Casual (subculture)

The casual subculture is a subsection of association football culture that is typified by football hooliganism and the wearing of expensive designer clothing[1][2][3][4][5] (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 such as Stone Island, CP Company, L'alpina, Lacoste, Sergio Tacchini, Fila and Ellesse 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, The Firm and The Football Factory.

History

The designer clothing and fashion aspect of the casual subculture began in the mid-to-late 1970s. One well documented precursor, according to Nicky Allt, was the trend of Liverpool youths starting to dress differently from other football fans — in Peter Storm jackets, straight-leg jeans and Adidas trainers.[6] Liverpool F.C. fans were the first British football fans to wear continental European fashions, which they picked up while following their teams at matches in Europe.[7]

The other documented precursor, according to Colin Blaney, was a subculture known as Perry Boys, which originated in the mid-1970s as a precursor to the casuals. The Perry Boys subculture consisted of Manchester football hooligans styling their hair into a flick and wearing sportswear, Fred Perry shirts and Dunlop Green Flash trainers.[8]

The casual style and subculture had no name at first, and was merely considered a smart look. It evolved and grew in the early 1980s into a huge subculture characterised by expensive sportswear brands such as Fila, Sergio Tacchini and Diadora, reaching its zenith around 1982 or 1983, from whereon the look changed to designer brands such as Armani.

Casuals United, also known as UK Casuals United,[9] is a British anti-Islamic protest group that formed in 2009.[10] It is closely affiliated with the English Defence League,[11] a far right[12][13][14][15][16] street protest movement which opposes the spread of Islamism, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in England.[17][18]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Barry Didcock (8 May 2005). "Casuals: The Lost Tribe of Britain: They dressed, andf still dress, cool and fought". The Sunday Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  2. ↑ Steve Redhead (Autumn 2004). "Hit and Tell: a Review Essay on the Soccer Hooligan Memoir" (PDF). Soccer and Society. 5 (3): 392–403. doi:10.1080/1466097042000279625.
  3. ↑ Juliet Ash, Lee Wright (chapter author: Deborah Lloyd) (1988). "Assemblage and subculture: the Casuals and their clothing". In Routledge. Components of dress: design, manufacturing, and image-making in the fashion industry (illustrated ed.). pp. 100–106. ISBN 0-415-00647-3.
  4. ↑ James Hamilton (8 May 2005). "Pundit says: 'learn to love the casuals'". The Sunday Herald 2005-05-08.
  5. ↑ Ken Gelder (chapter author: Phil Cohen) (2005). "Subcultural conflict". In Routledge. The Subcultures Reader. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-415-34416-6. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
  6. ↑ Allt, Nicholas (2004). The Boys From The Mersey (first ed.). MILO. pp. 39–54. ISBN 1 903854 39 3.
  7. ↑ "bbc-british style genius". 2013-08-19. Retrieved 2013-08-19.
  8. ↑ Blaney, Colin (2014). Undesirables. John Blake. p. 7. ISBN 978-1782198970.
  9. ↑ "'Overstretched' police advise Luton Town FC to reschedule match to avoid protest against Islamic extremists". Mail Online. 2 September 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  10. ↑ Casuals United set for Bank Holiday return to Birmingham after violent riots, Sunday Mercury, 16 August 2009
  11. ↑ Jenkins, Russell (13 August 2009). "Former Football Hooligans Regroup in Far-right Casuals United". The Times. London. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  12. ↑ Preventing violent extremism: sixth report of session 2009–10
  13. ↑ Allen, Chris (2010). "Fear and Loathing: the Political Discourse in Relation to Muslims and Islam in the British Contemporary Setting" (PDF). Politics and Religion. 4: 221–236. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  14. ↑ Garland, Jon; Treadwell, James (2010). "'No Surrender to the Taliban': Football Hooliganism,Islamophobia and the Rise of the English Defence League" (PDF). Papers from the British Criminology Conference. 10: 19–35. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  15. ↑ Telegraph.co.uk
  16. ↑ Guardian.co.uk
  17. ↑ Timesonline.co.uk
  18. ↑ Guardian.co.uk

Further reading

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