Beautiful Bridesmaids Gary Thacker Pitch Publishing Read Rating

Much the same as the author of this book, Dutch football brings back so many memories for me. As an eight year old I was absolutely mesmerised by the Dutch side in the 1974 World Cup and continue to have, as the author eloquently describes, a “bromance” with the Oranje ever since. With England not making it to the final stages, I felt I needed a team to follow and it took one game to fall in love. It was watching that spectacular Dutch side that nurtured my fascination and love of the beautiful game. I was definitely smitten! This new love was without doubt helped along the way by supporting Ipswich Town and being able to watch the wonderful talents of Arnold Muhren & Frans Thijssen (both featured in this book) in the 80s, and latterly the cult figure of Martijn Reuser week in week out. Beautiful Bridesmaids takes you on a fascinating, absorbing and entertaining journey through Dutch footballing history beginning with a detailed look at the inauspicious beginnings of Dutch football including the first club, Koninklijke HFC Haarlem, and the early days of the KNVB, through the meteoric rise in the 70s, to the modern day. I spent five years living in the Netherlands and so believed I was pretty well versed in much of their football history but in Beautiful Bridesmaids, the author imparts a much broader knowledge and a far greater insight into what was happening off and off the pitch during this time. While living in Haarlem, one of the highlights was regularly attending to the Nieuwjaarswedstrijd (New Year match), an exhibition game which pitches the current Koninklijke HFC Haarlem team (the oldest Dutch club) against a team of ex-Dutch internationals each year, played to celebrate HFC and the beginnings of Dutch football. I was lucky enough to see some fantastic ex-Oranje stars including Bergkamp, Van Bronkhorst, van Hooijdonk, Winter, Kluivert, Witschge, the de Boer brothers and the aforementioned Martijn Reuser among many others. The author takes you through the background and history both at club and international level, the correlation between the emergence of the Dutch European club dominance and the national side, and how the philosophy of “total football” developed. The World Cup in 1974 was a true introduction to football from another planet for me and began a lifetimes obsession with the game. I remember so well watching my first real football tournament, utterly enthralled from the moment Emmanuel Sanon scored for Haiti against Italy, and realising quickly that this World Cup was going to impact the way I would look at football forever. You’re taken at breath-taking speed through the two group stages, the wonder of the Cruyff turn, the battle against Brazil through to the final itself where the frailties of the Dutch were cruelly exposed. The author manages to perfectly encapsulate the wonder of this new style of football the world was seeing for the first time. Following the 1974 tournament the author reveals extensive details of the many power struggles going on behind the scenes which turn out to be a recurring theme, the void lfollowing the departure of Rinus Michels to Barcelona, more frustration in the European Championships in 1976 and onto the qualification group and the build up to the 1978 World Cup tournament itself. As we reach the ’78 finals, the author seamlessly weaves between more examples of the now typical Dutch coaching dramas en route to first round qualification, fast paced descriptions of each match and commentary on the political dramas going on in the host nation, detailing a threat to boycott due to the atrocities of the ruling military, making this book difficult to put down. You’re taken on a rollercoaster ride through the stages culminating in a return to the final, playing against a country determined to win by any means possible with an array of dirty tricks Dick Dastardly would be proud of, and ultimately ending with Dutch heartbreak once again. The book concludes with a brief escape to a brighter time when the next generation of Oranje superstars finally ascended to the top step of the podium and features ‘that’ Van Basten goal in the 1988 European Championships. We finish off with a brief look at the years after that triumph which, as usual with Dutch football, included more internal turmoil and heartbreak. Some things seemingly never change. The Dutch in the 70s were a phenomenon, taking the world’s breath away with their style of play and with the ability to utterly demolish opposition on a whim but also just as likely to self-destruct at any moment. The early European successes of Ajax and Feyenoord along with the genius of Michels and Cruyff were a catalyst for the emergence of Oranje as a world footballing power. The blueprint for football played with such flair and swagger had certainly been cast and would be apparent in the cycles of Dutch teams to follow. Excellently written and meticularly researched, this book gets under the skin of the Dutch football psyche and is a must for anyone who looks back fondly at Dutch football in the 70s and beyond. Beautiful Bridesmaids indeed.

The Ghosts of Cathkin Park: The Inside Story of Third Lanark’s Demise Michael McEwan Arena Sport

Read Rating

This is a book I’d been looking forward to reading for a while. I’d been fascinated by the story of Third Lanark since chancing upon a documentary on BBC Scotland a couple of years ago and have always been keen to find out the full story behind the demise of this once great Scottish club. With my newly found obsession with reading football related books in full swing you can imagine my delight at finding The Ghosts of Cathkin Park advertised on a Twitter account, I knew then that it was time to reacquaint myself with the story of Third Lanark. I wasn’t disappointed. The author takes you through the proud history of the Hi-Hi before heading into the turn of events which brought about the sad demise at Cathkin Park with a season by season, often game by game commentary. This story is both riveting and alarming in equal measure, a forerunner of some of the horror stories of boardroom ineptitude, or worse, the deliberate running down of clubs by one man as we have sadly seen far too many times with all too predictable results, most recently at the likes of Bury, Derby, Blackpool, Rangers and sadly many others. To quote the author “the catalogue of entrepreneurial missteps and underhand behaviour off the park” at Thirds was criminal and it, to coin a Billy Connolly phrase, left me shocked and stunned and not a little amazed. To see the level of wrongdoing so forensically detailed by the author is definitely an eye-opener and should have been a warning sign to all on the dangers of allowing the likes of Hiddleston to take over football clubs that mean so much to fans and their local communities. Throughout this book the author interviews many ex- Thirds players and it’s fascinating to read their comments and anecdotes regarding what or who was to blame for the state of what was happening at their club. They seem unanimous in blaming just the one man, the chairman, but the author ends with plenty of unknown facts and alternative possible culpability that it makes you think twice. I’ll leave it to you to make up your own minds on this one! Brilliantly researched and beautifully written, this book is a wonderful read for football fans of any denomination and it is a must read for any fan of Scottish football history. One day, hopefully in the not too distant future, I’d like to visit what is left of Cathkin Park. In 1977 Glasgow City Council preserved some of the old ground as part of a public park and being able to stand on the remaining terraces would no doubt be a fitting and poignant final chapter to my personal journey with the Hi Hi.

