1979: HARD MEN at the DOOR | Tonight | Voice of the People | BBC Archive

However we might dress it up, bouncers and doormen are ultimately there for one thing - in case there’s trouble. And they didn’t always have the training or level or professionalism they have now.
In this excerpt, three bouncers at The Music Machine in Camden Town show the training they put themselves through, discuss the new concept of being registered for the work, and talk frankly about the philosophy of a job that might end in violence on any given night.
Clip taken from Tonight, originally broadcast on BBC One on Monday, 12 March 1979.
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[@henryc7548]

Its funny that these working class muscle heads are more articulate than 90% of people you meet today.

[@afterzanzibar]

This was before it was cool to talk with ghetto slang.

[@johnreidy2804]

@@afterzanzibar So true., Our culture was hijacked by............certain people

[@johnmarty2966]

Well friend, this was well before the world we live in today.

[@chuckgreen3629]

It's the Bri'ish accent.

[@GIT_ARMAN]

And intelligent

[@ScorpionSuerte]

Boxing and wrestling in the same gym. These guys were almost doing MMA in 1979.

[@Nonegiven14582]

If they'd gone to a boxing club. A decent 17 year old welterweight would have made them look stupid.

[@lukeb4nts172]

They train to get off first and hit hard. Not to be competitive. One of the guys said hit first to protect yourself. 😊

[@jim-es8qk]

Boxing and wrestling are two old school English working class pass times.

[@scarred10]

I​@@Nonegiven14582 it's not about combat sport,you just need the absolute basics of striking and grappling done well over and over,its not even mutual combat.

[@Nonegiven14582]

@@jim-es8qk These guys can't box. And if they'd gone to an amateur club. Things wouldn't have gone well for them Was a guy who bounced at Kings in Colchester. Big guy. He came to a boxing show at Clacton town hall in mid 90's. Spent the whole evening looking at the floor

[@Slim_45]

“We never made it as boxers or wrestlers but never the less we are trained men” Should be the motto for G4S security!

[@noelht1]

The motto for G4S would be we’ve never made it the boxers or wrestlers but nevertheless we are all cunts!

[@ScorpionSuerte]

But they aren't

[@FINDINGFITNESS101]

@@noelht1 😄

[@JesusChrist2000BC]

Lol these guys actually workout everybody at G4S is on the Krispy Kreme diet.

[@aupster1]

yea right g4s higher any clown half the men on doors aren't up for the task

[@sMiLeR_thewatcher]

Boxing, grappling and weights been a legit form of training for years.

[@Rascarrr]

thanks for the insight, captain obvious

[@johnp7739]

@@Rascarrr The 3 of them together were done almost nowhere before the UFC started, Captain Missed-the-Obvious. This was 1979.

[@chuckgreen3629]

@@johnp7739 "boxing and wrestling" clubs and university teams had been common in the UK, US, Canada, etc. before 1979. The Tough Guy Contest started in 1979 and before that it was common enough for boxers and wrestlers to train both, eg. James Jeffries, Danny Hodge, Paul Berlenbach, Jack Dempsey, etc.

[@Scorch1028]

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

[@insidiousmaximus]

even Bruce Lee admitted western boxing and wrestling were far more practical for street fighting.

[@Scorch1028]

I love how "gritty" this gym looked. I wish that more gyms were like that today.

[@slanasik1187]

In 1979 dada was 28

[@ChrisMarsh-nj5ru]

The gym is still open in Plumstead.

[@MattPearman-qr4sq]

@@ChrisMarsh-nj5ru yeah bet its all sanitised and poncey now with yoga and pilates classes

[@peternagy-im4be]

​@@MattPearman-qr4sqwith idiots balancing dumbbells on their legs and thrusting up and down in front of a mirror

[@MattPearman-qr4sq]

@@peternagy-im4be think that's how it's done tbf mate don't think there is another way

[@ExpertofEverything]

I love the way the big guy at the beginning with the black hair talks. He sounds distinguished and educated but also he's from the streets and knows the dark side.

[@andrewclack4881]

he sounds like Steve Davis

[@smoochym]

It's lamentable that the working class no longer have these sort of male role models.

