Chelsea beat Newcastle United 1-0 that day, although Kelvin, standing just two foot tall, was able to see precious little of the action. Nevertheless, it heralded the beginning of a love affair which lasts to this very day.

By the time the Eighties arrived, Kelvin was a fully paid-up member of the blue army, and had already witnessed more ups and downs than an average adult movie as a result… and it got a whole lot worse before it got better.

But it did get better, and in Celery! – Representing Chelsea in the 1980s, Kelvin has gathered together the thoughts and recollections of twelve star performers of the time, to add to his own memories of an incredible decade for the Blues. From his own amusing tales of hugging skipper Colin Pates on the hallowed Stamford Bridge turf and serenading Bob Geldof in the King’s Road, through to the incredible behind-the-scenes stories as told by the players themselves – the mysterious case of Mickey Thomas’ disappearing gold chain, how a kick in the head made Joey Jones a fans’ favourite, the role physio Norman Medhurst’s hair played in David Speedie’s departure from the club, and many more – this book lays bare the facts of representing Chelsea in the 1980s, as recalled by those who were there.

“A little bit of nostalgia mixed in with some extraordinarily accurate history… it provides an authoritative education on an important time for the club.”

Pat Nevin – March 2006

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Chelsea Here Chelsea There

Picture the scene, August 25th 1984, Highbury Stadium, London. Thousands upon thousands of expectant Chelsea fans have congregated at the stately home of aristocratic Arsenal to celebrate the return of the Blues to the old First Division.

A quarter of a century ago Chelsea were a very different proposition to the club they are today. A luckless Cinderella outfit on the brink of financial extinction, they were represented by an inexpensively assembled team of relatively unknown players. Despite this, the Blues were able to command a phenomenal away support seldom bettered by the leading clubs of the day and inconceivable in the modern era.

Set against a detailed background recalling life in Thatcherite Britain, Chelsea Here Chelsea There is a flawless time capsule for Blues fans seeking a trip down memory lane or those on the lookout for enlightenment in the ways of the old school. An assemblage of fascinating player interviews, rare and previously unseen photographs and the anecdotal recollections of a broad cross section of Blues fans present on that special day give Chelsea Here Chelsea There an endearingly nostalgic flavour.

Dixon, Nevin, Speedie. Johnny Neal s Blue and White army swathed in Le Coq Sportif. Frankie say slogan T-shirts, Hi-NRG music and the lunatic hooligan fringe, Chelsea Here Chelsea There incorporates them all with gusto along with plenty more and provides a welcome shot in the arm for any fan seeking an antidote to today s sterile football environment.

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BULLY C.F.C: The Life and Crimes of a Chelsea Head-hunter

Gaetano Buglioni writes openly and with great humour about his life with the Chelsea Head-Hunters. He writes about the arrests, the court appearances and his tumultuous relationship with the police. He also charts his near fatal stabbing in a Paris backstreet, his cocaine addiction and his fight for life after a massive heart attack. Buglioni hung out with Johnny Rotten and is a long-time friend of Ray Winstone’s.

Features a foreword by John King, the bestselling author of The Football Factory.

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It’s July 2006, the World Cup has just finished in dismal penalty shootout failure for England and back to back Premiership champions Chelsea FC are preparing for the new season with a squad bolstered by the high profile signings of Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko.

Surfing on a wave of optimism, buoyed by the outspoken confidence of manager Jose Mourinho, Marco and the rest of the Gate 17 boys return to Stamford Bridge in expectant mood, high on hope and talking about the Blues winning an unprecedented quadruple of trophies.

“One Man Went To Mow”, the eagerly anticipated follow up to Mark Worrall’s cult terrace classic, “Over Land and Sea”, chronicles the ongoing adventures of a colourful group of Chelsea supporters as they follow their teams quest for glory. In true gloriously unpredictable fashion, the season unravels against a backdrop of injuries, boardroom disquiet and growing media speculation about the future of the Special One, Mr Mourinho.Having retraced his Gate 17 roots, Marco sets out to explain the mythical concept of ‘Being Chels’, the peerless state of true blue mind that followers of Chelsea’s rivals struggle to come to terms with.

Drawing his conclusions from impromptu encounters with Blues fanatics he meets en-route, including club owner, Mr Abramovich, Marco is left in no doubt that Chelsea Football Club is an association, a fellowship of mankind founded on the commonly shared belief that what goes around comes around and that when it comes around you should make the most of it because it might not come around again for years.

