NEW BOOK
THE FRONTLINE
Battling For The Boro
By John Theone
Publication date: November 2003
Published by
Paperback £7.99
Illustrated: 8 pages b/w photos
ISBN: 1 903854 18 0
The Frontline was forged in the late sixties, when its founders went to matches wearing pit boots, mining helmets and donkey jackets and fought fellow dockers from places like Millwall and Everton. Soon young men like author John Theone were bolstering their numbers in Doc Marten boots, skinhead haircuts and Crombie coats. Terrace culture had arrived and football would never be the same again.
The Frontline went on to become one of the most active gangs in the country, their reputation built not on weapons or numbers but on their courage and grit in toe-to-toe battles: their proud boast was that Boro lads never run, no matter what the odds. Their loyalty was also unsurpassed and they would travel through the night to take on the
From the dog days of the 1980s, reinvestment brought Middlesbrough FC dramatic success and a huge expansion of support, but The Frontline have not gone away.
About the Author: John Theone lives on Teesside, has followed Middlesbrough FC for almost 40 years and was a Frontline stalwart. THE FRONTLINE is his first book.