www.casspennant.com
Media Articles
SUNDAY PEOPLE
29th October 2000
EXCLUSIVE: The amazing
friendship of a boxing legend and a convicted hooligan
|
Britain’s worst
football hooligan Cass Pennant has revealed how he saved boxing Frank
Bruno from a racist knife-wielding gang – and then became one of
his true-life pals. The astonishing
friendship grew after gentle giant Frank was about to be carved up on
a station platform by four vicious skinheads with flick knives. Tough Cass –
the 6ft 4ins 17-stone former leader of the notorious West Ham InterCity
Firm – waded in and single-handedly chased the thugs off. And last night Frank
said: ‘That special act to help a total stranger cemented our friendship
for life.’ Frank was so grateful
he kept ex-convict Cass on the straight and narrow by employing him
as his personal minder – and then in a superb gesture reunited
him with his long-lost father. For Cass –
who had spent four years in jail for soccer violence – the frantic
few seconds when he saved Frank were the beginning of an amazing friendship
as the boxer went on to become world heavyweight champion. When Frank got married,
Cass was a valued guest at the ceremony. And again Cass,
whose life story has shot into W.H.Smith’s Top 10 best-selling
books list, was there at one of the champ’s proudest moments –
the christening of his son Franklin. But Frank finally
repaid the debt he felt he owed his saviour two years ago when he took
Cass to Jamaica to find the dad he had never seen. Frank, 39, told
the Sunday People: ‘Cass saved my life and I never forgot.’
The boxer told of his horror when he stared death in the face on London’s Stratford Station. He said: ‘I’ve been in the ring with some of the toughest boxers in the world, but nothing has filled me with terror like that day on the station. |
‘Facing four skinheads armed with knives, I knew I’d be cut to ribbons the moment they pounced. Even with my strength and boxing skills I’d had have been overpowered. I could have dealt with a couple of them but against four, they’d have been like a pack of wolves. ‘I was convinced I’d be left for dead in a pool of blood on that platform if Cass hadn’t weighed in. ‘Until that
moment no one had ever stepped in to help me. Cass appeared like my
guardian angel. He’s a big bloke, but as the rage filled inside
him he seemed to grow before my very eyes. ‘I’ll
never forget this giant roaring across the platform to save my life.
The four skinheads took one look at him and lost their will to fight.
I can still see them fleeing with Cass on their tails.’ Cass says: ‘There
was an instant bond between us.’ Frank was 21 and
an up-and-coming South London boxer nearly 20 years ago when the unlikely
friendship began. Cass, then 23, was
head of Britain’s most feared soccer hooligans the InterCity Firm
and his convictions included stabbing a Sheffield Wednesday fan –
though he denies doing that. Frank recalls: ‘There
were these skinhead guys on the platform at Stratford station using
all kinds of filthy racist language trying to start a row with me. ‘I didn’t
want any trouble because I fought in the ring not on the street and
I didn’t think fists against knives was a fair fight. I would rather
talk my way out of trouble any time and walk away. But they were determined
they wanted a fight. I’d been taking all this abuse when a bloke
looking like a powerful version of Lenny Henry walked across the platform.
He was huge. ‘He came over
to me and said, “All right mate – do you need any help?”
I wasn’t well-known then. No-one would have recognised me. Cass
wanted to help because he could see I was outnumbered. ‘The skinheads took one look at him and scarpered. |
‘After that
Cass just walked off. We didn’t talk but I never forgot him. He
probably saved my life. ‘I was already living with Laura who was to become my wife and I told her what had happened. We were both very grateful to him.’ Cass says: ‘When
I first met Frank it was four against one and they were just about to
go at him. ‘The leader
was the biggest, meanest Nazi skinhead I’ve ever seen with a flag
tattooed on his face. He looked hard, but his shocked eyes widened the
size of Flying Saucers when he saw me. They put their knives back in
their pockets and ran for it as I steamed after them. ‘I walked away
and thought nothing more of it. But I know I just couldn’t have
stood back and done nothing.’ Two years later
Frank was training at a gym and instantly recognised Cass when he wandered
in selling tickets for a local boxing match. Cass says: ‘I
asked him how he knew me and he said, “Stratford mate”. ‘I didn’t want to embarrass him so I said, “What, pub or a club?” He said, “No man, Stratford station. Skinheads, mate, skinheads. Remember the skinheads?” From then on, their
relationship was cemented and they became close, inviting each other
to important milestones in their lives like weddings and christenings. Frank says: ‘I
admired the way he was putting his troubled past behind him. I was so
impressed that when he set up a security firm I hired him as a minder.’ Frank got more value
from his friendship with Cass in 1996 after he lost his WBC world heavyweight
title to Mike Tyson in Las Vegas. Cass – who had also been to the victory fight the previous year – sent the defeated boxer a letter of condolence which lifted his spirits. |
Frank says: ‘He told me that in becoming the British world heavyweight champion, I’d not only achieved something that all British black people could be proud of, but that I’d lifted the spirits of the nation. And when my marriage was under pressure I confided in him because I could trust him.’ So when Cass –
raised in Britain by a white family but the son of Jamaican parents
– mentioned one day that he would love to meet the dad he had never
seen, Frank stepped in. Cass, 42, now a married dad of two running a
sandwich bar on Penge rail station in South London, could not afford
the air fare to see long-lost father Cecil. So Frank, appearing
in panto in Birmingham, phoned him out of the blue and said: ‘When
I finish the panto run would you like to come to Jamaica with me? You’ve
got a father out there you’d like to see haven’t ya?’ Cass was stunned.
He says: ‘I started sweating, thinking, “How can I keep up
the money front on holiday with a superstar who buys two hundred quid
bottles of wine?” ‘But they were
stupid worries because Frank ain’t like that. It was an offer not
from Frank Bruno the celebrity, but Frank my friend. He’d helped
me out before, so I knew he meant it. No one had ever done that for
me before.’ After a couple of
days relaxing in a luxury hotel in Jamaica, the pair set off to find
Cass’s dad from an address that his mum in London had given him.
Eventually they found it. Cass says: ‘Dad just looked at me, I
looked at him. Frank looked at the pair of us and laughed, “I can
see you two are getting on fine. I’ll leave you and come back in
four or five hours.” I didn’t want Frank to go but he knew
me and my dad needed time together.’ Cass added: ‘Thanks
to Frank, after years of wondering and searching, my journey to find
my roots is over. ‘Now I know
where I am and where I want to go in life. ‘Just like
Frank I’m black, British and proud.’ And Frank is proud to have finally repaid the debt from so long ago. |
