By Gary Aspen
As part of the SPEZIAL 10 year anniversary celebrations and to coincide with the DECADE Exhibition. DECADE is a commemorative book, looking back on all the SPZL releases since 2014.
Created as a collector’s item, it showcases the full adidas SPZL footwear archive alongside detailed product descriptions, photography and quotes from SPZL’s friends and family including Liam Gallagher, Vicky McClure, Ashley Walters, Noel Gallagher, Stephen Graham and more. Released in limited edition at the DEACDE SPZL exhibition in Darwen, Lancashire, it’s also been released through very select retailers, lending it almost as exclusive a feel as that of the footwear and apparel over the years.
By Billy Morris
It’s April 1990 and the world is changing. Margaret Thatcher clings to power in the face of poll tax protests, prison riots and sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. The Berlin wall has fallen, South Africa’s Apartheid government is crumbling and in the Middle East Saddam Hussein is flexing his muscles, while Iran is still trying to behead Salman Rushdie.
In Leeds, United are closing in on a long-awaited return to the first division. Neil Yardsley is heading home after three years away and hoping to go straight.
That’s the plan, but Neil finds himself being drawn back into a world of football violence, and finds a brother up to his neck in the drug culture of the rave scene. Dark family secrets bubble to the surface as Neil tries to help his brother dodge a gangland death sentence, while struggling to keep his own head above water in a city that no longer feels like home.
The pressure is building with all roads leading to the south coast, and a final reckoning on a red-hot Bank Holiday weekend in Bournemouth that no one will ever forget.
By Billy Morris
Two years have passed, but the events of Bournemouth 90 continue to cast a dark shadow over the lives of everyone who travelled south on that hot Bank Holiday weekend.
Max Jackson is out of jail and trying to re-establish himself in a Leeds underworld being torn apart by gangland warfare. The Yardsley brothers are still paying the price for their actions, with the spectre of Alan Connolly continuing to haunt them. At Millgarth, Sergeant Andy Barton finds himself in the limelight after Bournemouth, but terrace culture is changing, and police intelligence is struggling to adapt to the new normal of the nineties.
At Elland Road, a resurgent United are heading towards their first league title in eighteen years, but a disturbing, malevolent force is threatening to gatecrash the champions’ victory party.
Old scores are settled and new ones imagined, as the climax to the title showdown becomes a deadly quest for vengeance, forgiveness and redemption. LS92. Dark crime fiction from a time when it was still grim up north.
By Iain McMillan
As Frankie approaches thirty he finds himself plodding through life struggling to deal with his mundane existence and the constant torture in his own mind. He spends half his week in a drunken haze and the other half trying to run away from himself. In his search for redemption and the sanity he lost somewhere along the way, he reflects on his past in an attempt to find out where it all went wrong.
Did he spend too many years in the mayhem of the football terraces or had all those pills damaged him when the party was finally over and the music stopped?
Would he turn out just like his Father or could he be the one who finally breaks the family curse?
by Jay Allan
A cult classic, Jay Allan’s “Bloody Casuals” was one of the first books that offered a first-hand account of football violence and terrace culture in the 1980s.
Focusing on Jay’s rise through the ranks with the notorious Aberdeen Soccer Casuals, the book delivers a no-holds-barred account of the casual movement and glory days of British football hooligans.
by Phil Thornton
First came the Teds, the the Mods, Rockers, Hippies, Skinheads, Suedeheads and Punks. But by the late Seventies, a new youth fashion had appeared in Britain. Its adherents were often linked to violent football gangs, wore designer sportswear and made the bootboys of previous years look like the dinosaurs they were. They were known as scallies, Perry Booys, trendies and dressers. But the name that stuck was Casuals. And this grassroots phenomenon, largely ignored by the media, was to change the face of both British fashion and international style. Casuals recounts how the working-class fascination with sharp dressing and sartorial one-upmanship crystallized the often bitter rivalries of the hooligan crews and how their culture spread across the terraces, clubs and beyond. It is the definitive book for football, music and fashion obsessives alike.
by Dave Hewitson and Jay Montessori
The long awaited 10th Anniversary Edition 80s Casuals pictorial bible of Casual attire which made the 80s such an acclaimed decade for British Street Fashion.
This full colour publication focuses solely on items of clothing worn by the football Casuals / Dressers / Boys / Chaps on the terraces up and down the country during this period. It is not polluted with references to ‘hip hop’ or ‘sneaker’ culture. It contains actual detailed pictures of only the original trainers and garments worn as a new youth culture emerged.