From Sofia to Barcelona, Bremen to Porto, Valencia to Liverpool and Stamford Bridge to Wembley, “One Man Went To Mow”, is a uniquely entertaining, vibrant and fascinating fly on the wall travelogue of one fans near religious quest for footballing redemption.

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The following Saturday we’re setting our equipment up on the pitch in
front of the then main (east ) stand, ground starts to fill up, about 15 –20,000 in at this point (about 2pm). We run through 5 songs to a good response , polite round of applause and no abuse! Pat Nevin the only indie footballer of the day wrote about us, some major labels invited us in for demos, our hype was better than the sound of the band, we released a indie single and faded away, that was that.

At least we can always say we started at stadiums and worked our way down.

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It chronicles the rise of one of Scotland’s original foot…ball casual groups, pioneering the fashion that was to become central to the Saturday afternoon fracas in town centres and at football grounds all over Scotland. Some of these exploits (out of a collection of literally hundreds) are well documented within the book, with photographs and words telling the real story behind the newspaper headlines.

In the 1990s, as getting arrested every Saturday afternoon began to lose its appeal, football took a back seat as Scotland’s rave and club culture exploded with the introduction of ‘that pill’. This was then followed in the new millennium by a new generation taking up the mantle that had been set in the early eighties.

Enjoy the read. Two years in the making, 3 nervous breakdowns, 25 personal accounts of featured events, over 200 pages in full fucking colour (never been done before), 45 fashion pages, over 500 photographs, 75 designer labels, umpteen spelling mistakes, 25 scrapbook pages, 78 pairs of training shoes, 8000 shapes thrown on the dancefloor and that much raving your adidas Gazelles had holes in them … Get the book

What did they stand for? What made them tick? All make for a story that  needs to be told in depth. This extraordinary insightful film strips away the myths and tells the truth about the casual phenomenon that swept Britain and left a lasting legacy.

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Casuals: Football, Fighting and Fashion – The Story of a Terrace Cult

This book is a must for anyone interested in the casual culture from its inception in the late 70′s to the modern day. It predominantly centres on the clothes and music of the periods concerned, and describes how the style has evolved, putting it into context with the skinhead, two-tone movement and mod revival which coincided with its early beginnings.

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Life as a Chelsea Headhunter: It's Only a Game

Optical illusions are the stuff of magic – harmless entertainment conjured up to both enthral and amaze, aren’t they? Well, maybe not, as it s not quite so amusing if the stunt takes the form of an episode of the BBC s groundbreaking documentary series MacIntyre Undercover on organised football hooliganism, the wizardry is conducted by unscrupulous investigative journalists posing as big-time drug dealers, and as a result the unwitting participant in the trick, avid Chelsea supporter Jason Marriner, is charged with conspiracy to commit violent disorder and affray, together with his friend Andy Frain, and Jason ends up with a six-year jail sentence for a crime he didn t commit.

This is Jason s chance to put the record straight, present the facts from his own perspective and challenge the reader, who may well have been one of the 7.4 million documentary viewers, to decide whether the programme actually revealed the ugly face of football violence , or indeed showed him plotting or committing any violence whatsoever, or whether the original 344 hours worth of footage, secretly filmed over a period of 18 months, were distorted beyond recognition by cutting, editing and stitching together clips from the original sequences to achieve the programme s aim at any cost.

Jason would be the first to admit that in the past he had been a nuisance on the terraces, but this was the late 1990s and, with a wife, children and his own business, he had done a lot of growing up and moving on. Fortunately, he had also developed the strength of character needed to survive in prison with humour, dignity and determination, and he shares his insights of life behind bars as he tried to work with the system, despite the knock-backs, in order to make it work for him in return. Good will always follow bad is Jason s admirable philosophy about his experiences, but this shocking real-life story serves as a warning to all: this could so easily happen to you. Get the Book

England Away

Having examined England’s twin obsessions – violence and sex – in THE FOOTBALL FACTORY and HEADHUNTERS, John King completes his trilogy with ENGLAND AWAY: sex and violence abroad, under the Union Jack. The novel works on three levels – past, present and future – as pensioner Bill Farrell remembers his war experiences in a London pub, Tommy Johnson fights his way through Holland and Germany for an England football match in Berlin, and Harry considers the future fuelled by doses of Dutch skunk and German speed.

John King’s powerful new novel looks at notions of what it means to be English. Exploring stereotypes of language and nationalism, the primal pulls of lust and aggression, ENGLAND AWAY culminates in a unity of the tribes and a blitzkreig in the streets of Berlin. Get The Book