Spitting in the Wind

As a collection of fanzine articles (some previously unpublished and others with updated comments added with the benefit of hindsight), it is a haphazard and outspoken volume. At first glance, you could be forgiven for thinking it’s just another one of those badly produced, badly written amateur books in dire need of a proofreader and editor. While some of this may be true, certainly with reference to the production (which Furious’s website admits is “irreverent, sweary, often drunk and lacking in a basic understanding of any punctuation that [isn’t] a exclamation mark”), don’t let that put you off – this Billy bloke has a way with words that had me hooked from the start, and I’m not even a Magpies fan.

“I live in Newcastle, I go to the match. I don’t drink brown ale down the Bigg Market on a Friday neet-oot. I’m not a racist, homophobe, sexist, or, worse, have Mark Knopfler’s Local Hero as the ringtone on my phone. I wouldn’t rather my team lost 4-3 than won 1-0, I don’t think Kevin Keegan is particularly God-like, I don’t think Alan Shearer is the Lord Jesus Christ himself…” I am going to like this book, I thought, on reading that.

One thing that particularly tickled me was the consistent spelling of “sunderland” with a lower-case “s”. At first, I thought that this was a punctuation error, something to be expected of a fanzine production. But when it appeared again, and again, I realised it was in fact an excellent putdown – much cleverer and more refreshing than simply asterisking the word out, or refusing to write it. A great way to convey disdain without resorting to cliché.

The style is very stream-of-consciousness, but the ranting is coherent, sharp and often highly amusing. It demonstrates that the lot of a football fan is largely one of despair and frustration, with the occasional high point. Obviously, as a non-Newcastle fan I enjoyed the general rants perhaps more than the club-specific ones – for example, Furious goes off on one about DIY more than once in the book, but still managing to link it to football. In “If you stop going to the match you might DIE!!!” he warns of the dangers that await on Saturday afternoons when you’ve not bothered to go to the game, and idle hands turn to the dreaded do-it-yourself and a whole manner of potential injuries. He’s got a point. He also talks a lot of sense about the hysteria that led to football matches being cancelled after the death of Diana in 1997, and offers an interesting perspective when he meets the New York City Mags on a trip to the US.

I also found myself saying “Yes! You’re dead right!” on reading “The 1980s were bollocks”, which attacks the rose-tinted view a lot of people seem to have adopted of this most depressing decade. “Kids, don’t be taken in by the lies,” Furious says. “All TV except Hill Street Blues and Dangermouse was fucking garbage and there was no such thing as Playstations. Being a football supporter meant you got treated like a leper with a chainsaw by the police and general public and we had to spend games peering through fences at shit footballers with skinny arms and big hair.”

The book has a “parental advisory: explicit content” warning on the front, and I wonder whether this is more to attract attention than to really warn youngsters (who hardly read at all nowadays). I reckon young people (well, ok, not small children) should be encouraged to read this book, as it might prevent some of them becoming herd-following knuckle-trailers in later life.

If you’re a Newcastle fan with a brain, then this book is certainly worth spending twelve quid on. Even if you’re not a Newcastle fan (but still have a brain), I would recommend it – it’s great to dip in and out of. I also think it would be good as an audiobook – I’m sure that hearing Furious’s rants spoken in a Geordie accent would make his voice even more distinctive.

For more information about Billy Furious and to buy the book, visit the Billy Furious website.

Review by Sam Hawcroft

Taylor starts with the origins of association football, which lie “in the chaotic and unregulated forms of folk football popular throughout Britain from the Middle Ages”, before discussing the split between the amateur and professional games.

It’s interesting to note the perception of early 20th century footballers as drunk and disorderly, compared to the ‘gentlemen’ of the 1950s. Nowadays, of course, the reputation of top-flight footballers is arguably on the decline once more, the difference being that they are vastly overpaid as well as out of control. Another fascinating insight is that in the early days, the game wasn’t seen as a profit-making business, and many clubs with large wage expenditures soon saw themselves in dire straits. Much may have changed in the modern game, but there are some startling parallels with football 100 years ago.

What is also evident on reading Taylor’s account is that the sense of community in relation to football has been much eroded over the years, as clubs have increasingly turned themselves into brands, with the supporter becoming more of a consumer who can pick and choose who they want to support like any other commodity on the shop shelf. And no book on football history would be complete without a reference to the Hillsborough disaster and its impact on modern football.

