Cass Pennant
| Cass Pennant | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 6, 1958 Doncaster, South Yorkshire |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | English |
| Period | 2002-present |
| Subjects | Football, Football hooliganism |
|
www.casspennant.com |
|
Carol "Cass" Pennant (born 6 March 1958), is an English writer and former football hooligan.[1][2][3]
Contents |
[edit] Background
Pennant's mother emigrated from Jamaica while pregnant and he was born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Six weeks old, he was abandoned and was placed into a Dr. Barnardo's Home. As a black baby, Pennant was fostered by an elderly white family in Slade Green, Kent where he was the only black person, and where he states he was "bullied from day one" year after year, and beaten persistently - "Not just from rivals or other kids, the whole town. Imagine as a kid, you're picked out; people in vehicles shouting out at you, total strangers."[3]
Pennant had been christened Carol (a common boy's name in parts of the West Indies, but unusual as a boy's name in England) by his biological mother, which was also a source of bullying for him, particularly at school. After he saw the boxer Cassius Clay beat Henry Cooper he adopted the name Cass.[3]
The 6'4[citation needed] Pennant was a member, and leader, of the Inter City Firm (ICF) associated with the English football club, West Ham United in the 1970s.[2] He was eventually sentenced to four years in prison and was the first football hooligan to be arrested for what he was doing.[citation needed] After a second time in prison he started running a night club security firm in London.[citation needed] When he refused someone entry to a nightclub in South London, he was shot three times.[citation needed] The paramedics who came to see to him did not believe he was going to make it, and were thus surprised when he woke up after a couple of days.[citation needed] Pennant began writing his autobiography, the first time he was in prison on books that were given to him in English classes but they were seized from him.[citation needed] The second time he went to prison he started again but this time smuggled the books out and that was the beginning of Cass, which was published in 2002.
In 2002, Pennant appeared on the Channel 4 documentary, Football's Fight Club about football hooliganism in the 1970s.[4] He has been a consultant on television programmes such as The Real Football Factories and The Real Football Factories International.[3] He also worked as a consultant and played a cameo role as a riot police officer in the 2005 drama film about football hooliganism, Green Street[1] [5]
In 2006 he had a documentary made about him 'Cass Pennant - Enough Said' (Gangster Videos) directed by Liam Galvin, and in 2008 a film was made based on Pennant's life story, Cass, starring Nonso Anozie as Pennant, and directed by Jon S. Baird.[2] In 2010, he played a leading role in the movie Killer Bitch.[6]
[edit] Bibliography
- Author
- Cass (2002)
- Congratulations, You Have Just Met the ICF (2003)
- Top Boys: True Stories of Football's Hardest Men (2006)
- Co-author
- Rolling with the 6.57 Crew: The True Story of Pompey's Legendary Football Fans (2004)
- Terrace Legends (2005)
- Good Afternoon, Gentlemen, the Name's Bill Gardner (2006)
- 30 Years of Hurt: A History of England's Hooligan Army (2006)
- Want Some Aggro? (2007)
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Cass Pennant Author & Hooliologist". http://www.casspennant.com/. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
- ^ a b c Solomons, Jason (2008-04-27). "Trailer Trash - Fila dealer". The Observer. http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2276490,00.html. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
- ^ a b c d Leitch, Luke (2008-06-16). "Enough with the tough from a boy named Carol". London: The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article4130879.ece. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
- ^ Kilner, Martin (2002-04-29). "Welcome to the Top Ten Rumbles". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2002/apr/29/sport.comment. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
- ^ Bellos, Alex (2005-03-01). "Hollywood wakes up to the call of the world's biggest game". The Guardian. http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,1427964,00.html. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
- ^ "British Council: The British Films Catalogue". http://www.britfilms.com/britishfilms/catalogue/browse/?id=4F42658A1d84d23627wYN240B50B.
