Book reviews

Cris Freddi pays tribute to the inscrutable Sir Alf Ramsey, who died on April 28, 1999

There is no reason to doubt the sincerity of the reaction to Sir Alf Ramsey’s death, but it raises a point or two. Some of the football writers praising him today tried to bury him when he was England manager (“Ramsey’s Robots” they called his teams). The change wouldn’t have surprised Alf, who was always suspicious of them. He probably knew the passage of time would provide a sense of perspective. He was just piss­ed off it took so long.

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Matthew Brown explains why the Football in the Community scheme at Leyton Orient is setting a trend for others to follow

At the northern end of Brisbane Road, the street that gives its name to Leyton Orient’s home ground, be­yond the players’ entrance and the club shop, is a small Portakabin-style building. Inside, a few old desks and chairs are scattered around two small rooms.

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Rupert Murdoch may have been rejected but Manchester United fans are expecting another takeover bid, as Michael Crick explains

When Stephen Byers’s announcement came, it didn’t actually surprise us. It had been clear since late Jan­uary, when six members of Shareholders United Ag­ainst Murdoch (SUAM) attended a hearing with the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC), that they were taking the competition arguments against BSkyB much more seriously than we’d realised.

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Cheltenham Town are to become the Football League’s newest members. Mark Herron explains how they did it

In 1994, the new chairman of Chelt­enham Town’s neighbours and Doc Martens League rivals Glou­cester City announced matter of factly that the team would win promotion to the Conference with­in two years, to the Foot­ball League within five and would throw in an appearance in the FA Trophy final for good measure.

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From a Luton dream to a Luton disaster, David Kohler's plan for a new stadium has finally come to an end  John Earls reports

David Kohler was fighting a losing battle for Luton fans’ respect the moment he stopped being chairman and instead called himself chief executive. The latter title meant he could draw a wage we could not afford to pay him. Not that this forgives the moronic way Kohler was persuaded to resign in late February – an unlit petrol bomb and box of matches were posted through his letterbox with an accompanying letter making it clear what would happen “next time” if Kohler did not get out. 

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