Book reviews

The Decline and Fall of the England Football Team
by Gavin Newsham
Atlantic Books, £20
Reviewed by Pete Green
From WSC 280 June 2010

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Reading this book is like watching Seth Johnson against Paolo Maldini. It's a steady and accurate retelling of England's years of hurt, with details of each international tournament and some glimpses behind the scenes. But only the most passive of supporters and readers are content merely to know – the rest want to know why. To have any real value, a book of this sort needs the wisdom and guile to advance further, analysing and accounting for England's failure. And this is where Hype and Glory comes up short.

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Fighting Like Beavers On The Front Line Of Football
by Chris Kamara
Harper Sport, £15.99
Reviewed by Barney Ronay
From WSC 283 September 2010

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Mr Unbelievable is a mess. It is, structurally and tonally, a confused and uneven affair. It is without doubt unbelievable – an unbelievable dog's dinner. Having said that it isn't a particularly boring book, or at least not uniformly boring – open its pages anywhere and you find yourself assailed, bothered, nudged and jabbered at. Mr Unbelievable has one constant: the sound of uneasily giggling professional banter, the banter of a man who appears to be laughing so hard he has tears in his eyes, but who you feel might, at any moment, jab you in the eye and ask you what's so funny.

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The Players' Stories
by Miguel Delaney
Mentor, €16.99
Reviewed by Paul Doyle
From WSC 291 May 2011

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There is a touch of Fawlty Towers about the Republic of Ireland's golden years. Not only because the main character was a lanky and rude galoot with Sybil-esque single-mindedness, nor merely because the Manuels of the FAI see to it that the country's football history often reads like the script of a hit sitcom, but also because there have been so many reruns that you wonder if there is any point in taking in another.

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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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