Bill Gardner: The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Product Information

Football for Bill was a way of escaping the grim reality and finding friends he came to consider family. Gardner, Bill; Pennant, Cass (2006). Good Afternoon, Gentlemen, the Name's Bill Gardner. Blake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84454-261-1. Gardner was arrested by the Metropolitan police in 1987 as part of Operation Fulltime. [3] [7] [8] The aim of this police operation was to bring football hooligans to justice. [9]

Born in Hornchurch, Essex, [1] Gardner came to prominence in the 1970s as a supporter of West Ham United and as a member of the Mile End Boys and not firm, the I.C.F. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] The ICF pioneered calling cards that were left on victims. [5] They read "Congratulations, you have just met the ICF". [6] Calling cards would also become popular at other football clubs. For Bill, fighting people off was just a way of protecting his friends and has never landed him with a criminal record. Following a renewed interest by the public in the 21st century in football hooliganism of the 1970s and 1980s, Gardner featured prominently on the cover of fellow I.C.F. member Cass Pennant's 2003 book " Congratulations, You Have Just Met the I. C. F." [10] In 2005 Gardner published his autobiography " Good Afternoon, Gentlemen, the Name's Bill Gardner" detailing his involvement in hooliganism. [11] The book was co-written with Cass Pennant. [11]I always loved football, always played it and used to go. When I was homeless, it’s a pretty lonely existence so for six days of the week I survived, lived the one day when I went to the football with my mates." Pennant, Cass (2003). Congratulations, You Have Just Met the I. C. F. John Blake Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781904034858.

Jason Allday (22 July 2014). JUNIOR: Villains, Hooligans and Scoundrels A testament to the social icons in our lives and the friends I keep. AuthorHouse. pp.6–. ISBN 978-1-4969-2687-6. The ICF again came to prominence in 2018 when former members re-grouped as the Real West Ham Fans Action Group, organising protests against the club board. [7] [8] In popular culture [ edit ]The ICF were the basis of Alan Clarke's 1988 film, The Firm. Gary Oldman plays Bex Bissell, the leader of the ICC - Inter City Crew. Members of the ICF were used as consultants on the film. [1] The 2005 film Green Street (and its sequels) are also based on the ICF, but instead the initials GSE ('Green Street Elite') were used. The ICF make an appearance in Irvine Welsh's novellas Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance.

a b Gardner, Bill (2006). Good Afternoon, Gentlemen, the Name's Bill Gardner. John Blake Publishing Ltd. p.1. ISBN 9781844542611. Pennant, Cass (2003). Congratulations, You Have Just Met the I. C. F. John Blake Publishing. p.61. ISBN 9781904034858. Jonas Nyrup; Tom Carstensen (2011). Hooligan: de danske broderskaber; respekten, æren, rusen. Lindhardt og Ringhof. pp.142–. ISBN 978-87-11-41781-2. In the very late 1980s, the ICF was regularly linked to the UK pirate radio station Centreforce through its founder Andy Swallow. Swallow was a one-time member of the Essex East London Firm also.The film shows an incident involving Gardner and the I.C.F. fighting supporters of Manchester United, the Red Army, on the terraces at Old Trafford where he starts a fight by throwing a hot Bovril drink over an opposing fan. [14] This mirrors a real life incident where Gardner himself had hot tea thrown over him by Manchester United fans. [15] The Inter City Firm ( ICF) is an English football hooligan firm associated with West Ham United, which was mainly active in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. The name came from the use of InterCity trains to travel to away games. [1] They were the subject of a 1985 Thames Television documentary, Hooligan. [2] [3] History [ edit ] Bill Gardner got into football hooliganism aged 12, but said that he saw himself as a survivor. (Image: Bill Gardner)