Carol "Cass" Pennant (born 3 March 1958), is an English writer and former
football hooligan
Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviours perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves ...
.
[
]
Background
Pennant's mother emigrated from Jamaica while pregnant and he was born in
Doncaster
Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
. Six weeks old, he was abandoned and was placed into a
Dr. Barnardo's Home. As a
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
baby, Pennant was fostered by an elderly white family in
Slade Green
Slade Green is an area of South East London, England, within the London Borough of Bexley. It lies northeast of Bexleyheath, northwest of Dartford and south of Erith, and east-southeast of Charing Cross.
Historically Slade Green was part o ...
,
Greater London where he was the only black person, and where he states he was "bullied from day one" year after year, and beaten persistently - "Not just from rivals or other kids, the whole town. Imagine as a kid, you're picked out; people in vehicles shouting out at you, total strangers".
Pennant had been christened Carol (a common masculine name in parts of the
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
, unusual as a masculine name in the UK, but is the Irish equivalent for the name "Charles") by his biological mother, which was also a source of bullying for him, particularly at school. After he saw the boxer Muhammad Ali (then known by his birth name of Cassius Clay) beat
Henry Cooper he adopted the name Cass.
Pennant who stands 6'4 (193 c
was a member, and leader, of the
Inter City Firm (ICF) associated with the English football club
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
in the 1970s.
Cass Pennant's story is remarkable given the level of racism that was prevalent during the 1970s, 1980s and early 90s in Britain. Cass managed to rise to the top and become one of the generals of the ICF despite being black. He was eventually sentenced to four years in prison in 1980, and was the first person to receive that long of sentence for football hooliganism. After a second time in prison he started running a
night club security firm in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
While working at one such nightclub in South London he was shot three times.
In 2002, Pennant appeared on the
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
documentary, ''Football's Fight Club'' about football hooliganism in the 1970s.
[
] He has been a consultant on television programmes such as ''
The Real Football Factories
''The Real Football Factories'' is a documentary series shown on the Bravo television channel in the United Kingdom and created by Zig Zag Productions. The show looks at the in-depth life of football hooligans and hooligan firms. Interviews a ...
'' and ''The Real Football Factories International''.
He also worked as a consultant and played a cameo role as a riot police officer in the 2005 drama film about football hooliganism, ''
Green Street''.
In 2006, he had a documentary made about him, ''Cass Pennant - Enough Said'' (Gangster Videos) directed by Liam Galvin, and in 2008 a film was made based on Pennant's life story, ''
Cass
Cass may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Cass (surname), a list of people
* Cass (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Big Cass, ring name of wrestler William Morrissey
* Cass, in British band Skunk Anansie
* Ca ...
'', starring
Nonso Anozie
Nonso Anozie (; born 17 November 1978) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Tank in '' RocknRolla'', Sergeant Dap in ''Ender's Game'', Abraham Kenyatta in ''Zoo'', Captain of the Guards in ''Cinderella'', Xaro Xhoan Daxos in t ...
as Pennant, and directed by Jon S. Baird.
In 2010, he played a leading role in the movie ''
Killer Bitch''. He also wrote the foreword for Manchester United football hooligan Colin Blaney's book ''Undesirables'' and contributed a short piece about Manchester United's rivalry with West Ham
Bibliography
*Author
**''Cass'' (2002)
**''Casstastic: The Art of Glute Workouts'' (2002)
**''Total Ass With Cass: Glutes Part 2'' (2002)
**''Congratulations, You Have Just Met the ICF'' (2003)
**''Top Boys: True Stories of Football's Hardest Men'' (2006)
*Co-author
**''Rolling with the 6.57 Crew: The True Story of Pompey's Legendary Football Fans'' (2004)
**''Terrace Legends'' (2005)
**''Good Afternoon, Gentlemen, the Name's
Bill Gardner'' (2006)
**''30 Years of Hurt: A History of England's Hooligan Army'' (2006)
**''Want Some Aggro?'' (2007)
**''The Story of
Barrington 'Zulu' Patterson, One of Britain's Deadliest Men'' (2013)
References
External links
Cass
The Cass Pennant movie reviewa
The Hollywood News*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pennant, Cass
English non-fiction writers
English people of Jamaican descent
Black British writers
English criminals
Former hooligans
Skinhead
People from Doncaster
Living people
1958 births
Association football supporters
English male film actors
Black British male actors
21st-century English writers
English male non-fiction writers
West Ham United F.C.