Fans of football hooligan film Green Street may be slightly devastated to know the footballing secret of one of its main characters.
The 2005 film sees Elijah Wood playing an American journalism student who gets caught up in the violent world of West Ham United’s fictional Green Street Elite firm.
And he causes a lot of friction with their leader Pete, played by Charlie Hunnam, and his sidekick Bovver, played by Leo Gregory, in the story about the rivalry between West Ham and Millwall.
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The film was a huge success which didn't come as a surprise to the football clubs it revolved around - but what they were surprised about was the level of violence.
“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,” Gregory previously told All News Press.
“They didn’t know he would be so violent. For the entire film crew, the surprise was to find that Hooligans generated over $4 million at the worldwide box office. We never imagined such global success.”
He said that the film made West Ham an international brand – without them even wanting it.
And the reason Gregory said this could devastate some of the film’s West Ham fans, as he revealed he is actually a fierce supporter of Tottenham Hot Spurs football club.
“With this film, West Ham financed my season to follow the Spurs,” he said.
“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.”
Gregory is still amazed that years later people are still talking about the film – and he’s even still receiving fan mail for it from places as far as Australia and Indonesia.
“It holds very fond memories for me,” he told the Metro. “At this point, I’m amazed at how long it is still living a life. I’m slightly reluctant to use the phrase myself, but it has become a bit of a cult film.”
But what has Gregory he been up to since?
Well, he has launched several collaborations with clothing brand Weekend Offender off the back of his role as Bovver.
He first worked with the brand on a Bovver t-shirt depicting the iconic pub scene from Green Street.
Following its success, they then decided to go one step further and 2020 saw the launch of his first signature capsule collection with the brand.
He said, according to 80s casuals classics: “I met the Weekend Offender crew a few years ago at one of their infamous in-store parties. Faces from the football world, actors, musicians and lot of booze later and I knew we’d do something together.
"I’d loved the brand and what it was about and stood for and now equally the team behind it."
“A while down the line we spoke about the idea of doing a collaboration for a tee. We agreed we felt people, our people, would respond well to it and did a little launch.
"What we hadn’t anticipated was the enormous response to it.”
Topics: Football, TV and Film
Anna Verdon