Taylor’s commentary is incisive, managing to cover an impressive number of events and issues within so few pages, and it is well supported by some excellent illustrations, archive photos and pictures of other artefacts such as cigarette cards. Given that Taylor is professor of history at the International Centre for Sports History and Culture at Leicester’s De Montfort University, it’s understandable that there is a higher proportion of Leicester City memorabilia among the illustrations.

This book is an excellent introduction for anyone with a passing interest in the origins of football as well as those looking at studying the game in more detail. It has been put together with a great deal of care and thought, with much to look at as well as read. It’s almost like taking a short trip through a football museum.

Review by Sam Hawcroft

As Norwich City continue, at the time of writing, to make good progress in the Premier League, Edward Couzens-Lake’s new book takes a look back at past seasons in the top flight. Fantasy Football: Reflections of Norwich City’s Astonishing Premier League Seasons reflects, game by game, on the 1992/1993 season and what followed, including new and exclusive interviews from the players and officials involved with the club then, as well as the supporters.

Meanwhile, the story of how Brighton overcame decades of homelessness to finally play in their own purpose-built stadium is told in We Want Falmer: How Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, and Its Fans, United to Build a Stadium (Build a Bonfire).

Scottish fans will no doubt be interested in the new edition of The Encyclopaedia of Scottish Football, three years after it was first released. The second edition not only contains an entry for every club that has ever participated in the Scottish League, it includes entries for each club in the Highland League, East of Scotland League and South of Scotland League, and even gives information about fondly remembered teams from years gone by such as Glenbuck Cherrypickers, Inverness Citadel, Tarff Rovers and Vale Ocoba. Phil Jones and David Potter’s painstaking research includes all of Scotland’s international matches, Scottish Cup finals and Scottish League Cup finals are detailed, as well as Scottish caps, regional trophies, amateur leagues and the record of Scottish clubs in Europe.

Staying with Scotland, Hibernian: From Joe Baker to Turnbull’s Tornadoes begins in the turbulent 1960s with the club in serious decline, culminating in relegation only being avoided at Easter Road on the final day of the 1963-64 season. The appointment of Jock Stein in 1964 saw an immediate improvement and the Hibs team of the mid-1960s featured an all-Scottish international forward line. The return of player Eddie Turnbull as manager in 1971 saw the emergence of possibly Hibs greatest-ever side. Aberdeen FC Who’s Who profiles every one of the post-war players to have featured in competitive action for the Dons’ first team as well as delving further into the past to examine a select band of the leading lights in the pre-war era.

Kit fans – and Chelsea kit fans in particular – will enjoy Blue Is The Collar (nice pun there, although it is in some ways unfortunate as blue-collar workers can no longer afford the extortionate prices it costs to get in to Stamford Bridge these days). The book takes fans on a journey from the very first Eton Blue strip in 1905 to the famous Royal blue jerseys of today, featuring some wonderfully colourful away shirts along the way.

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Tim Quelch’s Underdog: Fifty Years of Trials and Triumphs with Football’s Also-Rans, published on October 14, looks back over a lifetime of watching struggling teams around the country, including some non-league teams. It’s a personal tale that also highlights the changing times and has been hailed as “a major work” by Backpass magazine.

Talking of changes, leading football writer Ian Ridley looks at how the Premier League “has moved football from a state of unprecedented crisis against a backdrop of recession, strikes and hooliganism to a global sport of unimaginable riches” in There’s a Golden Sky: How twenty years of the Premier League has changed football forever. Manchester United celebrate another landmark anniversary with Sir Alex Ferguson: The Official Manchester United Celebration of 25 Years at Old Trafford. Leading Hull City writer David Bond, meanwhile, picks his top 20 Tigers stars in 20 Legends: Hull City AFC – and, somewhat controversially, there is only one from the (albeit brief) Premier League period who makes the list: Dean Windass.

Staying with nostalgia, Neil Roberts’ Blues & Beatles, published on October 14, is another personal story that seeks to tie in the author’s love of football with his love of Liverpool’s most famous export (possibly to the ire of those from the red half of the city who may not appreciate the Fab Four being linked so closely with Everton). The jury is most certainly out on whether any of the Beatles supported either club, although Paul McCartney has reportedly mentioned that his uncles used to support the Toffees.

