About Football Hooligans: Stories of violence, racism and gang culture in the eighties

A polite warning that it is quite a gritty episode this week, and there is also some uncomfortable language throughout. This week our guest is Riaz Khan, who is a university lecturer, author, and former football hooligan. He shares his fascinating story of being a member of Leicester's 'Baby Squad throughout the eighties, which includes graphic descriptions of violence, memories of racial abuse he experienced and how fashion played a part in gang culture. We also discuss the glamorisation of football hooliganism in the films, and how Riaz looks back at his time in the firm now.

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Joe Marler used to hate people, but then he met Tom Fordyce, and a load of ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and a podcast was born that changed his mind forever. It might just change your life too.

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• No. of episodes: 342
• Latest episode: 2025-05-01
• Society & Culture

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