GB
2007
1hr 53mins
Dir: Julian Gilbey
Starring: Ricci Harnett and Craig Fairbrass
The story of football hooligan turned gangster Carlton Leach
This gangster film is based on the true story of the 1995 Rettendon murders and the autobiography of Carlton Leach, a football hooligan of the infamous Inter City Firm (ICF) who became a powerful figure of the English underworld. The film’s title reflects the rise of Leach from a member of a football gang, a ‘footsoldier’, to a much-feared, yet respected member of London’s criminal underworld. One of the opening scenes shows a brutal fight between rival football firms, filmed on 1972-built tube stock at Aldwych station. The Inter City Firm (ICF) was a football hooligan firm associated with West Ham United and was widely regarded as the first properly organised hooligan firm. The name came from the use of InterCity trains used to travel to away games and as the gangs travel around the country in the film, there are brief contemporary stock shots of HST’s in vintage liveries, a good historical touch that reflects the period in history that the scenes depict. Both of these stock shots were probably taken from BR publicity material.
