rather than standing out in football shirts.
Fashion trends could change rapidly from week to week, and followers would keep up: Fila trainers and tracksuits on Monday, Burberry on Saturday. Acid House and the rise of the “Madchester� rave scene in the 80s pushed the scene to its heights with bands like The Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses and Inspiral Carpets all adopting the casual wardrobe. (Source: BBC)
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Fashion was and is a massive thing within subcultures and no more so than the casuals movement, the clothing really came to pass in the late 70s when Liverpool and Everton fans brought back nicked clothing from their trips to play in Europe. They started to carve out a distinctive look for a Casual. Firstly, let’s take a look at the moniker ‘Casuals’. In the late 70’s, Everton and Liverpool football clubs were both taking part in European cup competitions. The fans from the Mersey travelled everywhere to follow their teams and on these travels the opportunity came to literally smash, grab and steal whatever goods were available on the continent. This usually meant exclusive designer clothing.  Steaming in. Old School. The skinheads that attended football matches in the late 60’s and early 70’s started to get their steel toe-capped Doctor Martin boots taken away as a safety measure and at some grounds and the laces were removed by the Police at others. Skinhead fashion was always aggressively working class and the Police now had an easily recognizable target for trouble started at football. A movement to supersede the ‘boot boys’ was hiding just around the corner.  The police confiscating boots and laces. English football casuals took every chance to watch the national team play, with every trip abroad becoming working holidays for some. Stolen gear was sold as soon as the casuals were back in the UK. Labels started appearing that today sound familiar but in the 80’s, Lacoste, Sergio Tachinni, Ellesse, Gabichi and Fila held certain mysticism for lads that wanted to stay one step of their rivals in the fashion and fighting stakes.  Unlikely Style icons. The casual look and attitude was just what the football lads needed to avoid the police detection that the skinheads suffered before
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them. The establishment didn’t expect anyone involved in football violence to be wearing a dearstalker hat, a Barbour jacket and Italian desinger tracksuits. Footwear also played a huge part in the casual scene and Addidas were at the forefront of innovative trainer production during this period. Adidas have re-issued an Originals range that includes the casual classics Forest Hills and Trim Trabb. Fila and Sergio Tachinni have also released vintage clothing ranges that use the original designs that were first produced in the 80’s. It just goes to show that there is still a market for these garments and the film industry has also helped with this resurgence. Never turn up at a football match with a bastard pair of trainers on – ask anyone who did, they won’t do it again!  Trim Trabb. Timeless. As the labels started flooding the terraces, new streams of fashion appeared every week. Lads who once had cropped hair and thought long hair was for girls sported the much groomed wedge haircut. People that were looking like they had stepped off a tennis court or from an 80’s music video started travelling up and down the country on trains using cheap rail fare tokens torn from Persil washing powder boxes.  The inspiration for the wedge haircut.  Persil – All good clean fun. For the football following youth of the 80’s, it was an adventurous and exciting time. Getting off a ‘Football Special’ train with all your mates, dressed to the nines and bowling about like you owned the place, was just the beginning of the buzz. Travelling to certain grounds for out of town supporters was becoming very risky business during the casual era but this was also part on the buzz. If there were just a few of you – you may have got the classic line, “ere mate, you got the time?” Always a tense moment for anyone in this situation, if your accent wasn’t regional, then your luck was up. This was a cue
for it to “kick off.” For those that travelled in big numbers the thought in the back of the minds was one of anticipation. If you were confronted by another mob that were not going to let you stroll about like you owned the place it was game on in terms of the fighting. Week in week out, lads from all over the country got addicted to the buzz of football adrenaline and fashion changes. Just like youth cults before it, casual was new, exciting, and dangerous and people put a real effort and passion into it. Casual fashions on the football terraces were lifted from the stylish piazzas and boutiques of European cities, spotted when fans went to away games. The hot spots were France and Italy where names such as Cerruti, Fila and Ellesse were bought by the bag load. Travelling that bit further for their fashion has always been the way of the casual, making it a hard scene to keep up with. This was a time before sports shops lined every high street and Casuals had to make the move into stores which stocked mountaineering and heavy duty sportswear, such as Millets. JD Sports were the first brand to wake up to the new Casual craze and grew successfully into an enduring and relevant company, which fulfilled every casual’s dream. Big Names on the Pitch
