From our special correspondent in London,
Did Frodo Baggins change the history of West Ham United? One can wonder, as the American comedian Elijah Wood made an impression by being on the poster for the film Hooligans (Green Street in VO), only two years after completing the trilogy of Lord of the Rings, who elevated him to Hollywood stardom. When the film arrived in English cinemas on September 9, 2005 (nine months before its arrival in France), David Bellion has just joined West Ham on loan.
“Honestly, when Hooligans came out, it didn’t talk about it more than that at the club, assures the former Manchester United striker. As a cinephile, I saw it and I know how quickly it became cult throughout England, like this artistic universe british worn by Guy Ritchie and Vinnie Jones [ex-poète au milieu du “Crazy Gang” de Wimbledon avant de jouer dans Arnaques, crimes et botanique, Snatch…]. There were no more debates than that in our locker room around this work. »
The ‘most entrenched in London’ rivalry between West Ham and Milwall
Why did German director Lexi Alexander set her sights on West Ham supporters? “Because the rivalry between the hooligans of West Ham and those of Milwall is the one that is most rooted in London, it is obvious”, confides Leo Gregory, one of the main roles in the film. A volcanic animosity of which the former Ivorian international Guy Demel had a glimpse during his four seasons in the East London club (from 2011 to 2015): “One day, we had the bad idea to leave with three teammates at Dubai wearing West Ham tracksuits. Milwall supporters took the same flight as us and believe me, they made us feel the tensions and the rivalry between the two clubs”.
Shortly after landing in “the most popular club in London” according to him, Guy Demel got wind of the untenable 2009 edition of this West Ham-Milwall, which resulted in multiple overflows and an invasion of the pitch, in the middle of the Cup match played at Upton Park. Violent sequences very close to the fiction seen in Hooliganswhich had just staged an FA Cup draw between the two historic rivals.
Over $4 million at the worldwide box office
“When I walked into the locker room, Mark Noble [544 matchs avec les Hammers depuis dix-sept ans]who we now call Mr West Ham, asked me if I had seen Green Street, continues Guy Demel. He echoed to me well Milwall and the episodes of hooliganism between the two camps. These are omnipresent in the film, in the pubs as well as around Upton Park. So much so that one wonders how the project was able to go to the end, with several sequences shot at the stadium during Hammers matches.
“The owners and managers of West Ham were aware that a football film with Elijah Wood was in preparation around their club, but it stopped there, specifies Leo Gregory. They didn’t know he would be so violent. For the entire film crew, the surprise was to find thatHooligans generated over $4 million at the worldwide box office. “We never imagined such global success,” says Leo Gregory. 17 years later, many people still consider Green Street like a cult movie. Recently, I still received hundreds of messages from fans living in Indonesia. We made West Ham an international brand, and this without wanting it. »
“With this film, West Ham financed my season following the Spurs”
The interpreter of the barred role of Bovver knows what he is talking about, since he has always been a fierce supporter… of Tottenham. “With this film, West Ham financed my season to follow the Spurs, he smiles. The funniest thing is when Hammers pounce on me seeing me around their stadium for a derby. They yell “Bovver, Bovver” and ask me for an autograph. I still sign THFC [Tottenham Hotspur Football Club], they are shocked and I love it. »
This funny guy, who now collaborates with the clothing brand casual Weekend Offender, was the film’s “hooks” bond at the time. Lexi Alexander had also asked him to live for a month in Los Angeles with Charlie Hunnam (the brilliant Pete in the film) “to immerse him in the world of hooligans and its codes”. But that’s not all, several hooligans attached to the West Ham ICF (renamed GSE in the film) participated in certain sequences of the shooting.
‘Incredible aesthetics and vocals’ at Hammers games
And fiction has sometimes been overtaken by reality in East London. “We had to interrupt a shoot once because of fights with real Milwall hooligans, recalls Leo Gregory. Even I took a right to the head. A fear that David Bellion did not feel during his short stint with the Hammers, from September to December 2005.
In the 2000s, I knew that there was a branch of supporters who still considered themselves hooligans at West Ham, but like almost everywhere in England. This is London’s ultra-popular club. The crowd was very close to us in Upton Park but I was never afraid of the fans there. At West Ham, I mostly remember amazing aesthetics and chants at home. »
Among which the inevitable I’m forever blowing bubblesthe club’s pre-match anthem, which any football fan who has seen Hooligans screamed out of the pub with his mates after a few too many pints. At the stadium, the heady air is accompanied by huge bubble machines installed at the edge of the field.
“I’m forever blowing bubbles” launched in the middle of a wedding
“Seeing all these bubbles fly away in the sky always made us feel that we were going to experience a festive afternoon in Upton Park, evokes Guy Demel. It’s taken up by the whole stadium, by the coach, and this great fervor inevitably galvanizes you. This festive dimension of the bubbles gives all these people a crazy emotion: it’s as if they were linked for life, that they were only one man for this club. »
This song even accompanied a wedding in Besançon in August 2020. Fallen under the spell of the Hammers in 1999, an evening of victory in Intertoto in Metz at the time of Ferdinand, Lampard and Joe Cole, Romain Parreaux (33) “crosses a level” in his passion after seeing Hooligans At the movie theater. His skyblog then relays the news of the unknown London club, now without a trophy for 42 years, until the organization of two or three trips per season to Upton Park. The creation of West Ham Francea group of around thirty active supporters officially recognized by the club, followed in 2011.
“The club has always kept its distance from the film”
“Every time I hear this song at the stadium, I have tears in my eyes, even if it lost a little of its charm with the departure for the London Stadium, says Romain Parreaux. She’s a part of my life, and she transcends everyone from kids to ultra-tough guys with shaved heads. Finally, 17 years later, what link remains between the film and West Ham United, which therefore moved in 2016 to the Olympic stadium in London? Not far from there on Wednesday evening, at The Carpenter’s Arms pub, Jermaine, Matt and Joe, three young Hammers fans, laugh by confiding that they saw him “at the age of 5”. All while savoring the hat-trick inflicted by Karim Benzema on Chelsea with a beer.
They consider that ” Green Street is part of the club’s history. A thwarted story, according to Leo Gregory: “The club has always kept its distance from the film. Imagine, it is impossible for him to promote violence like this. Afterwards, even if we are obviously no longer in the 1980s, there are always fights and informal rankings of London’s best hooligan clubs. Boys will be boys, you know. ” Not better.