CLOBBER is a great read and for me it’s a chance to reminisce on the golden era or I would say for the youngsters an opportunity to educate yourself. I was expecting some pictorial content as we all like to see the garments we worked hard for or got by other means, but if its pictures you want to see you then there is another book launched at the same time that you should grab, called “The little book of Casuals” which is a great little book looking at the illustrations of those early garments.

Roo is a Stoke fan, and knows many of the N40, a well-respected group of lads who I remember so well being a Grimsby lad. We had a couple of great games with them back in the early 90s, which were lively days out at the Victoria ground & Blundell Park. I also remember going there in an FA cup 3rd round game before they made it to the premier league, and it was still lively in the car park by the Harvester at 7pm after the game finished at 4:45. I remember going to Falaraki, in the early 90s meeting a group of 20 or so N40 lads, was a great holiday.

The 346 page book looks at the whole subculture subject with the casual movement being the last real subculture arena, how it all started and where it started again a matter of opinion (The NW ☺), also looking at the changes & how quick labels moved on, you had saved you hard earned cash to get that next piece but times had already moved on. When I look back from when I got into the scene, I was transitioning from being a MOD to a causal in 82”, you could cry when you think of what you would still have in your collection today even if you needed a shoe horn to make it fit, back then we would swap, sell and part ex to keep “en vogue”, if we knew now what we knew then, that’s why the book also talks to Neil Primett and other contributors from “80s casuals” who have done an amazing job of resurrecting and recreating some of those brands. For me the comeback of the Benetton Rugby shirt was a real coo, I had searched high and low for 20 years to get my hands back on one. It also looks at the new generation of casual followers, many of whom have followed in their dads footsteps where not only the fashion has been handed down but also the football & music. At Knebworth last year for the Liam gigs you could see dads & lads alike adorning fashion & enjoying the mutual taste in music.