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The autobiography 
of Tim Cahill
by Tim Cahill
HarperSport, £18.99
Reviewed by Jamie Rainbow
From WSC 350 April 2016

Buy this book

When Tim Cahill’s contract with Shanghai Shenhua was terminated, a number of A-League clubs approached the midfielder offering him the chance to finish his playing career in Australia. But, as he reveals in Legacy, he’d already snubbed an earlier return to his homeland for commercial reasons. The 36-year-old, fast approaching the end of his playing career, was already thinking about life after football. Or, to use Cahill’s own slightly nausea-inducing phrase, he had to “strategize as a businessman”.

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Andrew Crawford believes that an influx of money, famous players and foreign managers could help football become China’s most popular sport

The Chinese Super League (CSL) season gets underway on March 15. Most of the country’s big clubs receive substantial funding from various wealthy business tycoons or state-owned enterprises, and several teams have recruited expensive foreign reinforcements. Shanghai Shenhua started things off last December in spectacular fashion by snapping up Chelsea’s Nicolas Anelka for £190,000 a week. Since then, Beijing Guoan have spent around £1.9 million to secure strikers Andrija Kaludjerovic and Reinaldo, while Shandong Luneng have paid a reported £830,000 for their own Brazilian forward, Gilberto Macena.

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For the richest European clubs, the term “the global game” has a new meaning as they rush to sew up their share of overseas markets. Gary Bowerman analyses the attempts to colonise China

As Liverpool’s new marketing strategy starts to look east, China seems an attractive option, particularly as the world’s biggest clubs have made a head start. AC Milan, Manchester United and Real Madrid have all played here in the last four years, with Barcelona, who beat then Chinese Champions Shenzhen Jianlibao 9-0 in Macau in 2003, set to play in Beijing this summer. The public-relations results were mixed, however, especially for Milan, whose second-string team were soundly beaten 2-0 by Shanghai Shenhua in front of a pitifully small crowd at the 80,000-seat Shanghai Stadium. The Chinese fans’ message was clear: don’t take us for granted.

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A relaunched domestic league has done little to divert the attention of a jaded Chinese public from Europe, writes Gary Bowerman, but sights are set high for the future

Footballing frustration hangs heavily over China. With a population of 1.3 billion, an economy fast outgrowing all others and an ingrained passion for football, the Chinese constantly berate their national team for their lowly 64th place in FIFA’s rankings. To compound the fans’ frustration, China’s recent tour of Europe yielded a scoreless draw with Andorra, a 1-0 win over Algeria and a thumping 6-0 defeat by Bar­celona, while the Under-23 team failed to qualify for the Athens Olympics.

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