Book Review: Johnny Haynes (The Maestro) by Martin Plumb and Ken Coton

As a football fan, there are games and players from the past that you wish you had been able to see. For me attempting to pick just one Fulham fixture where I wish I could have attended is a mightily difficult task. However, when it comes to the player I most wish I could have seen, well that it a different matter – quite simply, John Norman (Johnny) Haynes. The Maestro played his last first team game at Craven Cottage on Saturday 17 January 1970 against Stockport County. It wasn’t until two years later that I made my first visit to The Cottage, by which time Johnny was gracing the football fields of South Africa. Therefore in reading and reviewing this book I make no apology that I have done so as very much a Fulham fan and with an eagerness to discover so much more about this legend.

The first thing to say about this book, in its physical sense, is that it is an object of beauty. This A4 sized tome, rather like Haynes’ himself exudes class. The portrait of Johnny on the cover is classic in its simplicity, whilst inside the reader is treated to a layout, text and paper quality that is a joy to behold. I fell in love with the book even before reading a word; as an object it is in itself a quality item.

So does the content live up to the aesthetic qualities of this publication? Before the main chapters of the book, there are usual forewords, acknowledgments, and contents pages. However, there is also a Notes to the text page, which I found invaluable. The reason being is that it puts into context what football was like during the 1950’s and 60’s; an incredibly different beast both domestically and internationally to that which current fans watch and understand. The main body of book itself is split over thirty-two chapters, which apart from the first three follow Haynes’ life chronologically. The first three chapters each take a different perspective of aspects of Johnny Haynes the player and person. So within the opening part of this publication the reader is given a summary of the footballing attributes, the all-round sporting ability and a look at Haynes’ overall character. Indeed, the authors of the book (Martin Plumb and Ken Coton) ensure that this volume isn’t simply a sycophantic view of the Fulham favourite, as in chapter three, A Jekyll and Hyde character? they explore and acknowledge that, “…like all exceptional talents his (Haynes’) greatness came as part of a complete package alongside his faults and frailties…”

Chapters four, five and six, look at Johnny as a boy and his progression through school and district teams to England Schoolboy Honours and his eventual signing of professional forms for Fulham. Chapter seven begins a season by season (and game by game) analysis of Johnny Haynes’ career, starting with the 1952/53 season and his debut on Boxing Day 1952 against Southampton at The Cottage. The year on year approach allows the reader to see each season progress and Haynes’ part in it. Therefore we see each significant milestone in its timeline. Over the coming seasons, whilst Fulham continue to battle for promotion from Division Two, Johnny goes from strength to strength as England B, Under 23 and Full Honours are attained, as well as playing for the Football League Representative team and taking part in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup for the London XI. His development is such, that by the 1956/57 season at the age of 21 Johnny Haynes is made Fulham captain.

The following campaign in 1957/58 was a case of near, yet so far. Fulham ultimately missed out on promotion and were beaten in the FA Cup Semi-Final after a replay, to a Manchester United team emerging from the shadows of the Munich air disaster. That summer Johnny Haynes played for England in the 1958 World Cup Finals in Sweden. After the near miss of the previous year, in 1958/59 Haynes leads Fulham to promotion in Bedford Jezzard’s first season as manager.

It is interesting to reflect that with Fulham having been promoted to the First Division and Haynes made England captain during the 1959/60 season that all seemed right with the world. However, it could be seen as the start of a period of struggle for Fulham which obviously had an impact on its captain and focal point. From this season onwards each year The Cottagers battled relegation from the top flight until in 1967/68 they ran out of luck. During that time much happened to Johnny Haynes. In terms of his England career, his finest hour came on April 15 1961 when he led England to an astonishing 9-3 victory over Scotland at Wembley. He then experienced his second World Cup Finals tournament in Chile in 1962. However, England departed at the Quarter Final stage 3-1 to Brazil. He very much split  the football critics of the time, with opinion divided on whether Haynes was the right man around which England should play.

For Fulham, Haynes famously became the first £100 a week player in 1960/61, against a background of transfer speculation and another failed FA Cup Semi-Final. At the start of the 1962/63 season Haynes was involved in a serious car accident in which he broke bones in both legs and damaged a cruciate ligament in his right knee. Whilst he did recover to continue his playing career, in later life Haynes observed, “…it was the cruciate ligament in the right knee that did for me. They used to stitch them together, but it didn’t work like the operations today. For me it was a big struggle and I was, more or less, playing on one leg…”

This was obviously a turning point in the career of Johnny Haynes and as a reader I felt a sadness as he struggled with the injury, the loss of his England career (and ultimately any chance of selection for the 1966 World Cup winning squad) and the constant battle to keep Fulham in the top flight. Rumours surfaced again during these years of a transfer away from The Cottage and Haynes endured testing years during the management reign of Vic Buckingham. As if the relegation in 1967/68 of Fulham was bad enough, the following season offered no respite in Division Two. The Cottagers would ultimately suffer a second successive relegation. They were indeed desperate times down by The Thames. The madness and sadness of it all is summed up in the following episode from the game against Carlisle United in February 1969. Fulham were playing poorly and manager Bill Dodgin was about to replace Malcolm Macdonald with Jimmy Conway. However, “…Johnny Haynes suddenly walked off the pitch with a shrug of the shoulders and disappeared into the tunnel…the truth was that Haynes was totally fed up with the whole episode and since every member of the team was playing so badly, and anyone could have gone off, he decided to make the decision himself and go…”

The Maestro did have a testimonial game on April 28 1969 and a crowd of nearly 25,000 came to celebrate the career of Fulham’s greatest ever player. However, the occasion was tinged with sadness; “…many tributes were made to the maestro – Johnny the Greatest, the Magician, and the miracle Worker. The club conceded that the decline in their own status had probably coincided with the inevitable decline in Haynes’ own career…”

In the 1969/70 season Johnny Haynes played his last first team game in Football League Division Three in a 1-1 draw against Stockport County in January 1970. Fulham sought to rebuild the team for the remainder of the season and the following year would be promoted to Division Two without Haynes. Whilst that was the end of his career at The Cottage, Johnny Haynes moved to South Africa and played until the mid 70’s at Durban City, Durban United, Durban Celtic and finally Maritzburg.

