I.D.

I.D. is a 1995 British-German film made by BBC Films about football hooliganism, directed by Philip Davis, written by Vincent O'Connell, and starring Reece Dinsdale, Sean Pertwee and Warren Clarke. It is set in 1988 in the London area of Shadwell, England and is a story about a group of Metropolitan Police officers who are sent undercover to infiltrate a gang of dangerous football hooligans. Although set in London, a lot of the film was filmed in South Yorkshire, in particular Rotherham and Sheffield. Millmoor stadium in Rotherham served as Shadwell Town's fictional home "The Kennel". The tagline is "When you go undercover, remember one thing... Who you are." The true events that inspired the movie are chronicled in the 2013 book Running with the Firm written by former undercover detective James Bannon. The film has a cult following. In 2016, twenty one years after the original the film was released, it received a sequel named ID2: Shadwell Army. Plot Set in 1988, John (Reece Dinsdale), an ambitious young police officer in the Metropolitan Police, is sent undercover along with colleagues Trevor (Richard Graham), Eddie (Perry Fenwick) and Charlie (Philip Glenister) to join a violent football firm associated with Shadwell Town Football Club. Their mission is to track down the 'generals' - the shadowy figures who orchestrate the violence. Posing as painters and decorators John and Trevor begin frequenting the main Hooligan pub, "The Rock" at lunch times and later start visiting on match days. After becoming familiar with Linda (Saskia Reeves) the barmaid and some of the regulars they start attending matches with hooligans Martin (Sean Pertwee), Nik (Charles De'Ath) and Gumbo (Lee Ross), where during one pub crawl they get into a brawl with Arsenal fans. As a bus of Midchester fans goes past the pub, John tells Trevor that he needs to find out where they are going and runs out of the pub, following the bus which is eventually held up in traffic. The bus is then ambushed and attacked by the Shadwell firm who have followed John from the pub. Firm leader Bob (Warren Clarke) who was initially suspicious of John, now lauds him as a hero for leading the charge against the away fans.