You’ll run into them in every bar from LA to Bangkok: Northwest of England grafters, with fingers in every pie. Ian Hough is a terrific writer and our sharpest cultural commentator, and he charts the phenomenon of the clued-up lads-on-the-make abroad. If you’re interested in British working-class culture, this is an essential read.

– Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting, The Acid House and Filth.

We live in an age of ‘thug literature’ and post-Rave documentaries. A time when 70s ‘bootboys’ or 80s ‘casuals’ memoirs are littered with tales of pillage and fashion. Ian Hough places this era under a spotlight and, with an assortment of voices from those who were there, he paints a picture of the city he calls “the sleeping giant of British culture” – Manchester – considered by many to be the epicentre of working-class cool. Perry Boys Abroad is Manchester’s journey, both physical and cultural, from northern obscurity to global recognition as a scene to be reckoned with. Its famous nightclubs and football terraces have left a legacy of fashion, music and criminal networks whose tentacles now stretch around the world. All of this is examined with humour and wit.
Beginning with the 60s mod-skinhead phase that was swallowed up by northern soul, itself consumed by the Bowie-influenced mid-70s, the book explains how disparate style tribes melded and fed into Manchester’s fabled Perry boys scene, a soul-influenced underground society of football hooligans and grafters. Accounts from those who frequented Wigan Casino, the Factory Nights at the Russell Club, Pips’ Roxy Room and the city centre haunts of the legendary Quality Street gang unfold a remarkable collective history. The eclectic urban cocktail that saw firms of Manchester designer-thugs jet off to wreak havoc and deal in counterfeit merchandise abroad will amuse and fascinate in equal measure. The later developments of the Manchester music scene, including the Stone Roses and Oasis, all served to propel Manchester into the spotlight, and these bands were among the first to emulate the Perry look intentionally.
Perry Boys Abroad is a refreshingly different kind of “thug literature”. It relates how football casual gangs re-introduced LSD into Britain in the mid-80s, and how the rave era nurtured an underbelly of violence and hard drugs. Tales of gold smuggling from Manhattan, mayhem on Israeli Kibbutzim, amphetamine labs in the American West, grafting in Mexico, plus the counterfeit goods industry in Australia, form a jigsaw whose pieces have one thing in common; they are graduates of Britain’s ‘casual’ era, and they operate in a self-enforced exile. Read Perry Boys Abroad and learn about the secret army that formed a world of its own.

Perry Boys Abroad is Ian Hough’s second published book.

Ian Hough’s first book, Perry Boys, was published by Milo in 2007, and received great reviews from the industry as well as those who were “there”. Perry Boys was a journey through football and fashion. Its chief focus was the emergence of the so-called casual movement in Manchester and Liverpool. Packed with detailed descriptions of the original fashion items worn by those who pioneered the casual look, Perry Boys drew attention for its author’s memory, imagination and scope of reference.

From the Peter Werth polo to Kio’s, from Aitch pseudo-ski wear to Second Image, from French Connection to FUs jeans, Perry Boys chronicled the fashions that erupted in northwest England between 1978 and 1982, the very height of the casual genesis. This was the era when gangs of “boys” hundreds – sometimes thousands – strong would converge on football stadiums looking for adventure. They very often found it and they invented a whole new catalogue of slang to describe their experiences. You’ll take that trip all over again when you read Perry Boys.