In 1985 Haynes returned to Britain, settling in Edinburgh for the remainder of his life. He never took up a role as a football pundit or really become involved in the game in any real way. However, his love for Fulham never diminished and he was a leading figure in the successful bid to save the club during the dark days of the 90’s. Thankfully he was around to see Fulham promoted to the top flight of English football and visited The Cottage on a number of occasions. As a mark of Haynes’ contribution to the world of football, in 2002 he was an inaugural inductee to the English Football Hall of Fame.

The final two chapters of the book close the story of The Maestro. Chapter thirty-one is an excellent section of statistics covering his Fulham and England career, whilst Chapter thirty-two is the Epilogue. This details the events of October 2005 when a car accident lead to Johnny’s death and also contains tributes from across the football world.

Fulham renamed the Stevenage Road stand The Johnny Haynes Stand with the dedication taking place on August 26 2006 at the home game against Sheffield United. On October 18 2008 a statue of the Legend was unveiled before the home game against Sunderland. Martin Plumb and Ken Coton have produced a brilliantly researched book which sits alongside these as an equally fitting tribute to Johnny Haynes – The Maestro.

 

For copies of this book and other Ashwater Press publications, please go to: http://www.ashwaterpress.co.uk/

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Book Review: Show Some Respect! (The Sound and the Fury of Junior Football) by Chris Kirkham

In the week just gone, the ugly side of football has once again been making the headlines. Firstly there was the news that Wayne Rooney has been handed a three game ban that will see him miss the entire Group Stage of England’s participation in next seasons UEFA European Championships in Poland and Ukraine.  Debate has raged as to whether he should still travel, in the hope that he could play in the knock-out stages. My stance is a simple one – don’t take him. His sending off was unnecessary and violent against Montenegro, and he should be punished by not being involved in the Finals at all. It would be a clear message to footballers, from juniors to professionals that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated. The second incident took place in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division fixture between Chesham and Redditch United. United striker Josh McKenzie punched the referee leading to the abandonment of the game. This is an extreme and disturbing incident. The fact is that when it occurs at this level of football, you can be sure it will be translated down through the game all the way to junior football.

The FA has and is trying to combat the problems through its ‘Respect’ campaign, which was launched in 2008. The FA stated that, “…Respect is the collective responsibility of everyone involved in football to create a fair, safe and enjoyable environment in which the game can take place…” and set out a number of outcomes including:

•           Increase in numbers in terms referee recruitment and retention;

•           Improvement in On-Field discipline;

•           Reducing assaults on referees;

•           Enhancing the experience of the game;

•           Support of and commitment to the ‘Respect’ campaign.

As overall guardians of the game The FA have implemented the campaign at all levels of the game. In his book Show Some Respect!, Chris Kirkham looks at how “Respect” has attempted to address the issues and the progress being made at the grassroots level of football. Chris is ideally placed to write this book since he is a Qualified and experience Coach who has worked in the USA and in England with clubs including Manchester United, Hull City and Scarborough Town.

It is obvious from reading this publication that the author is passionate about the subject matter and this is backed up by his coaching experience and extensive research from not only the UK but around the world. Chris Kirkham’s aspiration that this publication becomes a must-read for those involved in junior football is to be applauded. Amongst the most invaluable sections within the book are the following:

•           What is the ‘Respect’ campaign;

•           The templates for clubs (for example in relation to codes of conduct);

•           Sites and Source Material for further reference

•           Statistics on the impact of the ‘Respect’ campaign.

If though this publication is to make itself a must-read and a point of reference for players, coaches, parents, referees and club officials, then there has to be changes in future editions. The author recognises this and the following points will be taken into account when producing a format that may be produced for a specific audience (for examples, an edition just for coaches):

1.          Page listings for each chapter for the contents page is a must for quick access.

2.         In reducing the book to around 100 pages, the publication becomes easier to be used as a reference guide and allows it to be more focused on the advice, guidance, issues and examples that need to be put across.

3.         The various examples of crowd trouble, player reaction and referee abuse could be reduced since many of them simply reiterate the same point again and again.

4.         By reducing the examples the book size can be brought down and therefore chapters become tighter and more focused. There are occasions when the narrative jumps from topic to topic, leaving the reader unsure of the thread of what is being written.

My recommendation is that these changes will be of benefit to the book. However, even in its current guise, this publication is about getting all those involved in grassroots football to take a look at themselves and assess whether they indeed respect our national game and how their future attitudes and behaviours can help to improve football going forward.

 

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Book Review: Glory, Goals & Greed (Twenty Years of the Premier League) by Joe Lovejoy

The first thing that struck me about this book is the title. In football terms it is a bit of a ‘game of two halves’. The main title, “…Glory, Goals & Greed…” has a tabloid feel about it, whilst the sub-title, “…Twenty Years of the Premier League…” is a factual statement.

In fact for me, this dichotomy is reflected in the pages of the book itself. Joe Lovejoy seems to have got caught between two very different styles within the publication. On the one hand there are the chapters which provide a ‘best of’, compilation view of the games and names from two decades of Premier League life and on the other a more serious journalistic view of the formation and changing face of football that the League has brought about.

The lighter side of the book gives the reader chapters such as ‘My Top 20 Matches’, ‘Ryan Giggs and Company’ (an assessment of the various Footballers of the Year from each Premier League season by the Welshman), ‘Managers Who Have Won the Premier League’ and ‘Twenty Headline Makers’. In my opinion these particular sections of the book don’t really provide anything new in terms of information or detail that most football fans don’t already know.

