It was just another holiday abroad with the lads – as far as one of England\u2019s most notorious hooligans was concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t know how we\u2019re still alive.\u201d The now 59-year-old Clarke says. \u201cBut it was all good fun and games.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After over 30 arrests and 15 convictions, Clarke hung up his Puma G Vilas and left the football casual scene in 2004. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know, I know – it’s wrong and we shouldn’t have done it.\u201d Clarke admits, \u201cBut it’s a subculture like the Mods and Rockers in the 50s – lads just grow up and find a culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don’t regret it, I wouldn’t be the man I am today if I hadn\u2019t been in that era.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clarke first watched his beloved Nottingham Forest<\/a> play when he was nine-years-old. His dad had bought him a big red-and-white rosette before the match, which he wore around like a badge of honour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it wasn\u2019t until a few years later that he got a glimpse of the darker side of the beautiful game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI remember going to a cup final at Old Trafford, where Forest played Liverpool.\u201d Clarke says, \u201cMy mum was there and she didn\u2019t go to another match for 25 years afterwards, it was a terrifying night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s how football was in the 70s, and I grew up into that culture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clarke was also a proficient footballer, but even as a boy, his aggressive streak often got the better of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His entire family had come down for his match against St. Bernadette\u2019s secondary school, beaming with pride as they watched on from the stands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s our ball.\u201d An opposition player said, after the ball had gone out for a throw-in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow do you figure that out?\u201d Clarke retorted, to which the opposition player spat at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clarke violently flung out expletive after expletive, resulting in his sending off, and a grandfather so ashamed that he refused to speak to the teenager for months afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t my fault, but I retaliated.\u201d Clarke says, \u201cI\u2019m not one to stand down, that\u2019s one of my downfalls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clarke was later sent off again for punching his teammate for being a \u201cgreedy wanker\u201d, marking the end of both his short-lived football career and his time at school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI left school at 15 and started working down the markets.\u201d Clarke recalls, \u201cBut most of the time I was knocking around Nottingham city centre, drinking and going out with pals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI guess that\u2019s when I started to go down the wrong path.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now a tall, broad-shouldered young man, Clarke would go to the City Ground on his own, and soon encountered the infamous Forest Executive Crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clarke knew they were nothing but trouble, yet something about them intrigued him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Was it the rough and tumble that enticed him? Or was it perhaps the prospect of away trips with his fellow Forest fans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI loved the clothes!\u201d Clarke grins, \u201cThe faded jeans, Slazenger jumpers, wedge haircuts, and the Burberry\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cObviously the rest came with it – the excitements of the day.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Clarke soon grew just as fond of the \u201cthe rest\u201d as he was of his fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne week I decided, sod it, I\u2019ll go with the Forest boys to see what it\u2019s like – just for a laugh.\u201d Clarke says, \u201cWe went to Arsenal away and we all got arrested.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Highbury Stadium\u2019s away section was separated only by a line of tape, and away fans would have to walk through the bloodthirsty Gooners to get there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By the time the Forest boys reached the away section, they were covered in spit and were the laughing stock of the stadium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s human nature to defend your plots.\u201d Clarke explains, \u201cIt stems back hundreds of years to the Ice Age and the Vikings.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n After the match, the Forest boys took on the Gooners in a fierce battle that stretched across the streets of North London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI just liked the camaraderie!\u201d Clarke explains, \u201cWe\u2019d go with Forest all over the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clarke quickly became one of the Crew\u2019s most feared members, and one of the masterminds behind their elaborate battle plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs soon as the fixture list came out, we\u2019d plan all our trips.\u201d Clarke says, \u201cWe\u2019d organise battle buses, trains, planes, and what route we\u2019d take to avoid the police.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clarke was living the high life. He and the boys would dress up to the nines and get boozed up every matchday – funded by money nicked from their local pub\u2019s fruit and condom machines, and someone else\u2019s credit card that they\u2019d just happened to \u2018find\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clarke began following England around Europe <\/a>too, which was a whole new battlefield. Hooliganism in England was at an all time high, and the Europeans relished showing their disdain for the bullish Brits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen English clubs go abroad, it doesn\u2019t matter whether you\u2019re with your son or daughter.