Photographed in backdrops from Bethnal Green to Brussels, the theme is a tongue in cheek look at how upmarket sportswear produced for the affluent folk of Europe ended up predominantly in the hands of the working class kids on the run down council estates of Great Britain.
by Stanley Smith
One of the most accurate portrayals of the Casual scene from its origins right up to now, Dressers explores the fashion, the trainers, holidays and the club/dance scene from the perspective of the Motherwell dressers, giving a fascinating insight into the movement. Topped off with detailed photography, newspaper clippings and shots from the personal archives of those at the heart and soul of the scene, Dressers has been rightfully dubbed the ultimate Casual bible.
by Ian Hough
The Perry Boys are one of the great untold stories of modern youth culture. They emerged in the pivotal year of 1979 in inner-city Manchester and Salford, a mysterious tribe of football hooligans and club-goers united by a new fashion. Their only counterparts at the time were the Scallies of Liverpool, who became their biggest rivals, both on and off the terraces. Author Ian Hough, a first-hand witness of and participant in the movement, casts a witty, nostalgic yet unsentimental look at a cultural explosion which tremors are still being felt.
by Ian Hough
Perry Boys Abroad describes a long, crazy journey from British cities and towns to the exotic corners of the world. With Manchester’s changing fashion and music scene as a backdrop to the oral memories of those included in this book, Ian Hough explains how the casual revolution pioneered many modern fashions and attitudes. Perry Boys Abroad illustrates how much times have changed. If you think casual culture was limited to fighting at football matches, think again. Ian Hough experienced the casual revolution at firsthand, travelling for long periods and working with other British expats in a variety of circumstances and cultures.
by Neil Selvey, Dean Jacobs and Eddie Chang
This is a fan based project celebrating the 70th birthday of adidas using the shoes to tell the story of the brand. 60 collectors from around the world have contributed images to the book. It is part picture book, part history book, part collectors reference manual.
by Paul Price
This is the 1st book in a 3 volume series covering the City and island Series from the 1970s and 1980s.This Book 1 is split into 17 Chapters of European countries: Austria, Greece, Portugal, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Denmark, Hungary, Sweden, Finland, Italy, Switzerland, France, Monaco, UK & Ireland, Germany, Norway. Shoes included: Adidas Wien, Adidas Amsterdam, Adidas Barcelona, Adidas Brussel and over 300 other Adidas trainers from the 1970’s and 1980’s City Series Europe.
Including information on countries of manufacture, year of production and article numbers plus different versions of the same shoe. This book will make a great addition to any collection. Use it for reference or to simply browse through, it is a must for adidas collectors and enthusiasts alike.
by Paul Price
This is the 2nd book in a 3 volume series covering the City and island Series from the 1970s and 1980s. This Book 2 is split into 4 chapters: Canada, Mexico, USA Cities, USA States. Shoes included: Adidas Denver, Adidas Montreal, Adidas Veracruz, Adidas California and over 300 other Adidas trainers from the 1970’s and 1980’s City Series North America.
Including information on countries of manufacture, year of production and article numbers plus different versions of the same shoe. This book will make a great addition to any collection. Use it for reference or to simply browse through, it is a must for adidas collectors and enthusiasts alike.
by Paul Price
This is the 3rd book in a 3 volume series covering the City and island Series from the 1970s and 1980s. This Book 3 is split into 6 Chapters: Islands – Atlantic And Caribbean, Islands – Mediterranean, Islands – Pacific, Rest Of The World – Cities, Regions, Miscellaneous. Shoes included: Adidas Hawai, Adidas Corfu, Adidas Guam, Adidas Samoa, Adidas Ibiza and over other 300 Adidas trainers from the 1970’s and 1980’s City Series Islands and Rest of the World.
Including information on countries of manufacture, year of production and article numbers plus different versions of the same shoe. This book will make a great addition to any collection. Use it for reference or to simply browse through, it is a must for adidas collectors and enthusiasts alike.
by Daniela Facchinato
Ideas from Massimo Osti tells the story of the birth and development of the formal and textile innovations of the creator of the clothing brands C.P. Company and Stone Island, of one of the most respected and imitated designers of his generation (crowned the most important man of 90s menswear by Arena Homme +), whose innovations confounded the rules of the industry and created the fabrics of today.