Where the book is for me more interesting is when Lovejoy dons his journalistic hat in interviewing key figures of the Premier League, both on and off the pitch and tackles some of the issues arising from the self-styled ‘best league in the world’. The players interviewed for their views of the Premier League years include Teddy Sheringham, Stan Collymore, Alan Shearer and off the field PFA Chairman Gordon Taylor; with their recollections afforded a chapter each.

The more factual, hard-hitting detail comes in the sections where the author explores the issues of foreign players, the financial situation of clubs and players agents. These parts of the book include research with key football administrators such as Rick Parry, Richard Scudamore and Sir Philip Carter. Included in these parts of the book are some startling statistics in relation to how things such as players’ wages, club spending and the number of foreign players has increased over the years. There is also an interesting chapter titled ‘The Mackem Model’ which focuses on the work that Sunderland FC does within the community. These to me are the most important areas of the book and for my part I would rather the publication been given over to more discussion and dissection of these issues than the lighter chapters. This for me is highlighted in the closing passage ‘Onwards and Upwards’, where the author takes the founding objectives of the Premier League and assesses whether they have been met in a couple of lines. I would have liked Lovejoy to expand on why he made those conclusions.

I believe the football reading public and market is mature enough to deal with a publication that investigates and probes what is happening in English football and what part the Premier League has played within it. This curate’s egg of a book unfortunately falls short.

 

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Book Review: Following the Fulham…Into Europe by Peter Thomson

Ashwater Press is an independent book publisher which essentially produces publications featuring Fulham Football Club. The driving forces behind the enterprise are Ken Coton and Martin Plumb. Amongst the array of Ashwater Press titles are the following, “When Fulham Went To Wembley”, “The Mickey Adams Promotion Season: 1996-97”, “Johnny Haynes – The Maestro”, “Fulham Photos”, “A Fulhamish Coming of Age” and “Tales from the Riverbank”. To sum up Ashwater Press, real Fulham history, by real Fulham fans for real Fulham fans.

There is also a “Following the Fulham” series by Peter Thomson, which includes, “Around the Grounds“ and “The Premiership Years”. The “Into Europe” publication from this stable was published in 2002 and features The Whites first venture into European Competition, when they took part in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. As the publication is subtitled, “Winning the Intertoto Cup 2002” you would expect it to recount in full the various ties which saw the team emerge with a trophy from their first foray into Europe. However, this is Fulham we are talking about and in typically Fulhamish fashion there is a different logic to this publication. Indeed Peter Thomson, the author makes no claims that it is a complete record of the Intertoto campaign, instead it is “…dedicated to the fans who made it to Haka, Athens, Sochaux and Bologna…” and arises due to the lack of programmes for all but the away fixture in Finland. It is as the auther says, “…a modest record of events for the archivists and a memento of a magic month for those of you who followed Fulham into Europe…”

The publication may be only 24 pages long, but is a little gem for any Fulham fan. It starts with a page which provides the authors Thanks to those in getting the project to print and is followed by a short message from the Club Chairman, Mr Al Fayed. Peter Thomson provides his lament “Programme, Programme, My Euro for a Programme”, as way of introduction to the main content. “A Traveller’s Notes”, by football journalist Chris Hatherall provides a brief piece on his working relationship with Fulham and some of his highlights of the Intertoto away fixtures, as a precursor to double page spreads on the fixtures in Finland, Greece, France and Italy. There follows, a match summary for each away tie with team line-ups and scores, but more importantly a copy of the teamsheets for the games against Egaleo, Sochaux and Bologna. For the FC Haka match, the front cover of the official programme is reproduced.

The remaining pages are a great tribute to the author and reflect the quirky nature of life as a Fulham fan. In “An A to Z of the Intertoto Cup, July/August 2002” my favourite entry is, “…A is for Ashford…7th August 2002 off to Ashford for the Eurostar to the semi-final at Sochaux. Just eight years ago it was off to Ashford for the first round of the FA Cup. Fulham were soon 2-0 down to non-League opponents and drowning, quite literally in the wet, wet, wet. Micky Adams walked on water that day to save us twice from the penalty puddles. He went on to secure our first promotion in 18 years. Let us remember those difficult days as we head off to Europe…” The reason for choosing this entry, is because it should remind Fulham fans that there was a time before the European trips and Premier League. Our club goes all the way back to 1879 and all the highs and lows that those years have witnessed. Fulham didn’t just come into being from 2001.

“A Song for Europe” offers a double-page spread on the various songs and chants that the Fulham faithful used on their travels and a new hero is born in Bologna, celebrated in song with, “…Score Inamoto, we’re going to score Inamoto…” Chris Hatherall returns to offer a review of Fulham’s Far Eastern star, Junichi Inamoto, who in the Final 2nd Leg at Loftus Road scores a hat trick to secure a 5-3 aggregate win over Bologna. The author offers a personal postscript as he records his thoughts as he travels home after the Final triumph. Another two-page spread, “Flying Start – Summer 2002” acknowledges the unbeaten eight games in Europe and the first two Premier League games, which see The Whites beat Bolton on the opening day 4-1 and then gain a point at Middlesbrough coming back to secure a 2-2 draw with two goals in the final minutes. This ten game unbeaten run provides the connection to the final article, “Merula Chirpeth” which at first glance may seem rather strange. However, the author picks up on an article from The Cottagers’ Journal (match programme) from March 7th 1908 for the match against Manchester United. As at the start of 2002/03, Fulham in 1908 had enjoyed a ten game unbeaten run. As for Merula (real name Oscar Drew), he was the editor of the programme and worked on the West London and Fulham Times. Why Merula? Merula is a blackbird, but other than that, I’ve not been able to establish anything more than that. A curious end to a cracking little publication.

