Wirral author Kevin Sampson celebrates 25th anniversary of Awaydays

Now a quarter of a century later, Sampson's story centred around a gang of punk-loving, late 70s Tranmere football hooligans and those left abandoned by Thatcher’s Britain, has been republished by Canongate as part of its 'The Canons' collection, allowing a whole new generation to discover the poignant, yet violent and thrilling coming-of-age story of Wirral lads Carty and Elvis and the Rovers-supporting 'Pack'.

"Back then there were numerous publishers interested in Awaydays but it went to Jonathan Cape which for me was the ultimate because they published Irvine Welsh at the time," said Sampson. "Canongate had tried to sign it so when the rights became available again they were the first to knock and the door and they told me they'd started this new imprint called 'The Canons' which was to publish so-called 'modern classics' - it's a big thing for me and Awaydays to be part of that.

"I don't know what defines a 'modern classic' but part of it I suppose is relevance and Awaydays seems to have never gone away.

"The interest in that period and terrace culture and the fashion side of things has grown and grown and I think that's been a huge part of the appeal. There's a certain mythology that has grown up around it and when people talk about Awaydays it's either 'cult classic' or modern classic' - as long as the classic bit is mentioned I'm a happy writer!"

These days, the 'casual' fashion sense of Tranmere's young supporters back in the late 70s and early 80s (think Adidas trainers, drainpipe jeans and 'wedge' fringes), is lauded with murals outside Prenton Park depicting Awaydays' iconic cover, but the fans' reputation for hooliganism at away grounds and the world of Stanley knives and looting shops which the book graphically depicts is a harder sell for Rovers who originally had misgivings about the book.

Awaydays was adapted into a film starring Stephen Graham in 2007 (Image: Optimum)

"It's come full circle," said Sampson. "The fans were always on board and embraced the book as their own and that accurately represented their culture but the club disassociated themselves from it.

"When the film of Awaydays was being made in 2007, the producer Dave Hughes, who was a Rovers season ticket holder, wanted to buy a couple of Tranmere shirts for the crew and cast but was locked into the club shop and was told in no uncertain terms the club wanted nothing to do with the film or the book.

"Now you find the mural outside the Cowshed and it's stitched into the club's folklore - it's quite a statement and from the fans' perspective it's the right approach." 

Although modest about Awaydays' influence, Sampson is prepared to admit it probably played its part in the explosion of interest in terrace casual culture, whether it's the endless exhibitions of vintage Adidas trainers, or the popularity of Joy Division T-shirts. 

"I wouldn't say it's responsible but I think it's been sparked to a degree by Awaydays," he said. "Even the green Peter Storm cagoules that the Pack wear have come back in and you never used to see that colour in the shop at all. 

"I think the uplift in hiking gear worn as leisure wear has become a thing too and the book and the film certainly had an influence on that. 

"For it still to be around and be a talking point and reference point 25 years on is amazing - it's certainly made an impact culturally and stylistically with the fashion, haircuts and trainers.

"It's had its role to play in reintroducing a new generation to bands like Joy Division, Suicide, Cabaret Voltaire and early Ultravox - they've all found a new audience and I think a lot of that is down to Awaydays."

Although Sampson, who still lives in Wirral, has become well-known as a mouthpiece for Liverpool FC fans, much of the book was autobiographical giving Awaydays an authentic voice which still resonates. 

"I was there but I was the weediest coward on the block," he said. "I was the one who could make them laugh and was standing in the background holding the coats. It was an occupational hazard back then if you wanted to watch football - if you wanted to go to away games it was a reality and you would see fighting week in and week out - I certainly didn't need to do any research.

"But for me those teenage years were golden years - they're magic wherever and whenever you grew up but I was lucky to be growing up here in my late teens with a musical renaissance going on. Post-punk Liverpool, with places like Eric's and Cagney's and Brady's, was an incredible time when you felt you were at the epicentre of Liverpool's second major musical explosion.

"Then we had the fashion thing which was so uniquely associated with Merseyside - you just didn't see it anywhere else - I was on those trains and coaches going to all of those towns across England and they looked at you like you were aliens because we didn't wear scarves and we had narrow trousers and we had these effeminate fringes. 

"It was the coming together of all my favourite things - fashion, music, football and being a teenager. It was incredibly exciting to be at the centre of that world and yes it was dangerous and frightening sometimes and I saw some pretty violent scenes but it all seemed to be part of the same exciting universe that we were all part of."

(Image: Cannongate Books)

After Awaydays, Sampson went on write more best-selling novels including Powder (1999), Stars Are Stars (2006) and The Killing Pool (2014). His screenwriting credits include Anne (ITV, 2022) and The Hunt for Raoul Moat (2023).

"I see Awaydays as like when an indie band starts off with a really cool, brilliant, underground single and then all the majors want to sign them and take them worldwide," he added. "Powder was the real breakthrough and a massive best-seller - it was a shock when I when I went into a train station once and saw it on a table!

"Novel-wise I've not written anything for a while and by default I've become a screenwriter and I've got a few things in the pipeline. There's a film about Prince Naseem Hamed, the former world champion boxer, which is coming out next year - he was emblematic of that whole Cool Britannia thing and that wonderful moment in time we've all got to hope will come back again when Britain did seem like a progressive, united nation.

"Hopefully the good times will come back - Wirral is incredibly fertile and always has been on every level. Look at the evergreen Half Man Half Biscuit - they'll be grudgingly celebrating 40 years at it next year and then you've got new places like Future Yard.

"Wirral's a fertile hothouse and to have played a small part in that is something I feel very fortunate for and why I still call it home." 

Awaydays is out now published by Canongate Books. 

It is available from Waterstones and Bookshop