Book Review: Fierce Genius: Cruyff’s Year at Feyenoord by Andy Bollen

If you engaged a football fan in word association, throwing them the name ‘Johan Cruyff’, the most expected response would be ‘Ajax’, the club he successfully played and managed and with which he is most readily associated. You might also get a few replying ‘Holland’, ‘Total Football’ or ‘14’ the number famously worn by the Dutch legend, or even ‘Barcelona’, like Ajax a club he won honours with both as a player and coach. Some may even respond ‘turn’ as in the ‘Cruyff Turn’, which originated when he twisted Swedish defender Jan Olsson inside out during their World Cup game in 1974. What is highly unlikely is that any would be prompted to say ‘Feyenoord’ – the reason? Well, Cruyff’s farewell season in 1983/84, playing for the Rotterdam based club, despite the club winning the ‘double’ (Eredivisie and KNVB Cup), is largely forgotten about, amongst all else that Cruyff achieved. Andy Bollen’s Fierce Genius: Cruyff’s Year at Feyenoord, therefore, is a welcome window on this period about Amsterdam’s most famous footballing son.

In terms of the format of the book, Bollen does not simply focus on that campaign back in the early 1980s but provides a wider view as he looks across Cruyff’s career as player and coach in Holland, Spain and in America, as well as portraying something of his character and temperament. This means that the triumphant season at Feyenoord, is dealt with in just six chapters (out of thirty-one), with five focusing on the league matchdays and one detailing the Cup win. The emphasis of these six chapters is very much around match detail with description of the major incidents of the games, drawn it feels from the many videos available on YouTube, and incidentally well worth a watch to fully appreciate the genius of Cruyff. If there is a disappointment it is that those chapters on that season don’t contain more interviews and opinions from that campaign, whether that be coaches, players, administrators, fans or the media, to get more reflection and insight on an incredible achievement. Indeed it is not really until the final chapter, that more context is provided on the events of the 1983/84 Eredivisie.

However, that aside, this is a very informative and readable portrayal which Bollen relates with humour and as it evident from the writing, from the authors position as a fan of Cruyff. The chapters woven around the 1983/84 season take the reader from Cruyff the boy growing up in Amsterdam, through his first playing spell at the De Meer Stadion from 1964 to 1973, his five year stint in Spain with Barcelona, brief sojourns in the USA playing in the NASL and Spain with Levante, before a second spell at Ajax in which Cruyff delivered leagues titles in 1981/82 and in the following season. At the end of that campaign, in which Ajax also won the Cup, Cruyff was 36 and the expectation was that he would get a further one-year deal and retire at the club.

However, as Bollen details, this didn’t come to pass and instead Cruyff made the forty-odd miles journey from Amsterdam to Rotterdam, joining Ajax’s bitterest rivals, Feyenoord, capturing the ‘double’ for De Trots van Zuid and winning Dutch Footballer of the Year for himself. Once he retired from playing, Cruyff showed that his genius wasn’t just restricted to playing as coaching roles at Ajax and Barcelona brought national and European success taking and developing ‘Total Football’ to a new level, with his influence today seen for example in the managerial style of Pep Guardiola and a lasting legacy on the youth set-up and systems at both de Godenzonen and Barça.

For all the positives that Cruyff brought to the game, Bollen is balanced in acknowledging that the Dutchman had his faults and weaknesses. For instance, not everyone was comfortable with Cruyff’s continual drive for perfection or his stubbornness and sometimes forthright views, whether on or off the pitch, aimed at teammates, coaches, the media and football administrators alike. Indeed, Bollen recognises that this side of his character was undoubtedly instrumental in Cruyff lose a captaincy vote by the Ajax squad in 1973 and was no doubt influential in him not becoming coach of the Dutch national side.

The nearest Cruyff got to being an international manager was his time from 2009 to 2013 when he was in charge of Catalonia and which turned out to be his last job in the game. Sadly, Cruyff lost his battle with lung cancer and died on 24 March 2016 – the Fierce Genius was gone. He will though be remembered as long as football is played.

If you look at the greatest players in history, most of them couldn’t coach. If you look at the greatest coaches in history, most of them were not great players. Johan Cruyff did both – and in such an exhilarating style. (Former Ajax and Dutch international Johan Neeskens)

(Pitch Publishing. February 2021. Hardback 288 pages)

 

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Book Review: Red Wine & Arepas: How Football is Becoming Venezuela’s Religion by Jordan Florit

Even before turning over one single page this is a book that demands attention due to the dazzling and eye-catching cover design, intriguing title and eye-watering size.