The Wanderer: The Frank Soo Story Susan Gardiner Electric Blue Publishing

Read Rating

I’ll readily admit that up until reading this book I’d never heard of Frank Soo. I first became aware of him while reading Twitter when the author, a fellow Ipswich fan, mentioned her book and was posting photographs and cuttings, this intrigued me and definitely piqued my interest. This book was then added to my wish list and then, like many items I add to an online shopping basket, promptly forgotten about. This year, when my newfound obsession with reading football books emerged, this was one of the first books I ordered and I am glad I did. The author is very thorough with her research despite some information being very sketchy and difficult to find, especially regarding the background of his family. She takes you through Frank’s early life and the hard upbringing many Chinese families had to contend with at the time, through his early days in Liverpool, moving on to a brief spell in the non-league with Prescot Cables before his signing with football league club Stoke City. The author’s narrative skilfully takes you on a journey with such an engaging fluidity that it makes the book difficult to put down. The descriptions of how Frank emerged as a top player, captain and crowd favourite in a team alongside Stanley Matthews and many other top players through his time at Stoke, is testament his character and just how good he must have been to watch. This is a very enjoyable, informative and eye-opening book. I’m glad I took the time to find out more about Frank Soo and I hope many more get to read his story, as his is one of the forgotten stories in the football world, lost to the annals of history until now. He will always go down as the first player of Chinese origin ever to play for England, albeit during wartime so never ‘officially’ capped, and would likely have been a long term international with a bagful of caps had he not been Mr. Versatile and willing to play in many positions for his clubs. Hopefully from the exposure in this book and the excellent work of the Frank Soo Foundation, the future generations of young footballers of Chinese descent will have a role model they can be justly proud of. It would be a fitting legacy if Frank ‘Smiler’ Soo could rightfully take a prominent place in football’s history books.

Where The Cool Kids Hung Out: The Chic Years Of The UEFA Cup Steven Scragg Pitch Publishing

Read Rating

This book is a fast paced and fascinating delve into the history of one of Europe’s favourite, and, as an Ipswich fan, I’d have to say my personal favourite football competition, the UEFA Cup. The author takes you on a journey around Europe, skilfully manoeuvring through the years with excellent comment and crafted chapters highlighting spells of dominance by clubs and/or countries including a fantastic run early doors for English teams with both Tottenham and Liverpool enjoying early successes, a spell from Borussia Monchengladbach in the ‘70s which has me still following their results to this day and the emergence of the Dutch as a dominant factor in European football. Interspersed with fascinating interviews with players, journalists and fans, this book gives a captivating overview of the heyday of this wonderful competition. All in all a fantastically researched book full of wonderful memories (Ipswich Town feature quite heavily so I would say that!) with interesting facts all told at breakneck speed. Would heartily recommend to fans of a certain age who remember this competition fondly!

When Footballers Were Skint Jon Henderson Biteback Publishing

Read Rating

This book takes you back to a time where, as the title describes, footballers were only just about earning enough to get by and where the majority, even the star names of the time, had to find jobs in the summer months just to keep afloat financially. The author centres around the ‘50s and 60s but you also get an interesting insight into football during the wartime years and at the time when the FA Cup was king, amongst many other tales of days gone by. Excellently researched from talking to a wide range of ex-players and including the likes of George Eastham, Cliff Jones, and Gordon Milne along with many others, all telling their stories and including plenty of interesting tales surrounding the likes of future legends Bill Nicholson, Bill Shankly, Johnny Haynes and Brian Clough, this book provides a thought-provoking insight into what life was like for the players during this earlier footballing era.

The author also takes you through such subjects as the slavery law which remained in place until the maximum wage was abolished in the early 60s led by Jimmy Hill, and after a threat to strike, signing on fees and contracts for life. The book ends with a fascinating chapter dealing with the “ancients” feelings on the game as they knew it and their thoughts on the modern game. It is lovely to hear how much passion they still have for the game and the clarity of the memories of the games they played in. When Footballers Were Skint is a fascinating, and often poignant read which transports you back to the days when the clubs were in total control and players were little more than just a commodity.

I’m preparing to read a whole host of different titles so there will be more reviews coming soon. Here is just a taster of some of the books I’ll be reviewing in due course:- Banksy - Gordon Banks Autobiography 1982 Brazil - The Glorious Failure by Stuart Horsfield Silver Linings - Bobby Robson’s England by David Hartrick Unsuitable For Females by Carrie Dunn Fields of Wonder by Evan Marshall Late December Back In ‘63 by Ian Davidson The Longest Winter by Mark Hodkinson There To Be Shot At - Tony Coton Autobiography Her Game Too - A Manifesto For Change by Matt Riley To find out more about any of these titles and many more fantasic titles perfect for any football fan, including buying options then click on the icons below and you’ll be taken directly to the relevant websites. You’ll also be able to sign up for newsletters detailing new releases, special offers and much more.