Books

Diary of the Real Soul Crew

20 Top Lads from Cardiff and other UK clubs, as well as foreign lads tell of their experiences fighting FOR or AGAINST Cardiff City’s notorious Soul Crew Hooligan Group over the years.

Annis Abraham Jr was the son of a self-made millionaire, who started professional cv writers watching Cardiff City Football Club with his uncle at a young age. At 12, aside from working in his father’s nightclubs and casino, he was travelling all over the country to see Cardiff play, and soon became involved in the team’s notorious hooligan element, known as he Soul Crew. In this book Annis describes the early years and the characters he met, clashes with firms from Newport and Swansea, and his attempts to invest in the club and become its director. This is no ordinary hooligan memoir.

Diary of the Real Soul Crew 2

This book is not just your normal Lads/Hooligan book, its a book which has given the likes of Leeds,Man Utd, Plymouth, Barnsley,WBA,Bristol City,Millwall,Birmingham, Chelsea and others a chance to write about their experieces against The Soul Crew and Cardiff’s Lads, its their accounts whether Cardiff like it or not.
Also their are 4 major stories from an ex News of The World reporter,to the head of the Valley Rams,to a very well known lad  who really got caught up in the fighting, whether he liked it or not and an ex Director of Cardiff who was on the fringes of the fighting.
The book also has let some of Cardiffs main faces tell their tales, Mac, Big Sam, Jonathan Evans, Simmo, Mallo, Simon(Neath Punk),Kadge, Little Pete,Taffy Anton and many more. The book also tells the True story of a Lad Called Tony Ridgeway(Guff), who spent 7 weeks locked up in a Foreign Prison on a trumped up charge .
The book explains  how Cardiff fans tried to work with the Authorities,with some being helpful, while others continued to treat Cardiff fans like Scum,so it failed after 5 years of trying. I will also show how the hatred has never gone away in local Derbies.but at the same time how times have dramatically changed.

From Shattered Dreams to Wembley Way

The adventure, The dream is probably what every fan from Plymouth to Newcastle hope that one day they can live their own dream with their beloved club.

It was the year 2000 and Cardiff City looked like they were finally going out of Business, I had followed my club since 1972, had been a season ticket holder for 26 years and I still am.  Like my other fellow supporters I had been through the good and bad times and to be honest there weren’t many good times.  I had been to the Darlington’s, Hartlepool’s, Scarborough, Halifax’s and Carlisle’s of this world so many times and had driven the long journeys home saying to myself never again but that “never” seems to come.
We hadn’t been in the old first division since 1962, all I had seen was Cardiff City go lower and lower down the leagues to the depths of despair. Crowds in recent years had gone as low as just over 1,400 the lowest in Cardiff city history.  Nobody wanted to know the club, the fans were fed up of over 30years of false promises from all the Chairmen, Directors or whatever they want to call themselves and Ninian Park was deteriorating rapidly.
My football world was totally upside down because the club I loved seemed to be fading rapidly into the wilderness and now I had my own personnel problems Brussels 2000, it seemed the whole world had the write stuff thinking through essays turned against me, TV, newspapers, the business world and I even had the keyboard warriors or internet nerds whatever you want to call them all slagging me down and even Cardiff City fans I had known for years had turned their backs on me, but worst of all I had let my parents down.
Then suddenly Cardiff City’s world, future and mine was about to change all because of one man “Sam Hammam”

Cardiff City fans through the years

The book contains Over 450 colour photographs of Cardiff City fans through the years, from the early days of Ninian Park until it’s final day in 2009. It shows the high and lows of fans at home and on away days. The cup finals, promotions and relegations.

It also shows Cardiff City fans following Wales over the years and how times and fashion has changed. It’s a must for any Cardiff City fans to relieve some of the best memories

See if you can spot yourself!

The rise and fall of the Cardiff City Valley Rams

Author Gwyn Davies, Publisher Annis Abraham Jnr.
This book is about the formation of The Cardiff City Valley Rams AND THEIR ENDLESS POLITICAL BATTLES WITH THE AUTHORITIES, which then led to some police forces working with the Cardiff fans, but others such as the WEST MIDLANDS and SOUTH YORKSHIRE POLICE Treating Cardiff fans like SCUM.  This led to many a football match turning into near riots and many many arrests. This book tells the stories of what went on behind the scenes leading up to the match days and then of the consequences before,during and after the games.

Annis My Story

Annis is the story of a man who has worked in clubs since the age of 12 and has seen him live and work in clubs up and down the breadth of the Country. Young entrepreneur,football fanatic, Family man. A revealing story of a man determined to achieve something from his life and lives and works each day to the fullest. This book documents the never before told story of the forming of the Soul Crew and how it was established, who was involved and how it become known as one of football s most notorious football firms. Annis gives an honest and frank account of the original members involved and when the Soul Crew became the name that many have tried to tried to keep alive for years since. Soul Crew has been inactive for at least 15 years now but through this book you get right to the middle of the forming of the Soul Crew and how after years of being disorganised, the firm became respected amongst other firms. In the High courts to the House of Parliament. Read about when the Abraham family opened the first ever nightclub and casino in Wales, how Peter Stringfellow wanted to go into business with them and names such as Shirley Bassey and Tom Jones worked with them. Read the stories from behind the scenes at Cardiff City from the years of Kumar, Borley, Hammam and Ridsdale, this book tells the stories of power struggles, back stabbings and the fight to control Cardiff City. Read how Annis Abraham Jnr became a mediator between Peter Ridsdale and Sam Hammam at a time when both men would not talk to each other but only through Annis. Read the inside stories from inside Cardiff City Football Club, to opening and working in nightclubs, and working with the rich and famous. True events of following Cardiff City over 38 years and becoming involved in trouble at football. Entrepreneur, Football Fanatic, Family ManTrue stories of the days involving the original Chelsea Head Hunters/ Westham’s ICF/ Birmingham City’s Zulu’s/Millwall’s Bushwhackers/ Wolves Subway army and from Plymouth/Bristol C to Nott’s Forest with the Soul Crew. Annis has visited over 345 football grounds and many of these Clubs feature in this book. Local rivals Swansea C/ Newport County,the Old Firm Celtic/Rangers and living amongst Bradford’s Ointment for 2 years. The truth behind two BBC Panorama programmes involving Annis.