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

He also looked pretty damn tough! He knows how to throw punches.

[@tomives3298]

cultured thug

[@jotunblod]

@@smoochym It's very weird, if not foreboding, that Western society has all but rid itself of tough men.

[@SuperKenno77]

No roids , no sunbeds, no Under Armour. Just sweat, brylcream and Lonsdale 💪💪

[@user-ph6hc3ud3k]

Lol..."Under Armour", let's not forget the "Tapout" T-shirts with "scary" skulls and text that just scream: "I'm an unskilled, untrained, knob-end!". 🤣🤣🤣

[@SuperKenno77]

@@user-ph6hc3ud3k exactly right 😂

[@peternagy-im4be]

No steroids??

[@handconstructed]

... and cocaine

[@user-ph6hc3ud3k]

@@handconstructed😅😅😅

[@bonnetdedouche437]

The comparison to childminder's is so very apt. Door staff are exactly that. Childminder's for adults. Because with a belly full of liquid poison in them, some people just cannot behave.

[@sandipanbanerjee5010]

😂

[@paulw4259]

I completely agree with you. Underpaid child minders with a dangerous clientele.

[@sharpvidtube]

And some child minders, shouldn't be anywhere near children.

[@alastairgreen2077]

childminders. No apostrophe.

[@Adam-pt8qm]

​@@alastairgreen2077Childminders, capital letter.

[@orangutanfan3179]

People were much better spoken back then

[@leoii6996]

because we hadnt yet imported people from somalia etc

[@KanyeKetchup]

😮😂

[@stelladavis7832]

Much better? Yes, they were better spoken

[@cassanateli]

Nope lol guys that age in that area still speak *exactly* like that, sorry to break your weird fantasy

[@cassanateli]

@@leoii6996Nah before that we had Old English which is extremely unclear and weird

[@EveryTongueShallTell]

Why won't the tv heads just start making follow-up videos for these already? Just about everybody would love to see what happened, who's still alive and watch an interview with them now looking back on themselves here.

[@rahuldahoob]

Sadly TV execs don't like pursuing such projects 😢

[@karkkimarkkinat2109]

This is a fantastic idea

[@JohnDickson-ki3qr]

Most of these archive videos are at least 40 years old, the majority of these people are probably dead.

[@suspicionofdeceit]

@@JohnDickson-ki3qrProbably still alive in their 70’s or 80’s, maybe even late 60’s.

[@Bennyboy12]

Felt sorry for the lad with the knife scars on his face. Sounded like quite a violent attack.

[@rairyu7528]

Yeah, he seemed really soft spoken too. Didn't look like a bad guy.

[@obscuremusictabs5927]

All this title needs is a 70s bass line.

[@zeddyteddy3729]

These type of men play a very important role in our society. Some folk don't want to admit it, But we need "tough guys".

[@thededoidheskey6128]

Yeah weird thugs that can only fit in whilst fighting

[@zeddyteddy3729]

@@thededoidheskey6128 not accurate what you say. These type of men are who you want to have around when something serious is about to happen. I doubt you are the type who will respond to danger by comforting it.

[@thededoidheskey6128]

@@zeddyteddy3729 no I don’t deal with danger by “comforting” it.

[@zeddyteddy3729]

@@thededoidheskey6128 simple typo. Confronting it I meant. You don't seem like that type. You seem like the type of man who puts "He/Him" at the beginning of your bio.

[@thededoidheskey6128]

@@zeddyteddy3729 you seem like the type who checks for “he/him”

[@gabrielpacana8596]

One of the most 1979 England videos I've ever seen.

[@JohnHonda101]

I started drinking in pubs and clubs in 1982, you knew if you gave bouncers any lip or caused trouble back then these were the kind of Men that would send you back to reality very quickly, a short sharp shock it used to be called.

[@sharpvidtube]

I remember a few times in Manchester, the bouncers walked away and left everyone to it, I don't blame them😂

[@mda1218]

used to wager 💵 on pub 👊🏼 to KO: best when 3-4 settled it to last man standing

[@chrisr5499]

Back then clubs must of been full of radge as you had lots of bother from Football Hooligans, Skinheads, Mods, Teds...even the Reggae scne.