On picking up this mighty tome of 492 pages, readers are greeted with a cover featuring the colours of the Venezuelan flag – yellow, blue and red, wrapping around the book, enhanced by a graphic of the men’s national team line-up adorning the front and that of the women’s team on the back.

In terms of the title and sub-title, author Jordan Florit has been clever in creating an analogy, with the red wine and arepas, able to be seen as the sacraments (the blood and body of Christ), as football look to becomes the new religion in the country, overtaking baseball as the national game, whilst being seen as a beacon of hope of what is perceived globally to be a troubled nation. Further information to be gleaned from the title, which become apparent in the book, is that the Venezuelan national football team is nicknamed La Vinotinto, translated as red wine, due to the colour of their shirts, with arepas, a snack made from cornmeal stuffed with various filings. Again the title is working to give the reader a pointer to what is to come in that the book is both about football and a flavour of the country of Venezuela itself.

Florit acknowledges in an interview for the Morning Star (for the full story click here), that in order “do such a complex country and society justice would require me to immerse myself fully in its ways of life and to learn its unique idiosyncrasies…I knew I would have to travel to Venezuela and visit as much of its football heartlands as possible.”

The author enjoyed considerable success in gaining access to a number of key personalities within the game, such as, Richard Paez, who managed the men’s national team between 2001 and 2007, leading La Vinotinto to their best period to date on the international stage. Additionally, interviews take place with Venezuela’s version of Sir Alex Ferguson, Noel Sanvicente and  Adelis Chavez, brother of the former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez and the current president of Zamora Futbol Club. It is a measure of Florit’s journalistic nose and nouse, that he is able to get this access to these people and so many others and partly the generosity and willingness of so many involved in the sport and beyond in wanting to share their stories with “the Englishman”.

Football, whether this be on the streets, the men’s or women’s game, is undoubtedly the main thrust of the book, and in exploring the game, its clubs, players, fans, owners, journalists and administrators alike, Florit is able to gain an insight on the country itself. So as the author travels the country, the reader is treated to aspects of Venezuela’s history, its culture, political struggles and the people and society. In doing so, Florit is conscious of the issues in the country and the contradictions that those he meets sometimes cause him. Whilst it is shocking to read of the hyperinflation suffered in Venezuela, the shortages in utilities such as electricity, petrol and water, the political problems and the ever brooding presence of the National Guard, none of this is ever portrayed in an overdramatic or sensationalist manner, instead, it is presented as part of the struggles of the people.

However, this is not to say that the book is without its lighter moments, as there are a number of amusing incidents that occur during Florit’s time in this part of South America, including comical journeys in less than pristine taxi’s around the winding and potholed roads. There is also a joy and pride which shines through from the pages in the identity of being Venezuelan and the part that football has played in this.

Florit has undoubtedly been successful in producing a significant insight into Venezuela and its people and his exploration is complemented at the end of the book, with twelve Selected Works (or essays), which provide further reinforcement and look at the psyche of the República Bolivariana de Venezuela and its people and the game that is “becoming Venezuela’s religion”.

(JAF Publishing. August 2020. 492 pages)

 

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Book Review: There’s Only One Danny Garvey by David F. Ross

Football and fiction – not always the best of teammates, however, There’s Only One Danny Garvey by David F. Ross is a brilliant exception.

Set mainly in 1996, with a sporting background of the Olympics in Atlanta and the European Football Finals in England, accompanied by a soundtrack of Joy Division, Nick Cave and The Smiths, this novel centres on Danny Garvey, who has returned to Barshaw the village where he grew up, after an absence of 13 years, to manage the junior (1) team he once played for. Danny had been a teenage star and in 1983 moved to Aberdeen to begin his life as a professional player. However, injury saw him never make the first-team for the Dons and so he moved to Arbroath to play. His career though was effectively over by twenty-three due to the injury, only to take up the position as Youth team coach, having studied for his badges.

Higgy, whose life revolves around the football club and Libby, Danny’s terminally ill mother, is the driving force behind getting Danny back to Barshaw for the 1996/97 football season. Whilst the events on the pitch provide one narrative thread for the book, there are numerous others focusing on the off-field matters. In returning to the place of his childhood and early teenage years, Danny is forced to face his demons including the disappearance of a primary school classmate in the early 1970s, and his relationships with his mother, brother Raymond, Nancy (Raymond’s partner) and their child Damo.

