Soul Crew

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The Soul Crew are a football hooligan firm linked to the Welsh football club, Cardiff City.

1 Origins
2 Soul Crew book and film project
3 See also
4 References
5 Further reading

[edit] Origins

The Soul Crew name was adopted by hooligan followers of Cardiff City in the 1980s, and it continues to be used.^[1] They were featured in the 2002 documentary series, Hooligans on BBC.^[2]^[3]

[edit] Soul Crew book and film project

The activities of the group have been documented in the book Soul Crew, by David Jones and Tony Rivers, which is currently under development as a film with Irvine Welsh at the helm. The film though drew criticism in January 2008 from Cardiff City, the local Cardiff North Member of Parliament, Julie Morgan and supporters of the club, with the clubs Supporters Club issuing a statement saying, "Hooliganism is being glorified by the media yet again and we're not pleased. There is no organised trouble at Cardiff - nothing goes on. The film will misrepresent fans - we're not raving lunatics. The book wasn't a brilliant read. If this film comes out, it will sour relations with police forces and we will have to start all over again." and claiming that portraying the Soul Crew in a film would encourage rival hooligan firms to "claim the Soul Crew's scalp at violent meetings." Local MP Julie Morgan added that, "My fear is that it would glamorise the Soul Crew and give the story publicity that we do not really want. It could cause further problems for Cardiff City and for the image of Cardiff." Tony Rivers one of the book authors though claimed, "I don't think a film that comes out now or in a couple of years is going to affect Cardiff City or Cardiff." adding that he felt that the film adaptation would offer a true-life portrayal of football violence.^[1]

In May 2004, about 250 members of the Soul Crew attended a private viewing of the film The Football Factory before it went on general release in the United Kingdom at the invitation of the films director, Nick Love. Many of them were due to appear in the Soul Crew film, most playing themselves.^[4]