[@Scorch1028]

It's funny, a number of big name pro wrestlers like the Road Warriors, Demolition Smash, Warlord, Rick Rude, and Berserker started off as bouncers at the Minneapolis bar named Gramma B's. They actually got into contests to see who could throw a bar patron the furthest. When a new distance was achieved, they marked it. 😆 Back in the early-1980s, bouncers got away with stuff like that.

[@user-ph6hc3ud3k]

Varusian Aikido by the 3rd Dr. Who started it all. One touch and... zap! Instant paralysis. Search it on the tubes it's hilarious.

[@danielintheantipodes6741]

Archive videos are so amazing! Even when it is a topic that is not of any personal interest in a current video, the historic nature of these makes them riveting! Thank you for the video!

[@patrickboyle6727]

I agree

[@petercoekin5419]

Fantastic footage of the inside of that nightclub with late 70s punters

[@M1tjakaramazov]

It's funny how most guys in those days looked like cunts. If you were a good looking handsome man in back then, you really had it made with the chicks 😅

[@danski6694]

Punters? Are you British? Is that what they were called? Interesting Here in the states we use the term Bouncers.

[@M1tjakaramazov]

@@danski6694 "Punters" are the customers 😅

[@bwkid1]

Great video. I have been bouncing for over 30 years, and much is still the same today. The things that have changed are of course the licenses as mentioned. And as the guys say, this has ruined the industry. Many very capable guys have now had to leave the job often under bad terms, through no fault of their own. Because the licensing is not working. And we now have more and more guys coming into the job, who are just not up to the required standards needed to do this kind of work. And the SIA (our governing body) never help doormen. Their main job is to suspend our licenses for the smallest of issues. And keep handing out licenses to guys who will never be able to do the job, and most can't speak English, so won't even be able to talk to angry customers. If you can't communicate properly, then you should not be able to get a license.

[@reflex1one]

@bwkid1 100% true sia a total waste of time. You now have some 18 yr old 9 stone student working a pub scared of his own shadow. Or any guy whose hakf decent has to worry about loosing his badge

[@redoinefaid8]

In australia its all tiny indian fellows who will never stand up for themselves yet alone others 😂😂😂

[@_-MiamiVice-_]

I remember visiting the UK not long ago, and the club we went to had "bouncers" who didn't even speak english properly...

[@bwkid1]

Since we have introduced licensing for our doormen. The standards have dropped. Yes there are a few good guys coming through. But as the comments say. We have a lot of guys who are not up to the job, they are 7 or 8 stone, and are scared of their own shadow. And many can't speak English, so I have no idea how they communicate in a stressful situation. But this is what the fools who run the courses pass as good enough for the job. And they are also the reason why many good guys won't work anymore. Because the good guys do all the work, while these clowns do nothing and still get the same pay as the good guys.

[@Blade-gw8gk]

The fella that hid slashed in the face, I would have never thought that voice would come out of his mouth 😂

[@coolmacatrain9434]

2:17 I'm pretty sure he was Irish and was used to modifying his accent so that English people understood him better.

[@Dreyno]

@@coolmacatrain9434Definitely Irish. Might’ve moved over when he was a kid.

[@wulfhere83]

It's because men from the British Isles actually used to speak like men from the British Isles. You didn't need all this "yo yo fam wagwan blud ting" ghetto babble that seems so popular in the UK these days.

[@Dreyno]

@@wulfhere83 British Isles? Ireland isn’t in the “British Isles”. The U.K. is just another island off continental Europe.

[@herb2078]

@@wulfhere83well said

[@RaRa21260]

"Most important qualifications" part just buckled me hahahahaha while the fella is hitting the bag like a possessed demon. I'm crying here

[@dt937]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 don't make tv like this amymore

[@callumward7503]

A new contender arrives: "Mixed martial artists."