Whilst the story is told mainly through Danny’s voice, the other characters do provide some insights, with dialogue in a Scottish accent providing a rawness and authenticity to the novel. Life on and off the pitch are depicted as dark and dangerous, with a subtle black comedic vein lurking just below the surface. The characters are well-drawn, indeed believable, and the writing engaging and absorbing – you can ask no more of a book which draws you in and demands to be continued to be read to the end.

For the football aficionados, whilst Barshaw Bridge FC are a fictional side, Ross details opponents who are part of the West of Scotland League such as Ardeer, Auchinleck Talbot, Beith Craigmark, Muirkirk and Troon, giving the football narrative an authentic feel. Indeed, further attachment to the ‘real’ football world is made with a cameo from ex-Scotland goalkeeper, Alan Rough.

The 20th Century French philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre, is often credited with saying that, “football is a metaphor for life”. If so, There’s Only One Danny Garvey, would have sat comfortably on his bookshelf.

Note:

(1) In Scotland, junior football is a level that would equate to the non-league game in England.

 

(Orenda Books. January 2021. Paperback 262 pages)

 

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Book Review: Extra Time – 50 Further Delights of Modern Football by Daniel Gray

Having recently rattled through Daniel Gray’s Saturday, 3PM and thoroughly enjoyed it, I immediately purchased a copy of his follow-up Extra Time – 50 Further Delights of Modern Football, and it didn’t disappoint.

In Saturday 3PM, Gray selected fifty of the weird and wonderful joys of the beautiful game, and in Extra Time, he details fifty more. This time, he takes in everything from soft-spot teams, to people patting police horses to cup draws and, my personal favourite, having noted its absence in Saturday 3PM, the referee falling over – it shouldn’t be funny, we’re all grown-ups, but it absolutely is. And again he does so in short missives that are perfectly resonant for football fans, but with a literary style and panache that is something to marvel at. There is something genuinely magical about his writing that makes it more than just words on a page; they burst with such precision and detail, such energy and zeal, that he absolutely brings the moments he describes to life, like a painter with words. Readers may think I’m getting a bit carried away, and perhaps I am, but I challenge you to read Gray’s writing and not to find it evocative. And something that I don’t think I’ve ever said about a sports book before – but his use of metaphor and simile is the stuff of English teachers’ dreams. In fact, any English teachers wanting to help students get their heads’ around these seemingly obscure techniques when trying to pick apart inaccessible Romantic or Renaissance poetry may find greater success in delivering one of Gray’s chapters to their pupils and using that as their reference point. His writing does, after all, have a poetry of its own, but one that is universally relatable and transparent – unlike much of the poetry getting thrown at kids in school. To my mind, Gray’s writing is honestly the pinnacle of football writing – there are, of course, different styles and different requirements, but for me, this is football writing at its very best.

Aside from the technical merits of the book, which I think I’ve just about covered, there is the content itself – the fifty delights that Gray writes about, and given that his first book covered fifty such themes, conjuring a further fifty is an achievement in itself. Some of my personal favourites, aside from, yes, the referee falling over, include indirect free-kicks in the box, not being able to sleep after a night match, jeering disallowed goals, clearing the ball off the line, goalkeepers going forward and the roar after a minute’s silence – all of which Gray perfectly captures and manages to conjure for readers who, most likely, haven’t experienced these joys first-hand in over a year now. The chapter on ‘going with my daughter’ was particularly touching, but also especially relatable, and as someone at the other end of the age spectrum, I can assure Gray that the experience gets better – as, later, daughters discuss tactics with their dads, decipher some dodgy chants, pay for a half-time pie and pint and badmouth the referee with the best of them – OK, well, maybe not that last point (or perhaps the penultimate point), but there is much still to look forward to.

Naturally, some of the inclusions are more relevant and relatable than others, and I didn’t connect as much with a couple in this book, but I’m sure every reader will have their own associations and memories stirred by the variety of Gray’s offerings. To my mind, though, there are still plenty of delights remaining, so perhaps we can look forward to a third book? And for inclusion, I will put forward the following: goal celebrations – the slick and the not-so-slick; the choreographed routines and backflips or the misjudged knee slide that ends up causing an injury. But, in truth, whatever Gray writes next – another fifty delights, a separate football book, a shopping list – I will happily dive in (if he fancies doing the government daily briefings, too, I wouldn’t object). And if any programme editors are looking to set the bar for next season, Gray’s writing is the sort that will elevate any publication to new heights, although I’m sure he has plenty to keep him going. Similarly, reading this book did make me think how nice an anthology of this sort would be, with a variety of the best writers around – Nick Hornby et al – extolling the virtues of football, and at a time when lower league/non-league clubs are struggling so much something like that could help to raise much-needed funds. But back to Daniel Gray and Extra Time and I can’t recommend this author enough. I’d advise starting with Saturday 3PM, before reading Extra Time, but either way Gray is a writer that deserves a worldwide audience – and perhaps inclusion on the school syllabus!

