The Football Factory (film)

The Football Factory is a 2004 British sports drama film written by AJ Lovell and directed by Nick Love and starring Danny Dyer, Tamer Hassan, Frank Harper, Roland Manookian, Neil Maskell and Dudley Sutton. The film is loosely based on the novel of the same name by John King and the first foray into filmmaking by video game producers Rockstar Games (publishers of games such as the Grand Theft Auto series, among others), credited as executive producers. The film was released in the United Kingdom on 14 May 2004.

Plot
Tommy Johnson (Danny Dyer) is a member of a violent Chelsea hooligan firm. His friends and fellow hooligans include Tommy's best friend Rod King (Neil Maskell), the hot-tempered Billy Bright (Frank Harper), and impulsive younger members Zeberdee (Roland Manookian) and Raf (Calum MacNab). Tommy spends his days drinking, using drugs, womanising and fighting, much to the disappointment of his grandfather Bill Farrell (Dudley Sutton), a pensioner and veteran who plans to move to Australia with his best friend Albert (John Junkin).

Tommy has an epiphany about his lifestyle during a fight with the Tottenham hooligan firm. Tommy, Billy and Rod are arrested for assaulting two Stoke City fans whilst travelling to an away match. These actions draw the fury of Harris (Tony Denham), the leader of the Chelsea firm, whose attempts to keep order are thwarted by Billy's aggressive outbursts.

Rod begins a relationship with Tamara (Sophie Linfield), the court clerk at their arraignment, and she pressures him to skip his weekend meets. Zeberdee and his friend Raff accidentally burgle Billy's house and are forced to stand in his living room, whilst Billy's children throw darts at them. Billy deals with his increasing loneliness after he overhears Harris discussing his irrelevance. Bill's plan to retire to Australia are postponed, when Albert dies the night before they are to leave.

Early in the film, Tommy is caught and held hostage by the brother of Sian (Michele Hallak), a girl he picked up at a club. He is saved when Rod hits the man on the head with a cricket bat. Sian's brother turns out to also be the brother of the rival Millwall firm's leader, Fred (Tamer Hassan), who then hunts Tommy down throughout the entire film. The film culminates in a pitched battle between the Chelsea and Millwall firms. Rod (after a few espressos and a line of cocaine), leaves a dinner with Tamara's parents after offending them, and attends the "meet". Tommy is severely beaten by Fred and a group of Millwall hooligans, and ends up in the hospital with Bill, who, in the meantime, has suffered a heart attack.

At the end of the film, a crippled Tommy decides that his place is at the firm with his friends, Bill gets cured and moves to Australia and Billy Bright is incarcerated for seven years after being arrested at the Millwall meet (whilst saving Harris from being arrested). Zeberdee is killed by a drug dealer, whom he had previously mugged, fulfilling a recurring nightmare that tormented Tommy throughout the film. In a pre-credits slideshow, Tommy is shown to have since moved on to watching Rugby. However, this is only a joke and he has not actually started to watch rugby.

Cast

 * Danny Dyer — Tommy Johnson, a disillusioned twenty-nine-year-old, who lives for the weekend football matches. The build-up of the derby between Millwall and Chelsea causes his life and mental-health to deteriorate as he tries to escape from his dangerous surroundings.
 * Frank Harper — Billy Bright is a man around forty, part of the older generation of the Firm. Throughout the film it is shown that he wants to be the leader of the firm but lacks the composure needed.
 * Neil Maskell — Rod King, Tommy's best friend and sidekick, carelessly strolling along the path led by his mates.
 * Roland Manookian — Zeberdee, younger breed coming through the ranks of Chelsea, his life has already run into a cul-de-sac of crime and drugs. With nothing to lose and no one to look out for him, Zeberdee aspires to be a future top boy; unfortunately, his naivety gets him into trouble.
 * Calum McNab — Raff, Zeberdee's best friend.
 * Tamer Hassan — Fred, the vicious head of the rival Millwall hooligan firm, an arch enemy of Chelsea. The war begins when Tommy gets caught by Fred’s brother having a one-night stand with their sister, and retribution is wanted.
 * Dudley Sutton — Bill Farrell, a representative of the older generation from a bygone era, a D-Day veteran in his late seventies, who lives out the remainder of his days with childhood friend Albert Moss; they plan to retire in Australia.
 * John Junkin — Albert Moss.
 * Jamie Foreman — A racist taxi driver, who is never afraid of letting his customers know his true feelings about society.
 * Tony Denham — Tony Harris, the Chelsea firm's head, who runs it like a military team.
 * Sophie Linfield — Tamara, a court clerk who becomes Rod's girlfriend.
 * Michele Hallak — Shian, Tameka's friend at the nightclub.
 * Kara Tointon — Tameka, a girl at a nightclub who is picked up by Tommy and is revealed to be Terry's sister.
 * Lin Blakley — Tamara's mother
 * Daniel Naylor — Fred's brother.
 * Alison Egan — Bright's wife.
 * Danny Kelly — Radio announcer
 * Pete Stevens — Radio announcer

Critical response
The Football Factory received negative reviews. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 38% of 8 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.70/10.

Box office
The Football Factory grossed a total of £623,138 in the United Kingdom.

Cultural influence
In 2004, Chelsea F.C. football supporters' fanzine cfcuk produced a special edition to coincide with the release of the film.