Sully – Grafting for England: Following England in Hooliganism’s Golden Age

The early 1980s was a golden age for football hooliganism and shoplifting in Europe. With security forces on the continent yet to fully realise the extent of the English Disease and security relaxed in even the most expensive shops, Europe was ripe for pillage and Sully was one of many to take full advantage - funding his trips following the national team with ill-gotten gains. As a member of Manchester City's notorious Mayne Line Service Crew which was accustomed to far stricter security and suspicion back in England. Using the cover of fellow England fans as cover Tony reveals the secrets of his success in "Grafting for England" - the follow-up to "Sully: The Football Thug Who Didn't Give a Fuck..." (9781901746532, GBP8.95) published by Empire Publications in 2009. As Tony makes clear, the football wars in England didn't necessarily stop when hooligans from all over the country got together to follow the national side. Fights would regularly be sparked off between different factions supporting the Three Lions and even a trip to Wembley could catch unsuspecting patriots unawares. Sully has followed England over most of the continent for the best part of 30 years - from the notorious 1980 European Championship where the England team were forced to play through a cloud of tear gas, to the slaughter of the innocents in Rome in the late 90s, where Italian scooter boys slashed anyone looking remotely English. The hairiest moments though are reserved for trips into the former Soviet Bloc with the Poles, in particular, lending a unique lunacy to trips to Chorzow and Warsaw. In between Sully recalls his frequent inactive periods at Her Majesty's Pleasure including his involvement in the notorious Strangeways Riot and the demise of his grafting career abroad following the confiscation of his passport. Of course, it being Sully, comedy is never far away particularly when lads' trips to Greece and Portugal don't go quite as planned.