A MAN who was once one of the UK’s most notorious football hooligans turned his life around to become a bestselling author and cult movie star.
Carlton Leach, 64, built up an infamous reputation for fighting on the terraces at West Ham in the 1980s and ’90s, but now leads a life far away from crime.
Leach, who was born in Canning Town, East London, got involved in crime at an early age, after joining the brutal Inter City Firm (ICF), who follow West Ham FC, known as the Hammers.
The gang got its moniker from using InterCity trains to travel to away matches and start fights with the opposition’s fans.
The ICF became notorious for leaving a business card on the bodies of those they attacked that read: “Congratulations, you’ve just met the ICF.”
While he was a part of the gang, Leach met drug dealers Tony Tucker, Craig Rolfe, and Pat Tate.
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The four men later became members of the notorious Essex Boys gang which sparked a savage drug war in the 1990s.
Leach was one of Britain’s most feared faces during his 20-year career as a criminal.
However, he decided to turn his back on a life of crime after three of his best friends and gang mates were murdered in a drug-related shooting.
Tucker, Rolfe, and Tate were all shot during the 1995 Range Rover shooting.
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The three drug dealers were shot in their car on a small farm track in Rettendon, Essex.
Leach started telling his story in the hope it would deter others from following in his criminal footsteps.
In 2003, he wrote his first autobiography called “Muscle” about his experiences as a criminal.
The ex-footie thug then wrote his second memoir in 2009, titled, “Rise of the Footsoldier: In My Game, the Choice Is a Jail or a Grave,” which detailed his stories of violence, gang crime, and the loss of his best friend.
In October 2021, Leach released his final, bestselling autobiography, entitled, Carlton: The Final Say.
The book details his early and criminal life, as well as the two most recent decades of his life since.
His first memoir was turned into a film in 2007, entitled, Rise Of The Footsoldier by Bafta-award nominated director Julian Gilbey.
It starred actor Ricci Harnett, who played Leach.
The British crime and gangster film grossed £220,868 and had a second part made in 2015, that followed Leach in the aftermath of the Rettendon murders.
The 64-year-old also inspired the 2015 film, Essex Boys: Law of Survival, which detailed the Essex boys gang and Range Rover murders of 1995.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