the trend, exploring the “sports casual” style over a decade before Alan Partridge! Accessorising Casuals The casuals were obsessed with designer labels but the look wasn’t dictated by a media trend. The style evolved on the football terraces and would change rapidly and regionally; it was all about keeping up with the tribe and impressing your mates. Despite Britain being in a period of financial depression when the casuals appeared, they made sure they had the money and clothes to keep up with the styles sweeping Britain’s streets. Features of the Casual look changed swiftly, but encompassed: Sporting fashions such as tennis, golfing, ski and sailing wear Brands such as Pringle, Peter Storm, Berghaus and Ellesse Italian labels such as Fila, Tacchini and Kappa were hugely popular in the 80s as fans started travelling abroad to football games. Iconic designer labels such as Giorgio Armani and Marco Polo. Adidas Forest Hills, Adidas Munchen, Diadora, New Balance and Gazelles, as well as the iconic Kickers and Fila boots.
Adidas Adidas was one of the most prominent and sought-after brands on the casual trainer scene - and nobody knows trainers better than former Blackburn casual Gary Aspden. Aspden has taken his passion for clothes off the terraces and into his study of fashion. He now works with Adidas helping shape their product design and marketing, continuing the German brand’s legacy on the streets. Burberry Founded in 1856, the classic Haymarket Burberry check became a fixture in the wardrobe of thousands of casuals in the 1980s. The upmarket gabardine image with which the label launched was soon drawn into the tangled world of the football hooligan, and became a badge of prestige among hoolie gangs. Lacoste The French apparel label of Lacoste with its signature alligator logo was a hot favourite on the casual scene. The famous founder, Rene Lacoste, launched the company in 1933 off the back of his tennis career. The casuals kept up
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Casual was also a youth culture that had mass diversity when it came to the music that was in any discerning casual’s collection. I bet if you asked three people who were into the scene in the early 80’s about the music they listened to, you would get three different answers. Ska, Reggae, Punk, Electro, Oi, Northern Soul, Madchester, Rave, all genres that attracted the casuals. Bands even had casual elements at gigs. The Cockney Rejects had a West Ham Following, The Farm had a huge following in Liverpool, Chelsea fans amongst others loved the early Ska and early Reggae, Cock Sparrer attracted football fans from many different clubs but there was one band that unified casuals more than any – The Jam. The Jam had the lot. They looked sharp, had a style that set them apart and most importantly, they were brimming with vitriolic anger and were 100% working class. The Jam crossed paths with the Skins, Punks, Mods, Casuals and Soul Boys and to be honest, I can’t think of a band in history that had an audience as diverse as The Jam. The Jam are and were the ultimate casuals band. What was to follow would change it all.
football match after dancing for ten hours or more was becoming less appealing for most. Dropping an’E’ and raving to acid house music became the craze of the 90’s and again the police got involved. 20,000 people dancing to thumping music in a field, whilst taking drugs was too much again for those in power. Add a sleepy farmer waking up to bass and bleeps at three in the morning, co-operation was thin on the ground. Middle England was up in arms, yet again. The Criminal Justice bill was introduced in the early 90’s to quash any illegal events that were taking place in the UK and the rights of anyone meeting in groups for any public activity was becoming harder. The Rave scene in its original state was put to bed and to anyone that was there at the start, it felt like it never recovered.
In the late 80’s, the rave scene came along and the casuals found a different reason to travel the length and breadth of the country. It wasn’t a new cup competition, it was dancing rather than fighting that was on the agenda. The ‘top boys’ from football firms all around the country started attending and putting on raves. People that were once fighting on the terraces were now hugging in fields.
