“Powerfully written and tells you more about the mentality of those who disrupt football matches than all the theses of the sociologist academics put together.” “Bleak, thought-provoking and brutal, The Football Factory has all the hallmarks of a cult novel.” This book should be compulsory reading for all those who believe in the existence, or even the attainability, of a classless society.” “King’s novel is not only an outstanding read, but also an important social document…. Buy, steal or borrow a copy now, because in a short time anyone who hasn’t read it won’t be worth talking to.” “Only a phenomenally talented and empathetic writer working from within his own culture can achieve the power and authenticity this book pulses with. Graphic and disturbing, at times very funny, The Football Factory is a rush of literary adrenalin. It is about the insulted, marginalised, unseen. The Football Factory is a book about modern-day pariahs, people reduced to the level of statistics by years of hypocritical, self-serving party politics. As the book unfolds both come to their own crossroads and have important decisions to make. Born at another time, they could have been the other. Tommy and Bill have shared feelings, but express their views in different ways. He is a strong, principled character who sees the self-serving political and media classes for what they are. He is a violent man, at the same time moral and intelligent.īill, meanwhile, is a former Second World War hero who helped liberate a concentration camp and married a survivor. Outside of work, he is a lively, outspoken character, living for his time with a gang of football hooligans, the excitement of their fights and the comradeship he finds with his friends. Tommy is angry at his situation in life and those running the country.

The Football Factory is driven by its two main characters-late-twenties warehouseman Tommy Johnson and retired ex-soldier Bill Farrell.

The football factory novel