Casual (subculture)

This article is about the hooligan subculture. For the style of clothing, see Casual. For the football club, see Casuals F.C. For the band, see The Casuals.

The casual subculture is a subsection of association football culture that is typified by football hooliganism and the wearing of expensive designer clothing (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 and Lacoste 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 to other football fans — in Peter Storm jackets, straight-leg jeans and Adidas trainers. 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.

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.

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, 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, is a British anti-Islamic protest group that formed in 2009. It is closely affiliated with the English Defence League, a far right street protest movement which opposes what it sees as the spread of Islamism, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in England.

See also

• Chav
• Lad culture
• List of hooligan firms
• List of subcultures
• Prole drift
• Scallie
• Yobbo

External links

• Casual Dress Essential article from The Guardian
• Emotional Hooligan: Post-Subcultural Research and the Histories of Britain's Football Gangs
• Transforming the terraces article from Times Online (requires log-in)