The Football Factory

The Football Factory centres on Tommy Johnson, a Londoner in his thirties whose life revolves around Chelsea Football Club and, more specifically, the violence that surrounds its support. He belongs to the Headhunters, a firm of Chelsea hooligans whose long-standing rivals are Millwall's Bushwackers. Weekends are built around drinking, drugs and arranged confrontations with opposing fans, while the rest of the week is spent holding down unsteady work and pretending at an ordinary existence. Tommy's grandfather, a Second World War veteran, urges him to emigrate to Australia, where relatives await, offering a way out that Tommy resists.

Nick Love wrote and directed the film, his first feature as director, followed by Outlaw, The Sweeney and Marching Powder. Danny Dyer leads as Tommy, with Neil Maskell, Frank Harper, Tamer Hassan, Roland Manookian and Calum MacNab among the cast. The production was handled by Vertigo Films, Rockstar Games and Football Factory, and a crew of 69 is credited.

Released in 2004 and running 91 minutes, the film took about 1 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.7 from roughly 35,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.4 from around 300 votes, indicating a modest but durable audience following. A critics' rating of 4.7 from eight reviews places it below those audience scores.