From tooled up to loved up. The drug ecstasy started a new wide-eyed revolution and the thought of getting up for a
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Cass Pennant is not a gangster or a boxer, but he’s had more drama than the entire cast of East Enders. Violence out of necessity became a way of life for him. His prowess as a street fighter earned him respect and acceptance. He’s rucked with the most vicious thugs and mixed with dangerous villains from London’s East End gangs. In the late 1970s, one particular gang rose to national prominence: West Ham’s InterCity Firm, otherwise known as the ICF. Pennant swiftly became one of the most feared generals and fought numerous battles in towns and football grounds throughout the country. Looking back, how has the casual scene changed and personally do you think it is still alive and kicking today? “The original casual scene at its height and will always be the tennis wear heyday from 81-84, then came the rave era in 87, that started and was the blowing out of the casual scene until the Stone Island, Burberry and Aquascutum baseball cap wearing 90s which was finally for me when the entire North were all dressing and going to England games. Not much changed, except the loss of hair and expanding waistbands until the vision of Neil Primet started a retro clothing company called ’80′s Casual Classics’ after noticing old skool casuals had used E-Bay to locate the finest gear we ever wore in the 80′s and now its all relevant today with all those 80′s brands back on our high streets. It should never be too mainstream for some of us, but the big difference is, nobody is following anyone as to what is in or out, it’s really personal choice and also the joy of getting gear in XL and XXL, which being a original fashion of youth is something of a big give-away as to who are the real authentic wearers. Another give-away is a white sole on your Diadora Borg Elite or Adidas Forest Hills trainers.
What music were you listening to at the time of the casual movement? The early London football casual scene was sort of 78-80 and so diverse musically and because you had these different and rival subcultures driven by youth that used their UB40 cards to get into gigs cheaper, or they became of part of a band entourage by being roadies, or even forming their own bands. The transit hire van would stop off somewhere from an away match to catch a band on tour and depending who it was they’d be following that scene for next few games. The East End boys did them all, from Sham 69, The Jam, Cockney Rejects and the mod revival going on at the Bridge House in Canning Town – this was the Newham area lads, the Essex lads were far older, they were still Floyd, Zepp’ and pub venues that played classic rock, while the non-East London West Ham lads I knew were very much ‘soul boys’ that followed the Ilford, Canvey Island and Southend club scenes. The Lyceum ballroom I avoided, as much of the West End had North and South London football lads. My stand alone memory of the time, was a transit drive to Madrid for Castilla v West Ham in the Cup Winners Cup. Everyone took their own cassette tapes and having won the FA Cup beating Arsenal, the Cockney Rejects tracks ‘Bubbles’ and ‘West Side Boys’ were all the rage. Then Grant Fleming forced on pirate tracks of an Irish band he said was U2 -total different sound to anything we had heard and continued plays had everyone blown away by time we drove into Madrid. The East End was now turning to disco pubs from Stratford to Bethnal Green full of posers but wearing your MA jacket to football and then going to gigs was still all about being a tasty geezer. Then the pirate soul radio of JFM and Horizon etc exploded around the same time.