Sadly Peter Thomson died in May this year and so isn’t around for this season’s European adventure. The “Following The Fulham” series are a wonderful  tribute to him and a fantastic legacy for Fulham fans now and in the future.

For further information on Ashwater Press

http://www.ashwaterpress.co.uk/

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Book Review: True Storey (My Life and Crimes as a Football Hatchet Man)

Growing up in the seventies, my football education came from my dad’s allegiance to The Arsenal and through me discovering my own team, Fulham. The game was a very different beast then. Football on the television consisted of highlights on a Saturday night with ‘Match of the Day’ and Sunday afternoons with ‘The Big Match’. Live football? Well that was one game a season, when the FA Cup Final was shown. Teams wore simple kits in traditional colours without a hint of advertising and played on pitches that varied between sand strewn mud-heaps and bare, rock hard surfaces. It was a time when football was a much more physical game and every First Division team had their ‘hard-man’. Chelsea had Ron Harris, there was Tommy Smith at Liverpool and Norman Hunter at Leeds United, whilst Arsenal had Peter Storey. So in reading “True Storey: My Life and Crimes as a Football Hatchet Man” I knew the footballing background against which the story is set.

One immediate impression about the book is that the 224 pages (Mainstream Publishing 2011 Edition) consist of 23 chapters and an introduction. This for me meant that whilst reading, the book moved on at quite a pace as each chapter was relatively short, precise and punchy, making it a quick read. Overall the style is conversational with some humour, but is essentially forthright, blunt and to the point.

The Introduction provides Storey’s raison d’être for the book in that he wanted to “…explain the ‘madness’ (the seedy side of life after football) for the first time…”. The book is his chance to put straight the “…many lies and half-truths peddled as ‘fact’ relating to the crime which blighted (his) life…” Following the Introduction, Storey’s life is told from growing up in 1950’s Britain in Aldershot, to present day life in South-West France.

The reader is eased into Peter Storey’s tale with his early playing days and his progress through the representative sides of Aldershot & Farnborough Schools FA, London Schools and England Schoolboys, with his passion and desire to be a professional evident. Having left school at the age of 15, he then signed for Arsenal in 1961, “…the best club in the football world…” However, at that time North London rivals Tottenham were the Kings of English football having just become the first club in the Twentieth Century to do the Double.

Peter settled into the youth team playing in the South East Counties League playing alongside Peter Simpson and Jon Sammels, who like Storey went on to establish themselves in the first team. By the 1962/63 season, he progressed to the A team (third team) playing in the Metropolitan League and had signed a professional contract. Storey’s frustrations at not progressing as quickly into the first team is evident, but in the 1964/65 season he travelled as first reserve for an FA Cup 4th Round fixture at Peterborough United and was now playing in the Reserves. Off the pitch, life too was changing for him as he shared houses with Jon Sammels and Terry Neil, where trips to the laundrette and a lack of food provide some amusing tales about the bachelor lives of the young Gunners players.

The 1965/66 season saw Peter Storey make his first team debut for the Gunners on 30th October 1965 at Filbert Street against Leicester City. Arsenal lost 3-1 and Storey made his mark, when he “…coldly barged Sinclair into touch with the ball long departed…” – Peter Storey had arrived. Billy Wright the Wolves and England legend was manager at the time and Storey offers an insight into a club not happy under Wright’s leadership. It was a wretched season for the Gunners and with six games to go they were in serious relegation trouble. However, they did survive, but it had an effect on the Highbury faithful. So much so that the lowest attendance for a competitive game at Highbury was recorded that season, when on 5th May 1966, just 4,554 turned up to watch the Division One fixture against Leeds United. Inevitably at the end of the season Wright was sacked.

Given this background, perhaps it was understandable Storey observed that at Arsenal, “…concern for the club and interest in the new manager took precedence over the World Cup…” as the 1966/67 dawned. Although, he did reflect that he noticed, “…teams in the First Division getting a lot more organised, much more professional…” Bertie Mee was appointed Manager along with Dave Sexton as First Team Coach, an appointment Storey saw as vital since Mee “…didn’t have a clue about tactics…” Sexton moved on in October 1967 to manage Chelsea and in came Don Howe to begin a historic period and partnership for the Gunners.

In 1968 and 1969 the Gunners made it to Wembley to the League Cup Final. Despite losing both, 1-0 against Leeds United in 1968 and 3-1 against Swindon Town in 1969, the good times at Highbury were about to bloom. In 1969/70 Arsenal took part in the Fairs Cup (now Europa League) and overcame Anderlecht 4-3 over two-legs in the Final. Even better was to come the following season. Given the historic nature of Arsenal doing the Double, Storey does devote two chapters to the achievements of that memorable season for the Gunners. However, it wasn’t all glory, glory as Storey saw it.

On the Official Arsenal Website, there is a feature on the ‘50 Greatest Arsenal Players’. Peter Storey completes the list at Number 50, a testament to his contribution to the club and regard by the fans. The site outlined his contribution to the Gunners history with the following:

If Peter Storey hadn’t held his nerve, Arsenal would not have made history in 1971. It’s as simple as that. Storey was a vital – if unsung – member of Bertie Mee’s Double squad and his crucial contribution came in March of that year as Arsenal stared defeat in the face at their FA Cup Semi-Final against Stoke City at Hillsborough. Storey had already halved a two-goal deficit with a rasping second-half drive but Stoke looked set to seal a 2-1 victory, and book their place at Wembley, before Arsenal were awarded a stoppage-time penalty for a handball on the goal line. The yellow-shirted Gunners leapt with joy – but not Storey. He had the unenviable task of beating England legend Gordon Banks from 12 yards to keep Arsenal’s Double dream alive. Storey saw Banks go right and slotted the ball low to the keeper’s left, cool as you like. Arsenal went on to win the replay, lift the Cup and complete the Double.

