A radical offshoot of the 1980s soccer casuals movement, the comfortables rejected stylish designer sportswear in favour of air-cushion-soled shoes, easi-fit slacks and fleece-lined anoraks with pockets large enough to hold road maps, a thermos flask and a copy of the Non-League Directory. On match days highly organised crews of travelling comfortables would often meet up with rival comfortable gangs at a prearranged place - usually a pub with real ale and a strict 'no jukebox, no TV, no computer games' policy. These notorious 'offs', with their frequent vicious tirades about the cost of football pies, the atrocious state of the toilets at the Fratton Park away end, and the flipping gyratory system on the M6 westbound, often went on right under the noses of the police, who appeared powerless to stop them.
Harry Person - Dribble! The Unbelievable Encyclopaedia of Football
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