by Christian Habermeier and Sebastian Jäger
The adidas story is one of groundbreaking designs, epic moments, and conceiving the all-around sports shoe, worn by the likes of Lionel Messi, Run DMC, and Madonna. A mecca for sneaker fans, this book presents adidas’s history through more than 350 pairs of shoes from the “adidas Archive”, including one-of-a-kind originals, vintage models, never-before-seen prototypes, and designs from Stella McCartney, Yohji Yamamoto, Parley for the Oceans, and more.
by Lorne Brown & Nick Harvey
Over 200 photographs and 240 pages of what goes on, before and after the game and inside the ground and the clothes. Photographs taken by casuals over the years portraying the evolving styles of the football casual, from the early Pringle, Lois, Lacoste days and CP and Stone Island which is still dominant in recent years. Also covers English casuals, home and abroad including Mexico ’86, Euro ’88, Italia 90, France ’98, Euro 2000, the rumpus on the home front over the years and (briefly) A C Milan’s Brigate in the European Cup Final in Barcelona ’89.
By William Routledge
This staggeringly wide-ranging book spans the evolution of terrace fashion from its deep roots at the end of the Second World War through youth cults, northern working class hangouts, music, football and how those who have been touched by this world have emerged and influenced different areas of life and culture.
All stories are told over almost 400 pages with the original voices of more than 40 upstanding Northern Monkeys, ranging from blokes touching seventy years of age, right through the spectrum down to teenagers of today and on how they perceive the subcultures/non-cults of 2012.
by Dave Hewitson
Thirty years ago there were only three TV channels, no DVDs or CDs, no Big Macs and no mobile phones or home computers. A time when flares were the prevailing fashion and trainers were sold in sports shops alongside cricket bats and tennis racquets. And a time when Liverpool fans were the dominant force in European football. For young working-class Liverpool fans, the European experience now became a rite of passage. Once across the Channel, a whole new world opened up and this annual exodus began to express itself in the fashions they picked up (not always legally) in France, Switzerland, Italy and Austria. Suddenly, Fila, adidas, Lacoste and Armani became de rigeur for the travelling fans.
Back in Liverpool, the new style began to spread. Wade Smith opened first retail outlet in Europe dedicated to just selling designer sportswear in Slater Street and soon had to move to bigger premises to cope with the demand. Within few years, the phenomenon had become mainstream with designer sportswear being sold in every high street fashion shop across Britain. Dave Hewit was there at the start and his account of the fashion revolution makes fascinating reading.
What started with cheap jeans and trainers became a multi-million pound industry. Terrace culture had been born.
by Steve Finan
This is the best memories book a football fan could hope for. And it is the best book about old Scottish football grounds ever published. There are almost 200 photos of 42 football stadiums here that have lain unseen, in archives and rarely accessed collections, for decades. No other public buildings hold such emotional ties.
These are the places where your grandfather, father, uncles, brothers and friends exulted and cursed. This is where you remember them at their best, at their happiest. Every football fan reveres their home ground, but also travelled. Perhaps it was the ‘away days’ that were the best of all. And all those scenes – of triumph and disaster, joy and despair – are here.
Published in 2018.
by Steve Finan
The runaway success of 2018’s best-selling Lifted Over The Turnstiles proved there are few things that stir the pride of a football fan more than photos of the most iconic buildings they have ever known – their club’s home ground.
Lifted Over The Turnstiles Volume 2 expands and improves upon the first book, showing grounds as they were meant to be experienced, full of supporters cheering their heroes on.
Author Steve Finan has spent the past three years immersed in photo archives looking for never-before-published material.
Hibs, Dundee United, Aberdeen, Rangers, Motherwell, Kilmarnock and more feature in Volume 2 as well as a lengthy look at Hampden.
Steve also looks at grounds that no longer exist as football venues, such as Third Lanark’s Cathkin Park, Clyde’s Shawfield Park, and Falkirk’s Brockville!
There are also chapters focusing on aspects of football grounds that have been forgotten – dugouts, segregation divides and more.
These are the places where your grandfather, father, uncles, brothers and friends exulted and cursed. This is where you remember them at their best, at their happiest. Every football fan reveres their home ground, but also travelled. Perhaps it was the ‘away days’ that were the best of all. And all those scenes – of triumph and disaster, joy and despair – are here.
Published in 2018.
by Steve Finan
Three years in the making, Steve has brought together a fabulous selection of archive images, some never-before-seen or have lain unseen for decades in the archive.
Looking at grounds across the country, each volume contains around 700 photos of Scottish football grounds, players and crowd scenes.
Former Scotland international, Leanne Crichton (Volume 3) provide forewords football fans will love as they start their nostalgic trip down memory lane.