Storey recalls the highs of those events in Chapter Twelve, (“I’ll always have Sheffield”), but Stoke also had unhappy memories later that season when Storey was injured in the fixture against the Potters at Highbury. It meant he missed the title decider at Tottenham and he admits he felt something of an outsider as the team celebrated the title win and observed that he, “…knew a little of the emotional pain and bitter disappointment Jimmy Greaves experienced when he was injured during the World Cup and watched as his replacement Geoff Hurst became a national hero…”. Still carrying the injury, missing the Cup Final looked inevitable and Storey recalls an intriguing episode in which he believes Bertie Mee tried to ensure he missed the game. Peter Storey having declared himself fit was then put through his paces by the manager which Storey saw as an “…unbelievably gruelling fitness test…” However, Storey came through the test, but on the day in the Final against Liverpool he lasted about an hour before limping off.

Success at club level brought Peter Storey international recognition and his first cap came in 1971 in a 3-0 win at Wembley against Greece. Sir Alf Ramsey recognised the versatility of the Arsenal man and in winning 19 caps he played at both right and left back and in midfield for his country. Not bad for somebody who many thought was just an “assassin and a thug…”

That Double winning season proved to be the peak for that Arsenal side. It came as a shock when Don Howe resigned to manage WBA at the beginning of the 1971/72 season. Storey couldn’t understand why the Coach had left when there was the challenge of the European Cup and the chance to build a legacy at Arsenal existed. Whilst the departure of Howe didn’t have an immediate effect, Storey felt that there was a gradual decline in standards, discipline and direction which meant the Gunners never hit the heights of the Double winning season. Arsenal returned to Wembley for the 1972 FA Cup Final, but lost out to Leeds United 1-0. 1972/73 the Gunners finished runners-up to Liverpool for the title. However, the following season they finished 10th. 1974/75 was even worse with Arsenal bottom during October 1974 before finishing 16th and they finished 17th in 1975/76. Storey started that season in the reserves and despite some first team appearances, was suspended by the club in March after a row with Bertie Mee. Terry Neil came in as the new Gunners boss in 1976/77 and offered a way back for Storey, who by his own admission was “…on the piss and out of condition…” To his credit Storey battled back to fitness but as the season went on he was honest enough to acknowledge that he “…was drinking and not really interested in playing for Arsenal any longer…” In March 1977 Peter Storey was transferred to Fulham, where he teamed up with Bobby Moore and George Best. He helped save the Cottagers from relegation and started the 1977/78 season at Craven Cottage. However, his heart wasn’t really in it and he played his last game as a professional footballer on Saturday 10th September 1977 ironically away at Spurs.

In recounting the episodes regarding his life after football, Peter Storey is incredibly candid. Indeed this extends to his relationships and marriages, where Storey recognises that his selfish and vain life-style were major factors in their failure. Storey doesn’t hide his brushes with the law or try to blame anybody else. He admits that he missed the buzz that football had provided him with and was “…attracted to the brash, flash lifestyle enjoyed by smartly dressed thieves…the way they always seemed to have a pretty girl on one arm, a pocketful of ready cash and plenty of time to indulge themselves…”. Storey pinpoints the buying of the Jolly Farmers in the summer of 1975 as the beginning of the end. Storey honestly admits, “…the decline, when it came, was relatively swift, brutal and mostly my own fault…and (I) found solace in a bottle…” The spiral downwards included, spells in jail for smuggling pornographic videos and conspiracy to counterfeit gold half-sovereigns, a suspended sentence for running a brothel and conviction for selling cars which were on hire-purchase. Reading these final chapters of the book is a shocking, yet sobering experience, that illustrates how easily life can descend into chaos.

It is a book which provides a great insight into a genuine Gunners legend, honestly detailing the highs of his playing career and the murky lows of crime and prison in life after football. However, Storey was lucky that he had people to help and support him to emerge the other side and now lives a contented life in France with wife Daniele. Storey closes by telling with obvious pride about the three boys he has and the simple enjoyment that a few beers shared with his sons and his father can bring. The hatchet man has put down his axe and seems at peace with the world.

 

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Top Ten Football Fiction Review: The Match by Alan Sillitoe

The Match by Alan Sillitoe is a short story contained within a collection titled, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. This anthology contains nine short stories, which besides the collection’s title story and The Match, includes, Uncle Ernest, Mr Raynor the School-teacher, The Fishing-boat Picture, Noah’s Ark, On Saturday Afternoon, The Disgrace of Jim Scarfedale and The Decline and Fall of Frankie Buller. The book was first published in 1959 by W. H. Allen & Co. Ltd.

The Match opens at a game between Notts County and Bristol City. It is a cold and misty winters day and hints that County are having a bad season, as the crowd “…hope of at least one home-team win before Christmas…”. Lennox a forty year old mechanic is at the game with his young, recently married neighbour, Fred. Lennox asserts that he knew before the match that County would lose, “…because he himself, a spectator, hadn’t been feeling in top form…”. The home team do indeed lose as Bristol City get a second half goal to gain a 2-1 victory.

Sillitoe creates some wonderful images of the match, such as one description of a home attack when the “…Notts’ forwards were pecking and weaving around the Bristol goal…”.  Another is the detail surrounding the build-up to Bristol scoring, which captures the feeling of incredulity and inevitability by fans, when you know your opponents are going to score. “…Suddenly the man with the ball spurted forward, was seen to be clear of everyone as if, in a second of time that hadn’t existed to any other spectator or another player, he’d been catapulted into a hallowed untouchable area before the goal posts…”.

Despite the lambasting of the home team by Lennox and others in the home crowd that supporters of any era will recognise, the modern reader is left in no doubt that this is a game from a bygone era. The dress code of Fred, “…done up in his Saturday afternoon best of sports coat, gaberdine trousers and rain-mac, dark hair sleeked back with oil…” is in contrast to the army of replica wearing masses that attend games today.