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The younger football lads I call the ‘Thatcher’s children’ started to put the colour into Casual, with the track tops, fraying the Lois cord bottoms and diamond Pringle jumpers. By the time I’d come out of doing remand and then a prison sentence from 81 and’82, that one-time geezer crew had firmly got into Jazz funk, Brit funk and into birds. Great days for the music of Southern Freez, Beggar & co, Shakatak, all them – never forget it. We all went to the same places but like as one now, with the black lads from Leytonstone and Canning town all properly on the firm. Why do you think casuals had such a diverse taste in music considering most youth movements stuck to one or two genres? The football lads would often be the influential in crowd by nature but on the terraces it’s a gathering of various groups with the common ground being supporters of the same team. Travel had opened up to be affordable with firms now travelling to the game and for some of us it had become part of the day and adventure. Going to different towns taught you about different music scenes on a regular basis. Before that, youth sub-cultures remained regional and only ventured out on bank holidays, or to venues and gigs that entertained only their own sub-culture, while the football casual scene was a sub-culture born off the terraces and unlike every movement before it was not coming from music. Think about it, the teddy boys hit off from rock & roll, the original skins, it was from the reggae, mods from beat clubs, soul boys South and North came from the club scene and the punks from punk music. The casuals never came from any music link, so it was always going to out last the movements that created their scene from the music and die with it the moment it becomes mainstream. What were your favourite items of clothing during the casual era and your worst? The distinct black and white dog tooth patterned full length beltless Burberry mac that I wore in the Hooligan documentary about the ICF in the 1984-5 season. Same film that I bellowed out the now infamous quote of , “Kiddie Firm” to the Chelsea hordes on the train opposite us wearing a bright blue Burberry short Harrington style jacket. Both these items were unique and oneoffs for their colour and pattern, because at the time the tin-tack macs were like FBI style coats in only navy or beige, same with their jackets. The bright blue Burberry I acquired from
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Spanish mainland while on a day trip shopping from the fighting going on in Magaluf between rival English football firms. The overcoat mac was from Burberry and sold as a one-off design they were not going to run with. My film production ‘Casuals’ has everyone wanking over their trainers and what must my pair of size 12, all white Ellesse, long pointy nose shape that the lads called my “torpedoes” think? They had the Ellesse badge protruding out on the back of the heel. They were from Europe, from a thieving trip by the Under-Fives who could not find anyone in the pub that was a size 12. By the time they came to me, I knew the reason and would only part with a fiver to teach the thieves a lesson (rob a popular size next time). Never ever in all my travels saw another pair anywhere in the country, I got ribbed for their shape that made them look size a 15 but boy was they the softest leather trainer ever. If I knew the name (That’s the trouble when gear comes unboxed) I would have searched high and low on E-Bay today-they would be worth a mint. Which songs would you choose to sum up the casual era of the 80’s? The Whispers – And the Beat Goes On, because of a mental mad weekend in Blackpool with the young ICF. We had it with groups of Burnley, Man Utd, Leeds, Celtic and everywhere we went, one of us had to carry the portable doubledecker tape player that everyone called, (totally politically incorrect to say now) ‘Ghetto Blasters’. Our escape was made from the guesthouse when word came back to us that all these firms were now joining up looking for West Ham Cockneys. So after a mad dash, we enter the station running, where we came across Man City and Wigan having it. Decide now, wait for the train, or pick a side and join the fight? Wigan outnumbered, so we sided with them and saw City off. Wigan and West Ham on same train and buddies now, then as we approach near Crewe, the Wigan we had helped, they try turn on us… Which was a big mistake. The same Whispers track (pre-release off pirate radio) was on continuous play on this massive silver double deck tape recorder and someone commented and we all nodded in agreement that the film ‘The Warriors’ had nothing on us as the Inter-City hurtled back South. That song and weekend summed up a dawn of the casual in West Ham ranks. A young crew of unknowns, dressed like London spivs and fought like gangsters, that had gone from Cockney Rejects
