Hooliganism may often be deemed 'the English disease', yet increasingly some of the most violent supporters come not from the UK but from the continent. The banner 'Welcome to Hell' that was waved at Manchester United fans when they visited Galatasaray a few years ago became horribly true when two Leeds supporters were murdered by Turkish fans in 2000. But this was only one example of the increasing tide of shocking behaviour that was taking place in Italy, Holland, Germany and elsewhere. In his first non-fiction book for three years, Brimson charts the growth of this new trend and explains the reasons behind this wave of violence. He asks what UEFA and the authorities can do to solve the problems, and presents some of his own solutions.
Having written 14 books and a multi award winning feature film in under 15 years, former serviceman Dougie Brimson has emerged as one of Britain's most prolific writers.
After 18 years service with the Royal Air Force -including both the Falklands and Gulf War 1- the ex-Sergeant engineer's literary career began in 1996 when he co-wrote a book based on his experiences as a soccer casual entitled Everywhere We Go.
This groundbreaking work examined the culture of soccer fandom from the inside and has become essential reading for anyone with an interest in the game and its supporters. A further 13 books have followed ranging from controversial non-fiction to fictional comedy and their success has established the author as one of the worlds leading authorities on the issues of both the game and lad culture.
His latest book, The Art Of Fart, is his first e-xclusive and takes him back into the world on non-politically correct comedy!
Widely acknowledged as one of the games most vocal anti-violence and anti-racism campaigners, Dougie has acted as an advisor to both the British governments working group into soccer disorder and the European commissions' soccer group. He has also written extensively for various magazines, newspapers and websites including The Sun, The Times, The New York Times, The Guardian. Loaded, Four-Four-Two magazine, About.com and Soccer 365.
In 2003 Dougie made the move into screenwriting first with the critically acclaimed short movie IT'S A CASUAL LIFE and then with his first full length feature, the Hollywood funded GREEN STREET HOOLIGANS starring Elijah Wood. Following its release in September 2005, the film won numerous awards including:
Narrative Jury Prize - SXSW Film Festival
Narrative Feature Audience - SXSW Film Festival
Best of Festival - Malibu Film Festival
Jury Award (feature) - Malibu Film Festival
Official Selection - Tribeca Film Festival
After a successful worldwide cinema release, the movie went on to sell over 80,000 DVD units during its first week on sale in the UK alone.
TV and radio credits include Sky News, BBC News, BBC News24, NBC, CBN, ESPN, Talk Radio and Radio 5 Live whilst Dougie has also produced and presented two motorsport series for Granada Television as well as working as a presenter for Bravo TV. In 2007, he also produced a motorsport series for Channel 5 in the UK covering the sport of BrisCA Formula One Stock Car racing.
The fact that he has been so prolific has not gone unnoticed within the media industry and this has led to an increasing number of requests to input ideas into creative projects including two major internet projects one of which was the first ever on-line soap opera for children.
Dougie is currently working on a new hooligan based movie for a major British production company whilst ongoing projects include screenplays for the forthcoming Brit-zombie flick Killerweed (currently in pre-production), Mister One Hundred (a biography of Welsh darts legend Leighton Rees. Currently in pre-production), Wings of a Sparrow (a football based comedy), Soldier, Soldier (based around the war in Afghanistan) and an adaptation of his own novel, Top Dog.
