Hunting the Hooligans

In the notorious 1980s, football violence was rife. The yobs were rampant, crowds were falling and the Government was near despair. One of the worst gangs was a multi-racial crew of thugs who followed Birmingham City FC. They looted shops, ransacked pubs and butchered rivals, and called themselves the Zulu Warriors.

Following a bloody assault on one of their own, West Midlands Police set up a secret unit to infiltrate the Zulus and bring them down. Michael Layton, an ambitious and determined detective, assembled a small team in a secret location to gather evidence on scores of targets. Operation Red Card was born. It was fraught with danger. A key informant played a deadly game to leak intelligence about the
gang. Undercover officers endured the constant threat of exposure and reprisal. Others faced arrest by unwitting colleagues when caught up in brawls while posing as hooligans.

The climax came with dawn raids to round up the ringleaders. But similar mass trials had collapsed in court. Would the evidence stand up? Hunting The Hooligans is the first ever inside account of an anti-hooligan operation by the man who ran it, and of the brave cops who pushed it to the limit.