However, the football match is the  back-drop to a larger picture that Sillitoe portrays. He provides the reader with various clues about the respective lives of Lennox and Fred.  Lennox is a man not happy with his lot, whether it be the fact that his football team has lost, the problems he has with his eyes, his work  (the threat of losing his job) or indeed his marriage. Fred is younger, newly married and more concerned with, “…a chunk of hearthrug pie…” than by County losing a football match. He is as Lennox mockingly describes, “…living on love…”.

The reader sees more of the despair of Lennox existence once he returns home after the game. There is no greeting by him to his family (or indeed vice-versa), instead Lennox utters a complaint that the parlour smells musty and orders his eldest child to light a fire. Another damning part of the domestic situation is established when Sillitoe details Mrs Lennox, “…she was forty, the same age as Lennox, but gone to plainness and discontented fat, while he stayed thin and wiry from the same reason…”. Lennox continues to treat all those around him with rudeness, arrogance and aggression, with even the family cat not safe from his behaviour. Mrs Lennox frustrated by her husband, argues back but pays the price as she is struck three times by Lennox until she falls to the floor. The closing image is of the house left quiet as Mrs Lennox and the children leave “…for the last time…”. The reader is left to ponder whether Fred and his young wife Ruby will eventually go the same way as Lennox and his wife, or will the Iremongers’ break the chain?

Finally, in order to consider The Match in a modern day context, in March 2011 The Guardian published an article about the violence that coincided with the Rangers v Celtic games in Scotland, which highlighted that, “…Strathclyde police claimed domestic abuse rates doubled after Old Firm games, while there were more than 200 crimes of violence and disorder in the area after an earlier Rangers-Celtic game in February [2011]…”

Fact and fiction – where does one begin and the other end? Fifty years on and The Match still holds an uncomfortable truth.

 

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Book Review: The Lone Rangers (An English club’s century in Scottish football) by Tom Maxwell

Anyone expecting a season by season analysis, replete with league tables, appearances and goal scorers of Berwick Rangers “…century in Scottish football…” will be disappointed. What The Lone Rangers does provide is a book which tells of the highs and lows, the characters over the years and what it means to be a Berwick player, manager and fan in a witty and insightful manner. The 163 pages give the reader so much more than any set of statistics ever could.

Quite simply this is a book I couldn’t put down. From the Prologue where the reader is introduced to the author Maxwell at University, through to the Epilogue where Maxwell the journalist and fan is attending the Berwick Rangers v Celtic Scottish Cup game – the passion and understanding of what it is to be a supporter is evident. Throughout this publication, Tom Maxwell captures and uses the language of the terraces, because he has experienced the ups and downs of following his team. Set against that, the author uses his journalistic skills to good effect and so enables the pages to come alive with both humour and perception, through his research, interviews and anecdotes gleaned for the book.

In the opening chapters, there is an exploration of the identity of Berwick-upon-Tweed and its inhabitants (a town that has changed hands 13 times between England and Scotland) and discussion about the exact location of the border. If there is a conclusion, it is that some see themselves as English, some as Scottish, but all as Berwickers. Indeed it seems nothing is quite straightforward with the club, as Maxwell relates how the club celebrated its centenary in 1991, only to discover that in fact the club was not founded until 1894.

As you travel through the book, Maxwell introduces characters (whether players, managers, club officials and fans) that tell the story of the significant moments in The Borderers history. Included are Tom McQueen (father of Gordon [ex Leeds and Manchester United and Scotland International]), who came to Shielfield Park in 1957. Tom McQueen played in goal and also worked as groundsman, but was known for his kicking power. When asked if he could kick a ball to the opposition penalty area, McQueen responded, “…oh aye…no problem…I don’t know what I’d do with these balls they have know – I’d lose them…”

Another with a tremendous kicking power was Ken Bowron who scored 109 goals in 138 appearances in two spells with Berwick. Bowron returned to Berwick after the clubs most famous result and a period under the management of Jock Wallace who Maxwell details as “…strict disciplinarian, control freak, semi-masochistic…”  That famous result was of course the 1-0 over Glasgow Rangers in the Scottish Cup in January 1967 and Maxwell dedicates a Chapter to the event. Maxwell brings to life the character of Wallace and his time in charge of Berwick and the impression he made on players later in his management career such as Gary Lineker.

However, that team from 1967 was quickly disbanded and as the seventies dawned a new Berwick legend was starting out. Eric Tait played as a trialist in January 1970 and holds the records of most League appearances and goals for the club. He played in every position and was player-manager from 1983-1987. Tait was a player during the 1978-79 League Division Two title winning season, under the stewardship of Dave Smith (later voted the clubs Player of the Millenium). The interview with Smith by the author (in a Dundee branch of Burger King), typifies Maxwell’s ability to still be a fan, but still get the information he needs. One little gem from Smith is his laconic response to being asked about his playing days with George Best in L.A. “…well…he played with me…”

As the book gets to the late 1980’s, figures such as Jim Jefferies and John ‘Yogi’ Hughes get woven into the fabric of Berwick with the club going 21 games unbeaten in the 1988-89 season. You would have expected that a run of this magnitude would have meant promotion. However, given the number of draws and the horrendous start to the season, all that it meant was that Berwick finished 4 points clear of bottom placed Stenhousemuir! Hughes goals not only helped Berwick on the pitch, but his sale in November 1989 to Swansea City brought much needed funds to Shielfield Park.

Like many other clubs, Berwick has had it financial problems and Maxwell does not shy aware from detailing the problems that occurred and which in 1992 nearly saw the club close and go out of business. The nineties were indeed a see-saw period for Berwick as they bounced between Scottish League Division Two and Three. Their last honour was back in 2006-07 as Third Division Champions and Maxwell focuses on ex-player Gary Wood, a policeman now, in the books final chapter. As with the opening of the book and throughout it, Maxwell probes as to what makes Berwick a unique club. Wood like others acknowledges the influence of its geographical location and the divide this causes, but points to it as something positive rather than negative.