Jade Craddock

 

(Bloomsbury Sport. October 2020. Hardback 176 pages)

 

 

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Book Review: Football’s Fifty Most Important Moments by Ben Jones and Gareth Thomas

Choosing fifty moments that define football seems generous enough on the face of it, but when it comes down to a sport that has been in existence for over 150 years, things aren’t quite so clear-cut. So, hats off to Ben Jones and Gareth Thomas – writers of ‘The Football History Boys blog’ – for taking on this challenge – and the inevitable questions and debates that will follow – in their book Football’s 50 Most Important Moments.

As the title suggests, the book aims not to map the greatest or best moments in the course of the beautiful game, but those moments that have shaped the sport and made it what it is, but as the authors highlight, “the list of 50 moments will no doubt be different for each and every individual”, so whilst the book tries to give a comprehensive history of the key moments in the game, these are, naturally, open to opinion.

The book begins in 1857 and is split into eras right through to 2018 and the introduction of VAR – certainly one of the most important moments in modern football – and arguably far from the greatest! Along the way, the fifty moments take in everything, from World Cups to World Wars, hooliganism to the Hand of God, flitting between domestic and national scenes to continental and international, encompassing individuals and teams and covering both tragedy and victory. Chapters are short and don’t become too prosaic and readers can easily opt to read the book from cover to cover or just pick and choose chapters of note to dip into. The authors also provide references for further reading, but, if I’m being, ultra-picky, I did find the footnotes on each page a bit of an annoyance and would have preferred them all collated at the back of the book, but that’s a minor quibble.

In terms of the selection of the fifty moments themselves, readers are likely to be familiar with at least some of them, but even those that are familiar are detailed well and may offer up new information. I also found a number of moments that I’d heard of or knew in passing but which the book offered further explanation on, as well as a couple of moments that were entirely new to me. In general, though, most of the fifty moments are likely to be familiar to some degree, but I suspect even the most learned football fan will pick up some nuggets of information, even if it’s only the fact that the Man City megastore ran out of the letter O after Aguero’s Premier-League-winning goal in 2012 and Martin Tyler’s iconic ‘Aguerooooo’ (is that the right number of O’s? It’s easy to see how they ran out) commentary. What is striking about this history of football is the extent to which it is interwoven with tragedy – all of which have left indelible marks on the game and it is fitting that these are remembered.

Whilst some of the fifty moments are unquestionable – the formation of the FA; the first World Cup – as the authors had outlined, the choices are subjective, and there were a few that I wasn’t entirely convinced by, especially some of the later inclusions, such as that of the 1998 World Cup and latterly Zidane’s headbutt, both of them undeniably memorable, but the most important, I’m not sure. Similarly, there were a few moments conspicuous by their absence, and, in particular, whilst the roots of women’s football are acknowledged, further mentions of the women’s game, and especially its rise in recent decades, are excluded, even in a section of Honourable Mentions that adds a further ten moments that just missed the top fifty. For me, a chapter on the first Women’s World Cup or the formation of The FA Women’s Super League would warrant inclusion above either the 1998 World Cup or Zidane’s headbutt, and Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ would trump ‘Agueroooo’s goal – although I suspect Man City fans would think otherwise. Such debates just go to show how tricky is the task the authors faced, but it’s also really interesting and thought-provoking. For instance, whilst both England’s 1966 World Cup victory and Manchester United’s Treble are included, in terms of football as a whole and as a global game, just how important would these moments be judged elsewhere? Would Real Madrid’s La Decima (tenth winning of the European Cup/Champions League) be prioritised in a more global view or Indonesia’s appearance as the first Asian team at a World Cup in 1938? Again, such questions simply prove that there is no such thing as a definitive list of the most important footballing moments, but Jones and Thomas do an admirable job of getting the ball rolling. In providing their selections, the authors have created a book that not only brings their chosen moments to the fore but also encourages discussion of others. In shining a spotlight on certain moments in football history, the book also paradoxically brings others to light as it engages readers to consider the selections and weigh up the inclusions and exclusions. Football’s Fifty Most Important Moments is thus an informative read, but, more crucially, a thought-provoking one.

