barrow bootboys?

[ade]

i'm doing a community project at college on the above.

who can I contact for info?

were they formed in div 4 or northern premier league?

[xerxes]

Last season in division 3 IIRC. It was probably a reaction after the game against Barnsley, who brought a load of boot boys, some armed with knives, though I don't recall any reports of anyone being injured.

Afraid I can't offer any further information than that!

[Steelworks End]

Not sure when it was, but for at least one match the police made the boot boys remove their footwear and stand on the terrace in their socks. The Barrow Sock Boys? Or The Doc Martensless Few?

[McMark]

Hawk moth, fluttering around again!

[LewisBAFC1901]

T T

[AugustusCorpa]

I can remember one of my old teachers in the late 1970’s telling the class about the hoods. Apparently some lads used to stand on the HS end with hoods over there faces so you could only see their eyes. I also heard some people used to wear welding masks. I’m not sure how true this all is. Seems a bit bizarre now.

[sambino]

Not sure when it was, but for at least one match the police made the boot boys remove their footwear and stand on the terrace in their socks. The Barrow Sock Boys? Or The Doc Martensless Few?

Boots off if you love Barrow

[ant]

Yes i remember them as a young lad. Used to hear them on HS end chanting " WE ARE THE BARROW BOOT BOYS." Mid / late sixties.

[DaveP]

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesig ... el-meadows

[cromwells ghost]

Used to meet in the Regal before matches and walk through town 60-100 depending who they were playing.

[Suffolk Blue]

Culturally, the boots boy "monica" sort links the skinhead culture of the 60s with the more fashion conscious football hooliganism of the late 70s (e.g. Intercity Firm etc).

I'll be controversial and say that as an independent movement "boot boys" probably did not really exist - at least not in the same way as skinheads whose cultural roots, self identity and means of expression were born out of post war austerity. Skinheads, whilst not an homogenous group were reflective of disenfranchised young people with a number of issues, some political, some social, some even sexual. At the time there were no real outlets for those who felt different so the skinhead look was really meant to shock and represent a statement of self-determination. So when people use the term "Boot boys" the reference originally harks back to skinhead culture.

What happened in the early 70s was that certain elements of that group began to develop different means of self expression. The Boot boy therefore that many associate with BAFC might therefore be said to represent a group that retained elements of the skinhead (the boots) but lost the shaved heads and acquired a specific view of fashion (the flaired trousers and the tight fitting jackets.) If I say "The Bay City Rollers" then that is pretty much the look of the early 70s fashionista boot boy. But equally if I say "Sham 69" then they might also be said to represent the boot boy image - albeit much more closely aligned to mainstream skinheads.

Their association with hooliganism and football violence is more tenuous. The early/mid seventies (pre Thatcher) were very tempestuous times politically and economically and this had the effect of "weaponizing" many previously diverse groups : that's probably how we ended up with the punk movement, new romantics, gay pride as well as fashion conscious football hooligans.

I was around the club at the time and (mainly due to my overbearing parents) was programmed to fear the "boot boys" and stay well clear. But I was always confused as to who these evil people were. I can identify people I knew in my youth who from the way they dressed or behaved I might describe as a skinhead or a boot boy but cant remember much group behaviour. Admittedly though I lived a relatively sheltered existence.

One other thing that may or may not be relevant. Graffiti became much more popular as a means of expression following the skinheads. If you look at examples of this "art" you will find that the term "Rules OK" is used quite a lot in the daubings of the time. Almost a generational catch phrase. You can see therefore that the iconic graffiti "Barrow Rule the 3rd" (68/69?) that we all know and love may not just represent a piece of historical vandalism, but was actually quite reflective of its time.

[spirit of 1990]

Good read that SB.

[blueistheonlycolour]

The game I remember was v Workington in the 70's when the police made lads take their laces out of there boots to try and prevent any fighting, I was walking up Holker Street to the game when a large crowd ran past me away from the ground towards town, later on there was a large commotion in Woolies between both sets of fans with paint pots flying all over. The picture "Barrow Boot Boys" was titled by the Guardian Newspaper in the early 2000's when running a piece on Danial Meadow's then latest book and in real life it had nothing to do with the Boot boy craze, that was their school uniform (Alf's) because I'm the lad on the right and that was mine (Tech).

[ade]

thats great to get me started SB!

the post above re. workington? so we're the bootboys still active in the northern premier league?

[ade]

Hawk moth, fluttering around again!

yes mate! you know how interested i am in the rich history of barrow. I hope us hawks have the pleasure to visit you again one day!?