Berwick Rangers FC has a unique place in football and Tom Maxwell’s telling of it is a story worth reading.

 

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Book Review: Bradford City AFC – A Season Re-visited 1969/70 by Raymond C. Maule

The first thing to say about this book relates to the cover, where the phrase “…less is more…” rings true. The classically all white cover is interrupted only by claret and amber bands (depicting the Bradford City colours), details of the books title and a team picture from the 1969/70 season. On the reverse, a brief synopsis of the publication sits below two programme covers from the season and a view of the Valley Parade ground. The final detail relates to the fact that proceeds from the book are in Aid of the Bradford Cardiac Unit.

Once inside the book, the author explains in the “Dedication” and “Acknowledgement” the reason for this publication and how it came to fruition. “…The seed of an idea for this book was planted while recovering on a cardiac ward in a Bradford hospital. I decided that I wanted to say thank you in a more tangible form, to those who nursed me through a difficult time, and hopefully give something back in return…”

In the “Introduction” the reader is given a brief review of the 1969/70 season in terms of the White Rose County and its clubs and some snippets of what was happening in England at the time. The listing of the television viewing schedule from Christmas Day 1969 makes very interesting reading indeed!

So to the main body of the book, which is a diary based format of the 1969/70 season. The source of the information is match reports from the Yorkshire Post and the local papers of the Bantams opposition. The focus is on the City first team, although there are brief details about the reserves and other games that have a West Yorkshire interest. In addition to the match reports there are “Notes from the day” which include a round-up of the other fixtures in Division Three on that day and or more details and observations about the game Bradford were involved in. The reader will notice that the journalistic style is somewhat different to that of the sound-bite manner of today. The one-word headline to introduce a new paragraph is a format that has long since disappeared from sports reporting. For much of the season the Bantams were in and around the promotion spots, but no wins from their final eight games, left Bradford in tenth place. In the League Cup and FA Cup, City had decent runs, including a win at Roker Park against Sunderland, who just four years later won the FA Cup. The book closes with a “Who’s who of Bradford City’s personnel 1969/70” providing a useful summary of some of the key personalities from that season.

From a personal perspective I would have liked to have seen more match action pictures or programme covers to supplement the text. However, the lack of photographs from the respective fixtures may be down to the fact (as the author explains), “…many newspapers have disposed of their photographic archives and rely on scans taken from hard copy…”

It is a book that can be picked and put down and acts as a point of reference. It was interesting for instance to see three managers detailed in their playing days, those being Ian Branfoot (for Doncaster Rovers), Graham Taylor (for Lincoln City) and Neil Warnock (for Rotherham United). There are also various other gems in this book and a couple of my favourites are as follows:

Friday 23 January 1970

Mr John Parker, Labour MP, for Dagenham began an attempt at modifying the “Sunday Observance Laws” and so legalise the charging of admission prices at fixtures played on Sunday’s. It was an idea being closely watched by sporting bodies throughout the country, especially football being the biggest money-spinning sport.

The idea is said to have government approval and if all goes well by this time next year Football League clubs may well be playing League and Cup fixtures on a regular basis on Sundays.

In fact it was another four years before football was played on a Sunday, when on January 6th 1974 four FA Cup Third Round fixtures were played, the first being Cambridge United v Oldham Athletic which kicked off in the morning.

Later in April 1970 the following is an extract from the match report for the Walsall v Bradford City fixture:

Bradford goalkeeper, John Roberts was struck in the back by a full large-sized tin of soup (tomato flavour!) thrown from behind his goal just after the restart.

Whilst it may seem comical to read, it should be remembered that hooliganism was very much on the rise during this period and that there are a number of reports in the book which highlight trouble on the terraces and from fans travelling to and from games.

As a book I believe that it will appeal to City fans old and new, fans of other clubs who played against Bradford that season and indeed anyone who wants an insight into that period in English football. Share in Bradford City’s up and down return to Division Three, the glory of the Cup runs and revisit football and an England as the swinging sixties gave way to the seventies.

 

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Book Review: Off the Bench by Gordon Bartlett & Roger Slater

If you enter the name Gordon Bartlett into Wikipedia you get the following details:

“…Gordon Bartlett (born 3 December 1955 in London) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward…1973-75 Portsmouth FC. 2 appearances, 1 goal…In 1975, he played for the Denver Dynamos in the North American Soccer League (NASL)…His career was cut short by injury…He is currently manager of Wealdstone FC…”

Anyone coming across this brief information could be forgiven that there is no more to the story than that. Just another professional who never made the grade due to an injury and then took up management – nothing remarkable. Well the internet may be a fantastic tool in so many ways, but the story of Gordon Bartlett is not one that the World Wide Web has got right. Instead it is left to the written word of the book to tell the tale of this Non-League luminary.

Off the Bench – A Quarter of a Century of Non-League Management (by Gordon Bartlett & Roger Slater) is the recently published book which charts the career of the current Wealdstone “gaffer”. The book openers with a foreword which covers the unfortunate injury plagued career of Bartlett. In the 1974/75 season on 14 December he came on as a substitute and scored the second goal as Pompey ran out 2-0 winners against Bolton Wanderers. His only other appearance was later that month against Southampton on Boxing Day. However, he was released and went to Denver to play. Fate was against him, as injuries meant he never actually played for the Dynamos in the NASL. Bartlett returned to England to try and regain fitness, but an unsuccessful months trial at Brentford showed that his professional career was over. Despite the injuries he did return to playing for Non-League Hayes FC.