Jade Craddock 

 

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Book Review: Saturday, 3pm: 50 Eternal Delights of Modern Football by Daniel Gray

Although published in 2016, Daniel Gray’s Saturday, 3PM couldn’t be more fitting for the current times. Ask any football fan what they’re missing about matches played behind closed doors or the entire absence of football in the lower leagues and they’ll reel off a selection of things that Gray includes in this book of his ‘fifty eternal delights of modern football’.

Starting with seeing a ground from the train through to the last day of the season, Gray picks out those wonderful – and often weird – quirks of a football fan’s existence, the small as well as the large pleasures of the game that only true followers will understand – ‘watching an away end erupt’, ‘talking to an old man about football’, ‘physiotherapist races’, ‘club eccentrics’, and, yes, even ‘losing’ (I’m not entirely convinced by the latter!). In fifty bite-sized and accessible chunks, he waxes lyrical on this half-century of football fetishes, in genuinely evocative and, dare I say, even poetic, refrains. Indeed, the descriptions and sketches are compellingly vivid in such a way that they send the reader whirling back in time and place to when football stadiums were open, and crowds were part and parcel of the sporting experience.

Reading this book mid-lockdown, mid-pandemic really is a poignant and nostalgic experience that leaves you hankering for the thrills of matchday, whether that be ‘slide tackles in the mud’ or ‘seeing the team bus’, ‘visiting a ground for the first time’ or ‘standing on a terrace’. They’re simple experiences but ones that are fundamental to football fans and the whole panoply of going to a match, and ones that are sorely missed right now. And although a book can’t replace the real thing, I felt myself soothingly transported by Gray’s words, wrapped up, as he describes, in the ‘warm blanket football is’, and what a joy that was after so long in the wilderness. I suspect other readers will feel the same too, and it’s rare that a book can conjure such magic, such feeling, and it’s all the more powerful for doing so. Similarly, very few football books are truly universal; autobiographies tend to be only interesting or enjoyable to those readers who like the particular player or their affiliated teams, whilst other football non-fiction can feel quite didactic. But Gray’s book is genuinely for all fans and will be completely relatable for everyone. It’s also a really nice, effortless read that can be easily dipped in and out of. So for anyone struggling to choose what to buy a football fan, I would recommend this book without hesitation, regardless of the recipient.

And whilst my one disappointment was that I would have liked to have seen more of Gray’s writing, and certainly a few additions to his list of fifty football delights (I could think of a number to add, not least that classic football moment of the ref falling over or similar), what a bonus to discover a follow-up book was published as recently as October 2020 (mid-VAR and mid-pandemic) and I can confirm that I’ve already placed an order. So whilst I long for the day that normal football resumes and I can watch a match live, I rest easy in the knowledge that, for a short time at least, Daniel Gray will once more transport me back to the stands, to the joys of ‘defensive walls and drop-balls’ to ‘jeering passes that go out of play’ and ‘watching in bad weather’, and the thrills of ‘getting the fixture list’, the ‘ball hitting the bar’ and ‘outfield players in goal’ will be all the sweeter when they finally return.

Gray’s book concludes with his reflections on the end of the season and that abyss when football is missing, ending with a fitting homily for the times: ‘The sun sets but we all know morning will come again soon enough, bold as brass and brighter than ever. The birds will chirp to a new tune. That’s football genius. It never really ends.’ Thank goodness that it doesn’t.

Jade Craddock

 

(Bloomsbury Sport. October 2016. Hardback 160 pages)

 

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Book Review: “Minding My Own Football Business”: The Inside Story Of Leicester City’s Success In The 90s by Barrie Pierpoint

At the point this review was written in February 2020, Leicester City sat third in the Premier League, and were considered by many to be an established top-flight club, having taken the title in a never to be forgotten 2015/16 campaign. Go back though to May 1991 and The Foxes were on the brink of dropping into the third tier of the English game but saved themselves with a last day victory at their former home, Filbert Street, with a win over Oxford United.

The club knew that they had to make changes to return to the successful years of the 1960s, when Leicester won the League Cup in 1963/64, finished runners-up the following season and appeared in three FA Cup Finals (1960/61, 1962/63 and 1968/69). Into the club came Aston Villa legend Brian Little as manager from Darlington, whilst off the pitch, Barrie Pierpoint was appointed as Director of Marketing.

