Book Review: Can We Not Knock It?: A Celebration of ’90s Football by Chris Lambert and Chris Scull

The ‘90s was a decade that changed the course of football in England for ever, with the most significant change that being the creation of the Premier League in 1992. Suddenly there was wall-to-wall television coverage and for the elite few, a game awash with money. This whole new ball game saw the drinking culture of the English players on the way out as continental diets and fitness regimes came in with the players and coaches from abroad.

On the international scene after the highs of Italia’90 for England and Gazza mania, which saw Sir Booby Robson step down as manager, Graham Taylor was given the task of guiding the Three Lions through qualification to the 1994 World Cup in USA. The campaign was to come to define the late Taylor’s England career, as his side finished third in the group and missed the trip across the Atlantic in the summer of ’94. To add insult to injury Channel 4 commissioned a documentary titled An Impossible Job, which followed the England squad and coaching staff during their 10 group fixtures. The programme aired in January 1994 and showed warts and all, the pressure, intense stress and scrutiny Taylor had to endure. It gave rise to many quotes, including the one used for the title of this book, Can We Not Knock It? as Taylor cut a frustrated figure during the qualifier in Poland as the Three Lions limped to a 1-1 draw.

This book by Chris Lambert and Chris Scull though is not a serious analysis of the seismic changes that the Premier League brought to the English game or indeed the failures of the England squad during the decade, but instead as the book’s sub-title states, is A Celebration of ’90s Football.

It is a book that delivers a nostalgic look at the more quirky and unusual side of the decade, told in a cheeky lads-mag tone that undoubtedly will bring a smile to readers faces. Amongst the more unusual topics are articles dedicated to Andy Cole’s Music Career (who knew?), Alan Cork’s Beard and Wotsits Whooshers. For those that remember the period, there are tales of the most famous faces such as Sir Alex Ferguson, Eric Cantona, Jack Charlton, Kevin Keegan, Vinny Jones and the like, whilst there were also stories new to this reader such as The Britpop Footballer (incidentally, Paul McGregor) and Every Loser Wins: Barbados v Grenada (honesty you couldn’t make it up!).

The book though has its serious moments for example, as readers discover the reason behind Dennis Bergkamp’s refusal to fly – a flight in 1989 which killed 15 Dutch players on their way to play a friendly, which Bergkamp would have been on but for his club not allowing him to be released for international duty.

Overall though this is a lighter look at a decade that saw the English game change forever and is indeed a celebration of a time when the game was a little more rough around the edges, but no less fun.

(Publisher: Conker Editions Ltd. October 2021. Paperback: 176 pages)

 

 

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Book Review: Flat Caps & Tangerine Scarves – A biography of Blackpool Football Club by Roy Calley

A biography tends to be about a person, but Roy Calley a former BBC journalist and author of a range of books, has opted to apply this to his beloved Blackpool FC.

Roy saw his first Tangerines game in January 1968 when Bristol City were the visitors in the old Second Division. He went on to be the editor of the fanzine View from the Tower in 1990, then having published, Blackpool: A Complete Record, 1887-1992 (with an updated version in 2011) and an e-book, Blackpool’s 1953 FA Cup: Tangerine Wizards. Therefore it’s fair to say he knows a bit about the club from Bloomfield Road and most definitely its ups and downs.

The first thing to say that the authors journalist background is evident in the quality of the writing and research. Calley is able to mix a poetic and lyrical style with fact, also including in some places dreamlike fantasy pieces, but retaining a conversational and at times humorous tone in telling the warts and all story of the Lancashire coastal club.

At 188 pages the book covers, at a breathless pace, nine main chapters which could be argued make up the constituent part of the soul of a club, including, The Beginning The Ground, The Colours, The Managers, The Players, The Successes, The Failures, The Owners and The Supporters.

Given the size of the book and the ground it covers, Calley acknowledges that in the chapters around managers and players, not every supporters favourite will be included, but what he does create is text style which reflects those fan conversations had travelling to games and over pre and post-match pints, where names are banded about as villains and heroes are praised and slaughtered in equal measures.

Of course no book about the Tangerines can be written without discussion of the Oyston family era, which began in 1988 and ended in 2019. It was to be ultimately a turbulent period for the Bloomfield Road club both on and off the pitch and Calley offers a pragmatic view of their involvement and the sacrifice fans made in boycotting the club until Blackpool was free of the Oyston’s. Calley’s last line in The Owners chapter, has particular resonance, not just for Blackpool during that time, but for football in general, in the wake of COVID with games played behind closed doors and the aborted launch of the European Super League: The supporters won the club back. A football club is nothing without its fans and Blackpool fans proved that.

This is undoubtedly a book aimed at the Blackpool faithful and will no doubt be a source of debate for those old enough to remember the 1953 FA Cup Final win, and those younger fans who witnessed the 2010/11 Premier League season only to find themselves watching football in the fourth tier just six years later. However, it has a wider appeal for anybody wanting to get a snapshot of this famous English club and its place in the English game.

 

(Conker Editions Ltd. April 2021. Paperback 188 pages)

 

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