into Jazz funk and soul overnight – like Jam to Style Council, plus this new attitude of have money and will travel together and with the Thatcher attitude that everything starts and ends at London. These boys emerging were like all mini guv’nors. The North’s liking for the electro beat bands never really did it for our lot but if it had a terrace anthem edge to it like ‘Don’t you Want Me Baby’ byThe Human League they would be in on the sing-along, but if I go back to Brit-Funk outfit Freez when in ’83 their video I.O.U was first seen. The casuals I knew were quick to notice the Sergio Tacchni wear, with the split frayed Lois jeans and cords worn by the kids bodypopping in the video, wearing Nike Wimbledon’s and Adidas Samba. The next person for the interview treatment was Garry Bushell. Garry wrote for the music paper Sounds in the 80’s and was one of few mainstream journalists aware of casual culture and the people and music involved. When did you first become aware of the casual movement, as at the time I think you were writing for Sounds? The Casuals were a terrace phenomenon, they incubated in and around football grounds, so it was predominantly a working class thing and I really became aware of it around 1980/81. The people who became those first Casuals had been Mods, and skinheads, and Glory Boys who I knew. It grew out of other working class cults At football matches, the police were looking for crops and DMs not blokes in Farahs and trainers with wedge haircuts and too much jewellery; so Casual made sense The papers were still going on about skinheads for years after the real terrace hooligans had moved on You put the band Accent on the front cover, which at the time caused quite a stir. Basically, from what I know, seeing a group of smartly dressed lads on the front of a rock magazine was not in keeping with ethos of Sounds. What attracted you to the band? Sounds had a Mod sensibility at its core, and there are huge parallels between Mod in the sixties and Casual in the early eighties. Think about it, the love of clothes, and looking good,
the love of black music, fighting and the odd line of sulphate. They’re the same thing a generation apart. And both were driven by the need to be the best, to be the ace face. I didn’t go out looking for a casual band, but I had my ear to the ground in those days and I was listening out for anything new and interesting.
Why do you think there were not that many bands that calling themselves “casual”? When people talk about Mod bands they talk about rock bands like The Who, and the Small Faces, but the music Mods listened to was predominantly black soul music. With the first modernists it was jazz, but then it was Motown and Stax and early Ska. Mods had been going for years before the Who had their first hit. And it felt the same with the first Casuals who were in to black music to begin with. Knowing the roots of the cult, I would have expected a casual band to be a direct descendent of a band like The Jam – that combination of smartness, good tunes and lyrical sharpness. Although having said that, the first band who dressed like Casuals were the East End Badoes from Poplar who played fairly raucous Oi music. They were formed by Skully from West Ham and Terry Hayes who was Millwall, but their career went down the gurgler…. Were you surprised at the diversity of the musical tastes of the football crowd? No, even the people who followed the Cockney Rejects at the start had widely varied musical tastes; people are rarely as easily pigeon-holed as they’d appear to be on the surface Casual wasn’t music based. I think Casuals were a movement based around fashion, which incubated around football terraces. Suddenly the West Side and The Shed became the cat walks! and the first Casuals valued the hottest new black music : jazz funk and early rap Which three songs, sum up the casual era for you? From a rock point of view, All Together Now by The Farm, We Are Lost by Accent, The Way It’s Gotta Be by the East End Badoes… although there are jazz-funk songs that touched many more people than the Badoes ever did! More Casuals had heard of Harvey Mason and Bobby Lyle than Terry Hayes, much as I love him.
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The Farm – All Together Now To sum it up. How would you describe the casual movement from a personal point of view? Casual was about looking good, and being hard and sharp. It wasn’t set in time, it was an evolving look, that started with Lacoste, Slazenger and Pringle and developed into the most exclusive ski wear they could get their hands on. The problem for bands like Accent was by the time they’d come through, most of the actual casuals had moved away from designer labels.
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BRIEF TITLE: What is Good? The Brief Using the research you have already collected from the first part of the brief, use that to create a series of relevant practical outcomes using your good and with the starting point of An Intro To‌ Background The research from the first part of the brief should provide relevant background information and should have already provided a direction to go in. Target Audience Males from the ages of 20-26 Mandatory Requirements Relevant outcomes related to the chosen good Deliverables 1 Book about the good A zine based on the culture of casuals but relevant for the present day Exhibition proposal and relevant printed and digital media
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During the research for this publication i also viewed a lot of digital content such as old youtbe videos, documentaries and some films based on true events. The best of these can be seen on the disc enclosed here.
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