[@Nick-io9uk]

Have you ever lost your temper? Once now and again 😄

[@chrisbayes2972]

That got me, too! 😂

[@smegmadelhomme8551]

@@chrisbayes2972me too

[@Scorch1028]

This guy loses his temper every night at work. 😆

[@Mark_106]

Best Bee Gee's hairstyles in them days, women were natural beauty looking with big hairy Fanny's.....what a time to be alive!!

[@chrisr5499]

😆

[@leeturton9254]

Forest of Avalon not for me

[@rogermellie8068]

😂😂😂 mega muffs

[@kaijones3853]

Nice trip down memory lane by the sounds 😂😂😂😂

[@thekenneth8232]

Okay Mark

[@KravMagaThailand]

Looks like they’d an early form of MMA there, crossing training boxing & wrestling.

[@ruledtrendy5066]

It's funny, you don't often see wrestling in the UK

[@TC2642]

Catch wrestling originated in the UK, there is quite a rich history of it that is little well known.

[@baabaabaa-yp2jh]

A lot of boxing gyms had wrestling mats, our trainer wd have us grapple to build stamina.. l rekn he'd done a bit of Greco Roman wrestling back in the day?

[@MinotaurvsCyclops]

Thought the exact same, they might've done alright in UFC 1.

[@FloatingStranglers]

@@TC2642yeah Man, Wigan Snake Pit comes to mind

[@jacko717]

Great piece of history. I worked the doors in Manchester in the mid 90s, the first job I had was at a now long gone cabaret club ("The Willows" in Salford) we were still wearing bow ties and tuxedos then, I thought i was James Bond😄

[@boatingmanchester]

The Willows was very popular back in the day

[@raoulduke344]

When you think you're James Bond, but really more like Odd Job

[@paulallen3011]

Remember boxing shows on there years ago, mate of mine got a big ovation after he boxed. Good memories

[@RaRa21260]

Fella thats scarface sure spoke like a lawyer never mind a bouncer 😧

[@mda1218]

bet he left more scars than he took 👊🏼

[@dickterpene8697]

Never judge books

[@QuadMochaMatti]

@@dickterpene8697 But DO book judges. They are not above the law.

[@jedfra9172]

Would you want a lawyer who spoke like that?🤔

[@chrisgibson5803]

He’d of been a monster him. He could throw hands on the pads

[@shingitai5882]

Did anyone else notice the Roy Shaw v Lenny McLean poster? The interview later then goes down the line of questioning them of regulating the job.🤣😂

[@fasthracing]

Sure did. (I'M THE GOVERNOR")

[@NomadicTom]

yep

[@johnjoe7318]

That’s Johnny madden with the lonsdale T-shirt on, he done the door with McLean for years

[@da90sReAlvloc]

Wasn't McLean knocked out by cliff fields twice

[@johnjoe7318]

@@da90sReAlvloc yeah , feilds a half decent domestic pro he was to and Johnny waldron

[@vtrmcs]

