The lament for football’s lost golden age and the belief that commercial interests have sullied the game are nothing new – Willy Meisl’s 1960 book Soccer Revolution argues that the liberalisation of the offside law in 1925, which played to the popular demand for more goals, was the beginning of the end. However, Conn’s 2004 book is a heartfelt account of the increasingly rapid changes of the previous couple of decades. “It is deeply frustrating,” he writes, “seeing the national game revel in a boom, which could take it so far, yet drive itself so needlessly into dysfunction and failure.” The pictures. Especially the ones of Alan Gilzean who was indeed as odd looking for a footballer - surely an undertaker in his forties or a seedy bank manager - as I remembered.** One review on here complains that it should be about a team that was very successful and suggests Manchester United. Apart from the historical facts being against this, (United were in a dreadful slump during this period) the glory in the title is glory that is aspired to not necessarily enjoyed. Tottenham seem to me to have been an excellent choice if the aim was to capture the essence of early seventies English football. But, this was fortuitous. Hunter Davies was looking to the present for his readership and was as surprised as anyone when the book kept selling. It is still very much worth the read if you can remember the players. I think it is probably worth the read if you don't. Davies joined the sixth form at Carlisle Grammar School and was awarded a place at University College, Durham to read for an honours degree in History, but after his first year he switched to a general arts course. He gained his first writing experience as a student, contributing to the university newspaper, Palatinate, where one of his fellow student journalists was the future fashion writer Colin McDowell. [2] After completing his degree course he stayed on at Durham for another year to gain a teaching diploma and avoid National Service. [3] Writing career [ edit ]

The Glory Game - Penguin Books UK

Davies, Hunter (7 December 2007). "Confessions of a collector". The Guardian. London . Retrieved 20 November 2013. Ken Loach might have turned all this into a powerful social film, but the avuncular Davies sprinkles in so many cheery anecdotes that the book bounces along enjoyably ' ( Sunday Times ) - Praise for VOLUME 1: THE CO-OP'S GOT BANANAS!When I talk about the soul, I mean the part of football that is more than business,” he continues. “The soul is the passion and the loyalty of fans, but it is also the joy to be found in playing the game. As other collective institutions disappear, football clubs are becoming an increasingly central part of people’s identity, and that’s why we see these heroic struggles to save clubs when they are threatened.” Davies, Hunter (20 July 2016). "Hunter Davies: After Margaret died, I had to sell our family home". The Daily Telegraph. London . Retrieved 16 December 2018. Football in the 1970s was a completely different beast, and that shows not only in the game and the style of play but the players and coaches themselves. As other people have pointed out, there is racism, there is homophobia, there is a lot of misogyny (Bill Nicholson doesn't let his wife go to games, for example). I hate to use the phrase 'a product of its time' and these things can't and shouldn't be excused. But I suppose they also have to be read in their context, which is contemporary attitudes and also Hunter Davies meticulously transcribing and noting down every single thing that happens. The format. A season makes for a good story. The opportunity to explore different aspects of the club and the characters therein. You get to know people and care a little about them in human terms. I've enjoyed a few books that have taken this approach and this challenges my favourite which up until now has been I Lost My Heart to the Belles by Pete Davies where Davies once again showed himself to be a generation ahead of his time.

Glory Game by Hunter Davies | Goodreads The Glory Game by Hunter Davies | Goodreads

If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month. The exposure of the dreadful state of English social attitudes; whether it be about gender roles or sexuality or race relations. This tells of a white male only world that was becoming at odds with the progressive and inclusive world that was over-taking it. There are numerous cringe-worthy sections and several that would have been indefensible even in the dark ages of 1971. In children's literature, he has written the Ossie, Flossie Teacake and Snotty Bumstead series of novels.Journalist Davies spent an entire season with the team, training with them, visiting the players’ homes and witnessing the dressing-room confrontations – a luxury that seems so alien in modern-day football’s PR-managed world.

The Glory Game: The New Edition of the British Football

During the Beatles sessions for the Let It Be album , the Beatles recorded a song called "There You Go Eddie" about Hunter Davies that appears on bootlegs. It was not officially released. [9]Nantes: “All they have to do is play it simple. That’s the answer, but they won’t do it. When you get into difficulties, when the opposing team are doing well and not letting you do anything, all you do is play it very simple and things go your way.”