Book Review: Three Lions Roaring by John Ballard

With the 2014 World Cup in Brazil on the horizon and with England taking part, this timely eBook is John Ballard’s personal selection of “…the 10 encounters that…are the Three Lions’ finest.” Ballard has selected the following ten fixtures:

1	1938	Germany v England
2	1948	Italy v England
3	1961	England v Scotland
4	1966	England v West Germany
5	1970	England v Brazil
6	1984	Brazil v England
7	1986	England v Poland
8	1990	England v West Germany
9	1996	England v Netherlands
10	1998	England v Argentina

 

In the main the games are memorable victories, but it does contain a number which ended in valiant defeat and invariably to that villain of English football – penalties.

The format for each of the games follows a similar thread, with some background to each fixture, details of the games significant points (including the England line-up), and then a brief biography of the England manager in each fixture and a ‘man of the match’ as selected by the author.

Ballard writes with an informative, but readable style, dropping in some humour and cultural references along the way.

The content works well as an eBook and will be an ideal point of reference for those discussions during the World Cup as to what are England’s finest ten games.