Bit of a life story here. If you were a young teen in the 80's, you'll maybe relate. I understand what the bouncers in the video are saying, but they are not relaying the whole truth, as anyone who ever went clubbing in the 80's would tell you. If not for the drug dealing in clubs, which the bouncers almost certainly controlled throughout the 80's, they would likely have been left somewhat more alone and unregulated. It definitely didn't help that almost every club had a group of bouncers that controlled the flow of drugs in the venue which eventually came into the focus of authorities. I was once threatened with a serious beating by a group of bouncers for having drugs in my possession in a popular city nightclub. They were mistaken as it was Golden Virginia hand rolling tobacco and wasn't even mine, I'd just run out of smokes and borrowed a plastic tobacco pouch (retail branding). Someone had seen me handrolling a cig in the dark and flashing lights and took it to be a marijuana, alerting a bouncer mate, I suppose assuming I hadnt bought the "drugs" from them. It took over 2 hours to sort out in the middle of a Friday night. I was introduced to a baseball bat in the back alley (just shown it, not hit). The group of them, 3 and later, 4, had no qualms about threatening me. Big, tough guys, it was a difficult situation even for someone slightly drunk. Eventually, and for me (very) thankfully, the tobacco packet was located by my good friend (still a friend today) as it had simply fallen off the table and been kicked by dancing clubbers to just under the stage near the dancefloor. He had brought it over and the bouncers looked at it. I was profusely apologised to. I had a lucky escape and, bizarrely, over time I ended up with the "run of the club", by way of a practical apology I guess. They allowed me to do whatever I wanted without any inteference at all, even to the point of if someone annoyed me, I could get them dealt with, no questions asked. It was ridiculous. I became "friends" with the door staff, serious criminals though they all were, they made sure I was taken care of for many years after. Any club or bar in the city, I could name drop and be looked after. Despite being so young (illegally so), I never had to queue - even for the most popular club they would lift the rope, I was never again asked for ID, usually got served first at the bar and also never got challenged about dress codes, despite wearing converse high tops lol. That's how much influence these guys had. Only many years later, did I really understand why. I can only assume that this was the result of me being honest and standing my ground in what I was saying even with the threat of violence, and then being proven as honest in front of them. Thats the only possible explanation for what happened after their threats. Of course I didnt really understand what I was doing, at the time I was just being factual. So naive. The only reason I even know this now is through watching gangster movies, where apparently if you're honest and dont blab about stuff, in certain circles, you're viewed as "OK". Looking back, I wasn't as responsible as I could have been with my new found "power", but nobody ever got hurt as a result of my actions, although thats pure luck in some respects as I didnt really understand the situation. I was 13 when that all happened, just 13. It was all routine then. Clubs were full of young teenagers and if you were 21+, you belonged in another bar down the street for old people. Maybe I was big for my age and not afraid of a scrap (in my head at least), but the whole 80's club scene was totally out of control in terms of letting in kids and the alcohol and drugs. I count myself extremely lucky that things turned out the way they did for me, but the modern regulation of doormen is a serious upgrade on what we had to work with back then, even if the current crop of 13/14 year olds don't get to have their 10p pints. Sorry we messed that up, kids! My own situation could have been extremely serious and in a decent society, actually was, when I think about it. I don't miss nightclubs, or those people. I still remember the bouncers names, all these years later. In some ways, being so young prevented me from having any latent trauma, because as an adult, whilst I can handle myself, I'd be far more aware of just how at risk I was, whereas as a kid, I don't think I had the first inkling. Saved me mentally.

[@brianshields7485]

Thanks for sharing your story I found it interesting I'm glad you lived to tell it

[@CoIoneIPanic]

I tried to read your story but my sundial chimed.

[@Anthony-Testicali]

They could make a movie about you called tobaccofellas and a young dexter jackson could play you

[@MrByaeger]

Never been one, but I've trained a few bouncers and they were my favorite students because there's no time, room or desire for any theories . Just meat and potato basics that WORK. One guy was around 5'6 , 135 max. But he was Thai . So the club made him the head of security even though he was mediocre at best skill wise . But it was the early 90's during a martial arts craze so they bought him a cool suit , he never spook directly to anybody just stood there looking cool His nickname was "Secret Asian Man " . I mean everybody just figured that dude HAD to be a bad ass right? And it worked ! His guys would surround and hold somebody , Tom would stand nearby just looking, the guys would look at Tom , so the problem guy would too and just give in. Tom would tell me later stuff like "Thank GOD that dude didn't swing at me, he was HUGE! "

[@bluesix2843]

Interesting yesteryear moment captured for all time. What would we do without YT! Worked the doors for 10 years just for fun. Great days.

[@Bluedog4712]

I used to go to the nightclubs in Bradford in the seventies, and some of those bouncers were downright psychopaths just looking for an excuse to beat the crap out of anyone…..even someone falling asleep! Now I’m not saying that they are all like that, I knew some that were great guys, but back then I saw many that were not!

[@aa-up4sf]

Bradford in the seventies, bet it was a lot different to now. I always wonder if people back then saw the changes coming.

[@Bluedog4712]

@@aa-up4sf if you are referring to the diversity of Indian and Pakistani people that are a predominant part of the city’s culture, It has been like that since well before the seventies! Bradford has been well known for its wool and textile mills for well over a hundred and fifty years, and they badly needed workers to fill the jobs that the indigenous population didn’t want to do anymore! So they definitely contributed towards the economy of Bradford, many started their own businesses and were conscientious hard working people! What the city it like now I don’t know as I haven’t visited it for at least twenty years.

