Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook: It's not so punk on the terraces at Chelsea any more

Telegraph

09-03-2025

Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook is talking about the band's infamous television appearance on the Today show in December 1976, alongside host Bill Grundy. 'I think he met his match, he was an establishment sort of figure and very condescending; he got what he deserved.'
The incident which saw Grundy goad the band into swearing live on air caused a national scandal and the London four-piece became an immediate sensation, changing popular culture overnight. 'There was nothing cultural at the time', explains Cook, 'we had Top of the Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test. I like to think we had a hand in changing all that.'
Anarchy In The UK soon became the political anthem for a disenfranchised generation. 'It was a violent time of strikes and football violence and that spilled over naturally into the punk movement,' adds Cook. 'Everyone was a bit angry in the 70s and it spilled over into all walks of life.'
Chelsea is very much in the bones of Cook. There's even proof of him as a young fan in the Loft behind a yawning policeman under a helmet. When I remind him, Cook raises his boot out to illustrate that he is the smiling teenager facing the camera with his Dr. Marten sticking out. 'It was QPR v Chelsea in the FA Cup in 1970 at Loftus Road and we beat them 4-2. I'm from Shepherd's Bush, I should be a Rangers supporter but I grew up supporting Chelsea.
1970: A bored Policeman in the Loft #QPR v Chelsea FACup 6th Rd. Pre Sex Pistol Paul Cook in the Docs looking at the camera. pic.twitter.com/ukRpaoYpYA
— BushmanQPR ⚽️ (@BushmanQPR) October 14, 2021
'My family is from Fulham but my mates would drag me to Stamford Bridge. I've still got a soft spot for Fulham but I ended up supporting Chelsea around 1965-66.'
Cook does not miss a beat when I ask him his favourite player of the era. 'Charlie Cooke, he was a real entertainer like George Best. At that time we signed a lot of players from Scotland. I even wanted an e on the end of my name to be like him.'
Today we are in The Green public house not far from the Shepherd's Bush Empire where the band played in 1996. Cook has brought with him a selection of programmes from his collection, perhaps the stand out is for an FA Cup final replay, the first in 58 years, of Chelsea versus Leeds United at Old Trafford in April 1970.
'I never got to the first game as I messed up my tokens. That game and the rivalry was something else, especially when you're a young kid. The away games were pretty scary.' Violence was common, particularly with the Chelsea-Leeds rivalry, did Cook ever get caught up in the chaos?
'If you went, it was a dangerous place to be and if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I had a knack of walking into trouble, I wasn't a fighter and I got badly beaten up not far from here by a bunch of Teddy Boys for looking like a punk. There was a reaction against the punks that was so far out there. We were public enemy number one and front-page news but a lot of it was caused by us I must admit.'
How does Cook feel about the shifts in the game during his lifetime? 'I do get fed up, I'm not in love with it in the way I was but I try not to be one of those old guys saying; 'back in my day it was great'. And yes it was but the state of the grounds, the violence and facilities has all changed. The British game was run down but now it's corporate boxes. You get a lot of tourists from Japan and so on – it's different people around me each week, which is great but I don't know if it's all necessarily for the better.
'The violence and racism has not totally gone but it is so much better.'
Asked to harken back to the reign of Roman Abramovich, Cook is honest, revelling in the glory of the time. He never expected Chelsea to win the league in his lifetime, let alone the biggest prize in Europe – twice. He does not regret the ride, and on having a supremely wealthy backer, Cook queries whether Newcastle United or Manchester City fans have moral quandaries. 'It's like that until you get your own sugar daddy,' he says.
The Sex Pistols returned last August minus John Lydon to raise money for Bush Hall, attempting to save the venue from closure. Relations between Lydon and Cook along with guitarist Steve Jones and bassist Glen Matlock have been strained after a court case over the band's legacy and now they perform with Frank Carter on vocals.
'I don't diss John', adds Cook. 'He was iconic but the band won't happen again with John. Relationships in the band became so toxic. Now it's just been so much fun, we are not trying to say Frank is the new Johnny Rotten or anything like that but it's clear now there is an audience for it and that people want to hear the songs, they want to hear Never Mind The Bollocks.'
Matlock is a QPR fan, and Cook and Steve Jones have remained close, especially through support of Chelsea since the guitarist moved to America in 1982. Cook adds: 'Steve was not into football at the time, he would go to QPR for the hell of it and for the chaos. He would bunk in, cause some trouble and nick all the hot dogs.'
It was in LA that Jones and Cook would pull on the jersey for Hollywood United. 'They don't get it, bless them, but they've had a good team over the years. They are super fit and really hard to play against. We've had a few knock-about friendly games with Vinnie Jones and Frank Leboeuf… they take it very seriously by the way.'
For the drummer also known as Cookie there's a clear link between the terraces he grew up in and the punk movement. 'The chants on the terraces come from the music hall tradition, originally everyone would go there and sing and that transferred to terraces and the punk rock choruses. There's nothing like 5,000 people singing a song, it's so uplifting. It's not so much like that any more [at Chelsea] – maybe in places like Liverpool or Newcastle where they still have that working-class support, but not down at Chelsea.