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Henry Griffin (Hoolicards) Jamie Holman (Artist) and Fergal Kinney (Journalist) discuss the politics, design literacy and cultural hierarchies associated with 1980s football fandom with a focus on one specific object - the hoolicard.
These cards, distributed by hooligan firms on away days, embody an authentic DIY aesthetic, that is more outsider, more tribal and, in some senses, more punk than punk itself ever was. Due to the closed nature of the terraces and the association with criminality, right-wing politics and violence, the cards have never made it into the ‘culture canon’; whereas ‘sniffin glue’ along with the plethora of hand-collaged, naïve, photocopied fanzines that also emerged in towns and cities across the country in the late 1970’s and early 1980s, are held in major museum collections. The impact then, is that there is a paucity of writing, discussion, analysis or general visibility regarding these objects, but they remain cultural artefacts that speak of identity, of politics and of class. They also remain an important aspect in the narrative of the evolution of fandom and of the wider culture of the game itself. They are an important part of the story in terms of how we understand the classification of culture in this country.
How did those Chelsea Headhunters of the 1980s become Arts Council England's "a quiet pint with the match"
LOCATION: 99-103 Long Acre, WC2E 9NR
DATE: Thursday 27th June
TIME: 7 - 8:30pm