‘Profane language at very high volume’

I’ve finally gotten round to reading John Cooper Clarke’s autobiography I Wanna Be Yours. I’m making slow progress, but that’s entirely down to me – the book is turning out to be a must read, especially if you grew up in Higher Broughton or somewhere close by like Cheetham Hill, Kersal or Prestwich.

I’m at the point where his dad used to take him to Old Trafford for United matches in the fifties and sixties. Aside from espousing the merits of Holland’s Meat & Potato pie – his monarch of the pies – JCC nails why people then (usually men, usually working-class) went to football (and I think we can extend this to rugby league) matches in such large number:

The main thing about going to the football then was the unique opportunity to use profane language at very high volume… The one situation where you could actually shout out the worst profanities available, as loud as you possibly could without fear of arrest. A social safety valve? Perhaps, but a very enjoyable one.