Cock Sparrer might not have been “authentic” punks – they had been playing in East End pubs since the early 1970s – but they brought genuine working-class authenticity to the scene.

They were even advertised with the slogan: “We’re not punks – we’re football hooligans.”

Formed at school by a bunch of West Ham fans, they started out playing covers at The Bridgehouse Tavern in Canning Town.

When punk burst into life they sped up their music and began to write their own songs about what they knew best – fighting, football and fighting at football.

With their tough attitude, unfashionable clothes and hairstyles (some of them looked like they were still Bay City Rollers fans) and aggressive anthems sung in a strong Cockney accent, Cock Sparrer were genuinely confrontational onstage – though they would soon subvert their image by releasing a tongue-in-cheek cover of the Rolling Stones’ We Love You as their second single.

Their debut single, released in June 1977, struck a very different tone. “I can’t stand the peace and quiet,” sneered Colin McFaull. “All I want is a running RIOT.” With their fervent following the Poplar Boys taking them at their word, they often got it, earning them bans from several punk venues.

Cock Sparrer could have been considerably more famous had they looked a gift horse in the mouth in their early days.

Having answered an ad placed in Melody Maker by Malcolm McLaren, who was looking for another band to manage alongside The Sex Pistols, they approached him with a demo.

But it was the band themselves who rejected McLaren’s interest after meeting him – allegedly because he demanded they get their hair cut, or alternatively for not getting a round in.

Having inspired a number of similar working-class punk bands – Sham 69, Angelic Upstarts and, most obviously, The Cockney Rejects – Cock Sparrer inevitably found themselves as standard bearers for the subsequent Oi! strand of punk.

They contributed a song called Sunday Stripper to a compilation album and went on to release a single that represented everything obnoxious about Oi! called England Belongs To Me.