\u201d Clarke says, \u201cEvery English fan is fair game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut we brought it upon ourselves, because we gave it to the world and now it’s coming back to haunt us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n With his antics abroad, Clarke had become the England police\u2019s number one target. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was a game of cat and mouse, and the police would tell you the same.\u201d Clarke says, \u201cBut it was all good fun!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It wasn\u2019t until 2003 in Sunderland that things went sour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clarke had gone to watch England play with his mates from Newcastle, and was nursing a post-match pint with them at the pub. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Suddenly, they found themselves dodging flying bottles and glasses. Although it wasn\u2019t a Tyne-Wear derby day, the mere presence of the Geordies on home turf was reason enough for the Mackems to wreak havoc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clarke furiously rolled up his sleeves, prepared to retaliate, when he felt someone grab his back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He spun around to see a police officer with a snarling dog, who sunk its teeth into Clarke\u2019s arm, leaving him with a strange, agonising sensation in his chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Worse yet, the Mackems had fled, and Clarke was alone and arrested at the scene of the crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI got stabbed under the chest and it came through my arm.\u201d Clarke says he later found out, \u201cI had to get ten stitches.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After Clarke was released on bail the next day, he realised that it was only the start of his misery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat morning when I saw the newspaper, I spat my tea out and fell out of my seat.\u201d Clarke says, \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI had been named and shamed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pictures of Clarke\u2019s arrest were plastered in national newspapers, and even aired on Sky News. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The case was taken to Crown Court, where Clarke pleaded not guilty. Now a seasoned hooligan, he figured it would just be another slap on the wrist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe case went on for nearly a year, but I didn\u2019t tell my parents because I thought I\u2019d walk.\u201d Clarke admits, \u201cBut then I got sent to prison for months, and I had to call them from the prison wing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was the hardest call I\u2019ve ever had to make.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clarke\u2019s family had always stood by him, but this was a different story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI didn\u2019t speak to my parents for a while after that.\u201d Clarke says, \u201cMy grandad died of cancer, and we didn\u2019t speak for the last six months of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo\u2026 things like that I regret.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Slapped with a six-year football ban and a prison sentence, Clarke knew he had to leave the scene for good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe boys looked up to me, so leaving created a big void.\u201d Clarke says, \u201cBut I had to do it for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two decades later, Clarke still has the hardened exterior of a head hooligan, but speaks with all the softness of the family man he has become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have a son now, which gives you a different outlook on life.\u201d Clarke smiles, \u201cHe loves Forest so we still go to every game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t regret following football, and I\u2019ve got mates to this day that I wouldn\u2019t have met if I hadn\u2019t started that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe good thing is I can now bring my son up to not go down the same path.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clarke now spends his time doing charity work for non-league club Carlton Town, which has helped repair his relationship with his beloved Forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI took a lot out of football in my early years, but I feel like I’m putting something back into it now.\u201d Clarke admits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m even friends with Forest now, and I\u2019ve been invited into the director\u2019s box a few times!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFrom the terraces to the director\u2019s box – who would\u2019ve thought that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gary \u201cBoatsy\u201d Clarke is a former Nottingham Forest<\/p>\n\n\n\n hooligan with dozens of convictions under his belt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He now works with non-league club Carlton Town<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Related Content<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n They\u2019ve terrorised the country, the continent, and covered the beautiful game in shame. But why do they do it? xGenius goes inside the mind of one of England\u2019s most notorious hooligans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":240,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25,9,8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athenea","category-club-and-country","category-off-the-pitch","category-top-story-2"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/xgenius\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2024\/05\/gary-clarke-hooligan.png\")
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