The story of what happened next is told in, “Minding My Own Football Business”: The Inside Story Of Leicester City’s Success In The 90s. Mathew Mann ghost-writes the tale having convinced Pierpoint that there was a story to tell. The Preface from Mann and Introduction from Pierpoint, set the tone for what is to follow, with Pierpoint stating that, “I don’t want it to be controversial” and so they, “agreed to write a light-hearted, nostalgic tale”. Therefore, readers looking for a warts and all expose of the final months of Pierpoint’s time at the club, will be in the main disappointed. Sensibly though, the events aren’t avoided, as Pierpoint provides his side of the story in Chapter 13 leaving readers to “make up your own mind about the part I played in Leicester’s success during the nineties.”

However, it is clear that his departure along with three other directors at the end of 1999 plays a part in forming aspects of the books construction. For instance, each chapter relating to his spell at The Foxes, is divided between, On the pitch and Behind the scenes. This allows on the one hand readers to appreciate events of a football and commercial nature side-by-side in each season, but also provides a deliberate demarcation between the two, in deference to the accusation made that Pierpoint wanted to take over the whole club including the football activities. The title also is a play on the phrase ‘minding my own business’ reflecting Pierpoint’s sharp with a knowing glance to those who ousted him, and the others dubbed the ‘gang of four’.

And whilst Pierpoint’s time at Leicester ended in an unpleasant fashion, the book rightly focuses on all that he and his team (to whom he repeatedly gives credit) achieved in providing revenue that supported the activities of The Foxes on the pitch. During his spell at the club, Pierpoint achieved commercial success that saw the club win business, training and entrepreneurial awards, create innovative ideas to sell the club to businesses and fans alike, and oversaw the rebranding of the club and impressively the building of a brand new stand that became the focus for further income generation. On the pitch, The Foxes went to four Play-Off Finals (winning two) and won the League Cup in 1999/2000 having been runners-up the season before. Truly a successful period for the club which cannot be disputed, even by his detractors.

Given that success and the number of contributors to the book from directors, staff, fans, journalists, managers and players alike, including Steve Walsh, Emile Heskey, Simon Grayson, Gary Mills and Tony Cottee, amongst others, Pierpoint, oft described as ‘flamboyant’ due to his coloured glasses and matching suits, must have been doing something right. Ironically two years after his departure in October 2002, the club went into administration with debts of £30 million – make of that what you will.

This well produced publication, which has a range of well selected and positioned images and a very readable and generous font size, ends with Pierpoint’s time at Portsmouth, Bradford City and Boston United and a Postscript detailing very briefly his childhood and years since leaving Boston United and his current role as a Management Consultant and Business Adviser. This is a must read for Leicester City fans, but also those with an interest in the business of football. The modern game is big business and Pierpoint showed during his time at The Foxes that he could make a success of it.

 

For every copy sold a donation is made to Rainbows Hospice for children and young people https://www.rainbows.co.uk/

 

(Morgan Lawrence Publishing Services. December 2020. Paperback 264 pages)

 

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Book Review: The Periodic Table of FOOTBALL by Nick Holt

For some people (me included), the mere mention of the periodic table may bring them out in a rash or at least induce a feeling of dread. Thankfully, there’s no confusing chemistry or strange isotopes in Nick Holt’s The Periodic Table of FOOTBALL, which finally succeeds in making the periodic table understandable, relevant and, dare I say it, fun (apologies to all chemistry fans out there who rather like the original).

Sticking with the table format that has plagued GCSE chemistry students for decades, Holt transmutes the baffling world of cadmium, copernicium and curium with that of Charlton, Clough and Cruyff as he seeks to arrange 108 of the most impactful players, managers, leaders and personalities of the global game into some kind of overarching order. Covering by and large the full extent of footballing history, from the late nineteenth century through to 2016 when the book was published, Holt includes and introduces a smorgasbord of the sport’s memorable (and a few not so memorable) names. And rather than taking the easy way out and dividing the table simply into goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and strikers, which would have been a fair and less taxing course of action, Holt adheres to the chemistry theme by grouping his footballing elements into fourteen categories defined by distinctive characteristics.

