Football Film Thursdays: The Football Factory

After the piss-poor RISE OF THE FOOTSOLDIER the other week, I'm glad to have to report now on something 'slightly' better. To be honest, scraping a mound of dog muck on the telly and watching that for two hours would be more entertaining than FOOTSOLDIER was.

Anyway, on to THE FOOTBALL FACTORY.

Directed by Nick Love (whom you'll hear plenty about in this series) - this 2004 released British film has earned itself a place in the hearts of fans across the world - I presume with a heavy sense of irony.

The film follows Danny Dyer's main character Tommy - a football hooligan who forms part of a gang who follow Chelsea across the country getting into various scraps and scrapes - all to a soundtrack of wonderfully colourful language.

Incredible lines such as "Fuck off" and "Fuck off you mug" and "Fuck off you muggy twat" are sprinkled into the piece giving it a real taste of the artistic.

Tommy's story is intercut with a B-plot involving younger fans getting into the lifestyle, and as Tommy begins to doubt whether his meatheaded ways are indeed the right path to follow, the story culminates in a pitched battle between the Chelsea and Millwall firms, where Tommy is severely beaten and ends up in the hospital.

Supposedly the film earned £623,000 during its theatrical run - and no doubt countless billions and billions from its run on ITV3 once every three or four days in the 11 years since it came out.

This is a modern day classic - of course it's absolute pish - but if it's on the telly I'll be watching.

Verdict: 3/5