[@bertRaven1]

@@Bluedog4712 "didn't want to do" is just cover for asking for a living wage

[@Bluedog4712]

@@bertRaven1 I agree, but in the late fifties and early sixties there was also generally an abundance of jobs, and your reason is just one as to why many people were leaving the mills in droves and why Indian and Pakistani people were in encouraged to work in them and in effect keep them going.

[@bertRaven1]

@@Bluedog4712 by keep them going you mean maintain the profit margin of the mill owners? The narrative now is that there was a post war shortage of labour, but if anything there was a wave of emigration out of Britain to places like Australia, NZ and Canada looking for well paid work.

[@muldoun45]

Love these archival videos. Amazing to peep into history like this.

[@African_Rose]

Worked doors in Birmingham for 7 years just before covid. Only got injured twice one girl raked the back of my head with her high heel and the other was another girl throwing a bottle from across the street. I can tell you without question the women cause more problems. Gays just nause you and the lads aren't looking to knock you out it's someone else. If you throw your weight around and act like you're a gangster you'll get laid out real quick. Be courteous and calm right up until physicality and your restraint emotionally doing something combatative tends to take wind out of wallies sails real quick.

[@adeelm9028]

Yup, working security you realise how hard it is do deal with women. Most men can understand what it eventually can lead to

[@standenberg]

Women do cause more trouble in Brum, from my experience. I recall one trappy confrontational young woman got sent to prison a couple of years ago for racially abusing a black doorman on Broad Street Birmingham. It was all recorded on a smartphone & I must say the bouncer was excellent & handled it really well, especially as she continually provoked him with nasty racist comments.

[@northernking2604]

​@@standenbergwomen can be very violent

[@JesusChrist2000BC]

​@@standenbergWomen always think they are going to get away with everything and they usually do in the courts but not on the streets

[@leehannaford9166]

Excellent footage! Would like to see more of this kind of stuff👍🏻

[@Lee-ut3ob]

Good mix of training there. Boxing. Wrestling and strength training. The best you csn do.

[@jmazz85786]

I thought at first that one of the bouncers was Andy Kauffman just playing a character.

[@jaymac7203]

Man I love this channel lol Keep em coming BBC Archive 😊

[@gagacrazy10]

This was so good!!!!

[@RICHARDGRANNON]

This is great.

[@jenkooper8647]

That was a great video 👍🏼

[@francosamericanmusings1560]

A wel made video, and well done training!!

[@BlacksmithBets]

Really interesting to see them grappling, I never realised it was common back then.

[@Scorch1028]

Yeah, catch wrestling was fairly common in England, particularly in Lancashire and Wigan, home of the legendary Snake Pit gym. That's where "Dynamite Kid" Tom Billington trained as a young man, before he broke into pro wrestling as one of the British Bulldogs. Catch wrestlers can throw down. I wouldn't want to mess with them.

[@folksurvival]

It has been common for thousands of years.

[@iansaxon1987]

Fantastic.

[@MikeHunt-fx9rg]

This video is awesome

[@boxingreport247com]

Love these old videos

[@jarraandyftm]

Once got done in the back of the head by a bouncer in Leeds then carried spark out out of the back door. Never managed to find out why!

[@pollocksjones7789]

Did you check your ass hole?

[@HarryFlashman.]

Mouthy and p*ssed, I'm guessing!

[@TomFooleryTheAustere]

Buddy at 1:12 is getting tuned up by anyone with even just a dash of boxing experience lol.

[@Onemoreround500]

This was a great documentary

[@CARLIN4737]

These docs are very important to remember our social history.

[@anthonyquinn7132]

People were much more articulate back in the day

[@Day-ZDuke]

1:08 haha the Shaw vs McLean fight poster in the background!

[@vinvincible8]

Interesting to see them grappling as well 👌

[@mpf6514]

The smell of stale farts at that gym literally emanates through the screen!