As such, there are: the precious metals (football’s biggest stars); the bedrocks (the indispensable players); the solids (the defensive balance); the sustainables (the long-serving reliables); the conductors (namely the managers); the catalysts (the team players); the transmuters (the literal game-changers); the porous (the overhyped); the unpredictables (exactly as it says on the tin); the explosives (the playmakers); the combustibles (the fiery characters); the corrosives (the negative influences); the polymorphs (those who have crossed boundaries) and the trace elements (the good but not the great). And within each grouping, Holt offers a brief introduction before selecting between 4 and 12 individuals that best represent that characteristic, offering a potted biography of each and their suitability to that group. Naturally, the book is awash with some of football’s biggest and best names: Pele, Matthews, Ramsey, Puskas – and in the case of the corrosives, arguably some of its worst – and it’s great to be reminded of these mammoth contributors to the sport, but equally appealing is the inclusion of some lesser-known or remembered names, certainly for younger readers, and there were several that were entirely new to me.

Inevitably, in limiting the selection to just 108 footballing names, and dividing them into categories like this, there will always be room for dispute, but Holt himself is entirely unequivocal in his decisions and opinions. By and large, they seemed generally plausible enough, however, I did struggle with the whole concept of the ‘porous’, which felt a bit gratuitously critical. I appreciate the idea of having players with different values and characteristics – as with the original periodic table, there are the lesser elements – and the addition of the ‘corrosives’ is a refreshing and necessary nod to the less salubrious side of the game, but the porous category seemed entirely counterintuitive. Why include six names just to seemingly snub them, why not instead just choose a further six players who the author feels made a valuable contribution or at least a significant contribution to football? As it is, the scapegoats are Billy Wright, Jairzinho, Mario Kempes, Lothar Matthäus, Roberto Carlos, and – prepare yourselves Liverpool fans – Steven Gerrard who led the Reds to their first European title in 20 years and is generally revered as a great of the Premier League (although his inclusion here is largely on the back of a less consistent England outing). Indeed, all of these players will rightfully feel hard done by and many will challenge their inclusion and it does sit a little uneasily in what is broadly a fair and reasonable selection elsewhere. However, this will serve just to ignite debate about Holt’s inclusions and others may argue equally against – or for – other names in the book.

I also wondered about the exclusion of any female names, particularly in the category of transmuters, but in truth it would perhaps feel a little tokenistic just to include a smattering of women just for the sake of it when a much more appealing option would be for an entire periodic table of the women’s game. In fact, Holt has struck on a format that I could see working in myriad ways – a Premier League table; an England table; a table for every club. I doubt Holt or others would be willing to compile a complete set, but it would make for an interesting series. As it stands, this book is an interesting and engaging concept, which includes and introduces a number of the significant forces – both positive and negative – in the global game and will certainly get readers debating. If only this was the real periodic table, it would have made chemistry lessons fly by!

 

Jade Craddock

 

(Ebury Press. May 2016. Hardback 192 pages)

 

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Book Review: Where the Cool Kids Hung Out – The Chic Years of the UEFA Cup by Steven Scragg

Back in September 2019, A Tournament Frozen in Time – The Wonderful Randomness of the European Cup Winners’ Cup, was released by Pitch Publishing, written by Steven Scragg. It was so well received and praised that it was nominated within the football category for The Telegraph Sports Books Awards 2020. Now just a year on the author has followed this up with another nod to European tournaments past, this time focusing on the UEFA Cup, which for readers of a younger age has become butchered to emerge Frankenstein-like as the Europa League, a bloated and poor relation of the money-driven, self-centred tournament that is the UEFA Champions League.

This second offering, which is as excellent a read as the Cup Winners’ Cup book, is spread over twelve chapters, with an Acknowledgment, Introduction and Afterword, bookending them. In terms of the UEFA Cup years, Scragg focuses on the two-legged Finals, which took place from 1971/72 (with Spurs the first winners) through to 1996/97 (when Schalke 04 lifted the trophy), a feature which set the competition apart from the European Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup at the time.

As with the A Tournament Frozen in Time book, this is not plod through the various seasons in timeline fashion, but a series of wonderfully researched chapters that provide context in relation to the history and stories of the competition in terms of the countries and teams that took part. Before the author gets into those specifics, the opening chapter The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the Dawning of the UEFA Cup, provides background into the history of the Fairs Cup, which despite bearing more resemblance to the UEFA Cup is not recognised by UEFA itself. It’s a particularly strange stance, when you consider that the UEFA Cup bears little similitude to the Europa League, but is acknowledged by UEFA as its natural predecessor, with even the same trophy presented in its current guise.

