Book reviews

One Football Fan’s Fear of Success
by John Crace
Constable, £12.99
Reviewed by Nick Dorrington
From WSC 296 October 2011

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Very soon into their life every Tottenham supporter is indoctrinated in the “Spurs way” and told stories of the brilliance of the Bill Nicholson-led 1961 Double-winning side of Dave Mackay and Danny Blanchflower, Cliff Jones and John White. To correlate this glorious past to teams featuring the likes of Jason Dozzell, Ramon Vega and Timothée Atouba is a task beyond all but the most blindly loyal.

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The Birth of Liverpool Football Club
by Alan Wilson
Vertical, £11.99
Reviewed by Rob Hughes
From WSC 297 November 2011

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Liverpool first emerged, in true Adam and Eve style, from Everton's rib. A boardroom bust-up in 1892 led Anfield owner John Houlding to funnel his considerable wealth into a brand new team, taking his ball (and his ground) with him. Thus Liverpool FC was born, while Everton, having called Anfield home for eight years, were packed off to Goodison.

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Ten Years at Anfield – A Liverpool Fan's Dream Job
by Frank Gamble
SportsBooks, £7.99
Reviewed by Mark Rowe
From WSC 299 January 2012

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Frank Gamble has given us a rarity: an original football memoir. "The idea for this book," he says, "was to try and express what it was like crossing the threshold of just being a fan, no matter how fervent, to depending on that commitment for your livelihood." In the 1980s he worked for Liverpool as the lottery sales manager. Liverpool taxed and insured his beige, nearly-new 1300cc Ford Escort estate. "How cool was that?" Frank writes. "Had somebody offered me a swap for a Ferrari there and then I would have politely declined."

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Life lessons of a professional footballer
by Richard Lee
Bennion Kearney, £9.99
Reviewed by Terry Staunton
From WSC 303 May 2012

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Times are tough during an economic downturn and unless you are one of the elite it is no different for footballers. At the end of the 2009-10 season, after a decade at Watford where he increasingly found himself warming the bench, goalkeeper Richard Lee felt it was time for a change, even if it meant dropping down a division and taking home a slimmer pay packet.

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by Graham McColl
Bantam Press, £12.99
Reviewed by Jonathan O'Brien
From WSC 280 June 2010

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By the law of averages, a sizeable number of you who are reading this will be having a flutter on the World Cup. So, before you put your money down on Spain (who are forever only one Sergio Ramos backpass away from potential disaster), or Brazil (whose star playmaker has endured a poor season), or even England, have a leaf through this entertaining look back through World Cup history that passes itself off as an instruction manual for managers hoping to bring home the big one.

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