[@BFFoundation-ke2pi]

And brut

[@CoIoneIPanic]

Gyms should smell like a layer of sweats and fart. That's the smell of hard work. Unlike today's gyms where people hold their farts in. It's not healthy.

[@ryanlongley5052]

A proppa mans gym not a poser in sight poncing around looking in the mirror and taking pics for their social media or a woman craving attention wearing pants that show what she had fo eat last night

[@chrisbayes2972]

"I bloody well do, yeah"

[@robstaaass]

This was so cool

[@thomaslewis7504]

These guys have a better grasp on the English language than the majority of the modern public. Bravo.

[@cgray8267]

Great content

[@magnusericsson7812]

Those were the days 😊

[@deanstanley5799]

Nice china cups in the gym rest room 😂😂😂

[@ericsierra-franco7802]

I will say that these bouncers in this documentary have far more dedication to their vocation than you would find here in the US. I'm sure there are some bouncers here in the US that actively train and take the job seriously, but, many bouncers, in my experience, are good at looking tough but not so good at getting tough. Plus, society and the law takes a dour view of the profession; and business owners can face criminal or civil litigation if a bouncer seriously hurts someone, or even kills someone (which happens from time to time). Interesting documentary!

[@bksvdb]

Sometimes, they actually are "tough".

[@malcolmdeboo3794]

The red vest over the purple t shirt 😂😂😂 state of him

[@paulbarracksog359]

Gordon’s gym old skool.

[@Sidecontrol1234]

Did the door for almost 4 years while at uni and a little after I graduated, great pay, great fun, but I'm glad to leave that part of my life behind.

[@jameswhite4446]

You can almost FEEL the energy in the old skool gym

[@m.b.593]

The guy’s throwing hooks but the mitt holder is holding for jabs and crosses lol

[@kingdaleclarke]

Terrible technique there

[@druckerman247]

Love thd strong neck fellow. Great exercises.

[@peternagy-im4be]

Looks pretty dangerous?

[@weximan1]

These are bad ass bouncers

[@jezcon9467]

Proper old school geezers👊

[@SEANPOL203]

Old skool tough guys

[@notme1345]

When people used to speak English

[@garrettkelly5568]

"No skin heads tonight" 😅

[@michaelturner4457]

It took until 2005 to become regulated, with the SIA Door Supervision licence

[@Nick-io9uk]

I wonder how much of it was to recover/tax their earnings. I worked (in a warehouse) with a guy who quit bouncing when they brought in regulations....prior to that he reckoned you would make more in the mid 1990s, tax free of course, than bouncers were getting paid when I talked to him (2020) I guess like so many jobs, wages have gone nowhere but down over the last 30 years sadly. though £5 to £30 doesnt sound great for night work in 1979 either.

[@jacko717]

Not true, local councils had their own registration schemes, and Manchester City Centre Door Safe scheme was the first to try and legitimise the job. My badge number was 0253. This would have been the late 90s.

[@Nonegiven14582]

I got my license in 2012 I think. Had it for 9 years. I thought licenses had come out before then. And looking it up it was 2001

[@wulfhere83]

Here in Birmingham the city council had a door supervisors registration scheme in place. Not sure when it came in to force but it was definitely required as early as 2001 when I started working.

[@gunsharck]

This sounds like its being narrated by David Schneider from The Day Today and Alan Partridge

[@dickterpene8697]

Smell my cheese you mother!

[@peteburns64]

1983 I started… Did a few yrs… Talking it down was always the best way, but odd times didn’t work.

[@Analoguebubblebath89]

Serving the public, but also knocking them out when they question you lol

[@PrimeMatt]

That guy was spot on 👌🏼 I worked rough doors for 11 years from the mid 90's it was a totally different world and the police treated us worse than the people who came out to cause the problems. But it was a time I'd not change for anything 👍🏻

[@thebodysnatcher4359]

Cool to see some catch wrestling shown here

[@Split_Routine]

I worked the doors & made collections in the 90s. Fortunately i was refused a licence in the 2000s and went on to have a successful career.

[@francosamericanmusings1560]

6:30 he was prophetic...