Of the main body of the book, the chapters detail the various periods of certain countries involvement, with for instance, A Very English Handover, looking at Spurs and Liverpool in the early years of the tournament, with further English success from Ipswich Town detailed in the chapter, Tractor Beam. Whilst English clubs had their moments, Scragg skilfully details the other chapters to reflect the impact of the other main European football powers such as Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Spain, and ‘cool’ sides such as the Swedes IFK Göteborg.

As with the Cup Winners’ Cup, changes to the UEFA Cup came about through the breakup of the former Communist bloc, necessitating the introduction of a Preliminary Round to the competition. With the two-legged Finals gone in 1996/97 the first steps of change arrived, as the Final morphed into a one-off game at a neutral venue. Further transformation came with the Cup Winners’ Cup demise at the end of 1998/99, and the Groups Stages established in the competition in 2004/05, with the ‘rebrand’ complete in 2009/10. Part of this includes those clubs failing to qualify for the Champions League knock-out stages dropping into the Europa League, which as Scragg acknowledges gives the impression of it being a second-rate competition. As he so brilliantly puts it, “essentially the Europa League is the MK Dons of European club football tournaments. There is a sad sense of franchise about it.”

Goodness knows then what is to be made of the Europa Conference League scheduled to begin in 2021/22. That will take UEFA back up to three European club competitions; this reader for one would prefer a return to the three we used to have along with all their individual character, warts and all. Nostalgic days indeed.

There is an old football adage that goes, ‘never change a winning side’, and given the success and praise for Scragg’s Cup Winners’ Cup book, he has stuck to the winning formula once again and doesn’t disappoint. With the Cup Winners’ Cup and UEFA Cup books completed, will Scragg go for the hat-trick and complete a majestic Trinity with a look at the glory years of the European Cup? It will be a treat indeed if this comes to pass.

 

(Pitch Publishing Ltd. October 2020. Hardback 255pp)

 

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Book Review – British Football’s Greatest Grounds: One Hundred Must-See Football Venues by Mike Bayly

Although published at the end of 2020, this book started its journey way back in 2013 emanating from an idea by Mike Bayly, who wanted to create, as he outlines in the Introduction, “a bucket list, a holy grail…of the top 100 British football grounds to visit”. He decided that the best way to determine this was to put the vote out to the general public via a blog, that was publicised by amongst others, The FA and the Football Supporters’ Federation as well as countless publications and podcasts.

The voting closed in January 2014 with the blog receiving nearly 16,000 visits from across the globe, eliciting nominations for over 300 grounds, from which the hundred must popular was formed. Bayly’s next task, and no mean feat given it was all done on public transport, was to visit the venues, which took him six years. This saw the self-confessed “football ground  enthusiast” travel across Britain, from the depths of south-west England, through the valleys of South Wales, to the extremities of north-east Scotland, taking in modern Premier League stadiums and amateur venues alike.

From these visits, and countless miles in all weathers, the author has created the text which accompany each chapter. These words provide an insight into the grounds history as well details about the club or clubs that played at the venue. This content is then complemented by page after page of stunning images of the venues from a range of photographers.

Griffin Park, former home of Brentford FC

However, this is not some ‘coffee-table book’ merely for decoration, this is an important work which records both a snapshot of a point in time, as well as a change in football venues as the game itself continues to evolve. This is acknowledged by the fact that in addition to the one hundred venues, there is a ‘ghost’ section, which details stadiums that were in use back in 2013 (and voted into the top 100), but have subsequently been decommissioned, including the former homes of Boston United, Brentford, West Ham United and York City. These wonderfully atmospheric, but now ‘lost’ grounds, illustrate the pressures that have come to bear on clubs and will continue to do so.

Nostalgia is no longer enough to ensure that clubs remain at a particular venue or retain historic stands and features, with economics now often at the heart of many decisions. For those non-league clubs either in the National League System pyramid or hoping to move into it, ground grading dictates what is needed, which can cause clubs to have to drastically modernise their facilities or in some cases even require a move from their historic home. Premier League clubs are not exempt either, as clubs trying to compete with those in larger stadiums and generating greater matchday revenue, look to increase their stadium capacity and update facilities, again either requiring major surgery to exiting venues or a move away.

So, savour while you can the venues listed.

This is a book to be enjoyed and absorbed – one that will have you eagerly turning the pages in anticipation, as each gem of a venue is uncovered. Whether your club is listed or not, this is a publication you will want to get hold of, to appreciate the varied glory of the most rudimentary venues through to the most modern facilities that there is to offer.

 

(Pitch Publishing Ltd. November 2020. Hardback 290 pages)

 

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