What changed the course of his path in football was studying for the FA Coaching Badges and his first management position as Hayes Youth team coach. When Hayes dispensed with their Youth team, Bartlett moved to Southall to take over their Youth set-up. What this lead to later in 1985/86 was his appointment as first team manager. It was an incredible first season, as the club reached the FA Vase Final at Wembley against Halesowen Town. What follows in the book is a year on year account of Gordon Barlett’s career in management, from that first season at Southall, the years at Hounslow FC (1986 to 1989), Yeading FC (1989 to 1995) and Wealdstone FC (1995 to 2010) – a total of 25 years in Non-League Management.

However, the chapters of those years aren’t merely a game-by-game analysis of a season. In terms of tone and style it is very conversational, with plenty of humour and sincere reflection of both the ups and downs at the various clubs. Events, players and games spark off memories and stories for Bartlett, with the warmth of his recounting of these events making for a very readable book. It is a straight talking and honest look at life on the Non-League circuit and provides a revealing insight into the realities of budgets, player transfers, club management and fans outside the top 92 clubs in England.

Over the 25 years Gordon Bartlett has experienced the full range of emotions in the game. From the highlights of winning the FA Vase, to the lows of battles against relegation. With the joy of discovering players who make the grade such as Les Ferdinand and Jermaine Beckford, there is the despair of players who simply don’t turn up and vanish, never to be seen again. There too is a 15 year management stint at Wealdstone, which is an incredible act of faith and loyalty by both Gordon Bartlett and the Club Board, which survived the ill-fated Prince Edward Playing Fields project.

For me this book will appeal across a range of people in the football world. It will be a fascinating read for players, officials and fans of the clubs Gordon Bartlett has been involved with, as it may throw light on why decisions and events occurred the way they did. Certainly for anyone who follows a Non-League football, it will be a point of comparison for how their particular club is run. Also, I believe it will make interesting reading for fans of the professional clubs, to see how the “other half” live and the financial reality and resource issues that clubs outside the Premier League and Football League have to deal with, week in week out, season after season.

A real insight into all aspects of Non-League Management by a “real” football legend.

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Greavsie: a man of two books

I’m doubly lucky. I’ve got two signed copies of a Jimmy Greaves autobiography and each book is different. In both cases, Greaves thanks a co-writer so I have two semi-autobiographies. The names of these demi-semi-autobiographies are ‘A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON MY WAY TO SPURS’ and ‘GREAVSIE’. It would be hard to miss that the titles have something in common. Every time Jimmy Greaves and his ghostly friends write an autobiography, they use block capitals FOR THE TITLES.

They also tell us something about changing times. Back in the days when the first book appeared (1962) readers could cope with allusion. It is a punning reference to the Stephen Sondheim musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum which opened on Broadway in May of that year. Strangely, the film version came out in 1966 and the England World Cup squad went to watch it prior to beating West Germany. A funny thing.

By 2003 our modern readership can just about cope with a one word title. There is sadness, too, in the overly familiar moniker ‘Greavsie’, the persona adopted by the reformed alcoholic Greaves as part of a once-popular TV double act ‘Saint and Greavsie’. This offered him a form of earthly salvation, under the tutelage of a grinning St John, when he had reinvented himself as a pundit, years after his glittering soccer career had ended.

It is only fair to point out here that Jimmy Greaves was the finest goal-scorer this writer has ever seen, a kind of Raul-plus, and Raul was fantastic at his best. JG was the coolest of finishers with the ability to scoot past very good defenders before simply slipping the ball into the back of the net and there was nothing they could do to stop him. I had a friend at university who was a Spurs fan. Whenever we met, if I so much as mentioned his hero, he would fly away in a mental rapture and it would be several minutes before he landed back on earth.

The problem with the first book is that it was brought out when he was 22, timed to cash in on his escape from the unhappy stint playing for Milan, a return of 9 goals in 12 games clearly reflecting his talent but in those days, abroad was abroad, cultures were very different and the cockney cocksparrer didn’t fit in. So, back to London with a big money transfer. He had scored 124 goals in 157 games for Chelsea before his unhappy Italian sojourn and was welcomed home by Double winners, Spurs. What a talent! But how do you write about your own genius since it all comes so naturally? And yet it turned out that there was much more to him than either he or the wider world could cope with back then. He gave in to the Dark Side, Luke. Poor old Greaves. The story has grown into legend that Ramsey’s preference for Geoff Hurst in the World Cup Final drove him over the edge. How different it all might have been if substitutes were allowed back in ’66.

The second book gets round this genius-thing pretty well by dealing, fairly honestly, with his colossal fall from grace into an alcoholic nightmare world. It deals with other things, too, including the almost obligatory ‘state of the game today’ section and it deliberately does not try to leave the reader green with envy. Who would want to end up like him throwing it all away? He might have scored 220 goals in 321 appearances for Spurs plus sundry other league goals and 44 in 57 games for England but we read about a failed man who has had the good fortune, family support and the strength of character to do something about it.

Both books are basically honest, team efforts about a supremely talented individual. The first one pretends to be just looking back but is clearly suggesting it is only the thrilling first half. The second book spends 300 pages dealing with the first 30 years and 80 dealing with the next 30. That gives some clue as to which part of his life he was most pleased to look back on.

I suppose I would have liked to read just one Jimmy Greaves autobiography, possibly even written by himself, when he was 44 and looking back on a hugely successful career, a lorra laughs and maybe a few tears along the way. You flick through the two sections of photographs – and who doesn’t look at the photos before embarking on the reading bit? As you do so, you have a growing feeling of trepidation that, after the glorious pics of Jim foxing yet another defence, there will be the ‘loser Jim’ to face, and there is. Thankfully, you are then given the blessing of a family shot of doting grandparents and six of his ten grandchildren, all bright as buttons.

Whilst I suppose each ghost-writer did his bit, forty years apart, what intrigues me most is what the young Jim and the older Greavsie might say to each other if, time warps permitting, they could meet face to face?  

Graeme Garvey

Buy: A funny thing happened on my way to Spurs

 

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