[@kevy2j28]

The fella at the start looks like a pound shop version of Roy shaw

[@Hesnotimpressed]

3 1970s working class men whose accent in today’s London could be taken for royalty. Liekkk yagemme fam

[@davidc4408]

Black and immigrant third world country people have deteriorated it

[@Supreme468]

Cockney accent was never seen as royalty it was looked down on by the upper class as the peasant language they same way you look down on modern British vernacular

[@folksurvival]

​@@Supreme468Read before responding.

[@randomaccount9437]

@@folksurvivalI think the commenters point still stands

[@Anthony-Testicali]

Innit fam

[@jasonayres]

(3:55) Will *someone* get that phone, please! (I'd get off the couch, myself, but I've got this back problem, you know..)

[@sammyb1651]

Bugger! Just missed it! I wonder who it was?* *won't make sense to anyone who doesn't remember a world before mobile phones/1471.

[@ax99sound]

proper blokes

[@jasongentle6446]

These boys looked the part and took no lip 😬😬🇬🇧🇬🇧👍👍

[@nigelbenn4642]

Doormen, only bent coppers are worse.

[@pauldaviesantiques1556]

Gentlemen of the door: they don't make 'em like this anymore.

[@mda1218]

100% male … 👊🏼

[@crktritual]

As a active bouncer, you are correct

[@windowlicker1305]

100%

[@johnrobinson7398]

Lost his temper twice, what a professional

[@Nick-io9uk]

No skinheads but let the guy with the rather greasy looking combover in. Times have certainly changed.

[@sharpvidtube]

No trainers was the worst for me. I was never violent, but they let in thugs with shoes.

[@Dreyno]

It wasn’t a sartorial judgement. A skinhead wasn’t just someone who liked the look. Skinheads were thugs and racists (by that stage regardless of how they started).

[@BFFoundation-ke2pi]

Pointed shoes n dock martins

[@chrisr5499]

Oxfords with segs @@BFFoundation-ke2pi

[@Nonegiven14582]

I have shaved my head since I was 14. The only question I got a club was if I was a squaddie. And that was in an army town. Back then though, being a skinhead might have been different.

[@DanHunterSportsWriter]

This was back when 30-year olds looked 50!!

[@markmarshall9820]

Music machine my brother use to go the it’s called the coco now in Camden Town.

[@BFFoundation-ke2pi]

Proper old school toughies who just slung you out no messin

[@stevenross-watt8640]

'what happened? I went BESERK' Haha. Good response.

[@TheBlackMosaic]

I worked and trained in Gordon’s gym between 1999 and 2001. I used to see Johnny Madden in there most mornings, he was a lovely and polite man. That gym had a real aura about it, even in the early 2000’s. That was also the place that I first met UK UFC legend Lee Murray. Him and Paul would also train in there most days around that time.

[@Gunners3991]

Faces only a mother could love

[@aroon3276]

Richard Hammond at 5.40

[@wanderer4life]

Good to see Jasper Carrott working the pads at 1.15.

[@sharpvidtube]

Crazy that they were allowed to throw the first punch. While most of them were OK, some loved intimidating people. A bit like the police now, a few bad ones ruined the reputation for the rest of them.

[@bensims7501]

A bit like society....

[@paulw4259]

You should have a look at the laws concerning self defence. Bouncers have (and had) no special rights under the law. And when this was made police had more or less no training in combat.

[@sharpvidtube]

@@paulw4259 Things have changed, probably the way the law is applied more now, when it used to be ignored. CCTV might be what changed things?

[@olivere5497]

In the UK cops aint even supposed to punch an aggressive member of the public!

[@Maxiey1]

Good and bad are in everything.

[@lanslater]

1979 flashback Thanks! Was Minder on telly at that time?

[@jakartaman3365]

Yes. Minder started in 1979

[@steverabbits]

Without lads and lasses on the doors every city centre would descent into absolute chaos on Friday and Saturday nights.

[@BFNH459]

"I've never seen a bouncer take a liberty" 😂🤣🤣 bollocks

[@fit4taskfit4task49]

Never “mess” with “colly” Ears!