Now is also the time that people are starting to think about Christmas presents, and the younger football fan might be pleased to unwrap the Match Annual 2012, which was released on October 7. It’s packed full of Match‘s best-loved features as well as all the usual quizzes, games and posters of top players and teams – perfect for long away trips on the coach. Meanwhile, Manchester United fans may enjoy the annual-style The Big Book of United: Goalscorers & Champions, which is a “a joyful celebration of the players, games, goals and supporters from Manchester United’s earliest beginnings to the modern era”. Elsewhere, Leeds, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea and many more have released their annuals as usual. Who Are Ya?: The talkSPORT Book of Football’s Best Ever Chants is a last-minute stocking filler if ever there was one.

Biographies published in October include: Pepe Reina, Dominic Matteo, Cardiff City’s Phil Dywer, Chris Sutton, Dennis Tueart, and John Robertson, European Cup winner with Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest.

The book opens with a look towards the future under new owner Craig Whyte, then goes right back to the beginning, telling the story of the four young lads who decided to form Glasgow Rangers way back in 1872. Jardine himself has done much to discover more about the four teenagers from the Gareloch – Moses and Peter McNeil, Peter Campbell and William McBeath. Interestingly, the book also explains that an early history of Rangers, published in 1923, caused much confusion by incorrectly stating that the club was founded in 1873 – so much so that the club actually celebrated its centenary in 1973.

Bill Struth emerges as a central figure – “if one individual has come to personify Rangers above all others it is William ‘Bill’ Struth”. Between 1920-21 and 1953-54 he led Rangers to 18 league championships, 10 Scottish Cups, two Scottish League Cups and many other trophies, and it is clear his words and deeds live on to the present day, still being an incredible influence on the club and its fans.

Those not from Glasgow are most likely to be interested in the chapters describing Rangers’ American tour in 1928 and the wartime relationship they struck up with Moscow Dynamo, as well as the accounts of the Ibrox Stadium Disaster of 1971 (in which 66 fans lost their lives), and previous tragedies in 1902 and 1961.

The book also does not shy away from the inevitable discussion surrounding sectarianism among certain sections of Rangers and Celtic fans, and it acknowledges that the Irish troubles in the 1920s were a “key factor in the deepening antipathy”, and the Northern Ireland Troubles “entrenched some fans’ prejudices more deeply”. The authors add, however, that the “fusion of football with religion and politics was – and is – a matter of profound regret” for many fans. “The social costs were high and as time went on Rangers’ reputation suffered on account of the club’s de facto adoption of a ‘Protestants only’ signing policy of players.”

This is a comprehensive and well-written account of a fascinating and often troubled club history, and, while obviously aimed at the partisan Rangers fan, there is much of interest to the neutral reader. If the reader-added tags on Amazon are anything to go by, though (“made-up pish”, “fairy stories” and “gay fiction”), the majority of Celtic fans aren’t going to touch it with a bargepole. This would be a great shame, as in a perfect world rival fans would strive towards mutual understanding – but such petty, ignorant hatred only serves to encapsulate a lot of the points made by the biography’s authors.

Review by Sam Hawcroft

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Meanwhile, a new book by Denis Law was released on September 15. Interestingly, the latter also has a Scottish edition, which sees the cover change from one with Law in a red shirt to one with him sporting the national blue. This month also saw the release in paperback of Patrick Barclay’s Football – Bloody Hell!: The Biography of Alex Ferguson, having been originally published in hardback in October 2010.

Away from the Red Devils, for Fulham fans there was When Football Was Football: Fulham: A Nostalgic Look at a Century of the Club (Sep 1), and for Black Cats devotees, Into the Light: A Complete History of Sunderland Football Club, which was originally published in 2001, was released on Kindle on September 23.

Dave Moor’s The Worst Football Kits of All Time (Sep 30) offered a tongue-in-cheek look at some of the most “outrageous strips foisted upon the poor players and the loyal fans”. Nostalgia lovers will no doubt lap up Got, Not Got: The A-Z of Lost Football Cultures, Treasures and Pleasures (Sep 30), while John Crace’s memoir Vertigo: One Football Fan’s Fear of Success (Sep 1), ploughs the familiar furrow of the highs and lows of the obsessive supporter.

Reference-wise, the UEFA European Football Yearbook 2011/12 and FIFA World Football Records 2012 were both released in September.

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We Are Celtic Supporters, by Richard Purden, with a foreword by Rod Stewart (2011)

This book, published in September 2011, examines what created the culture, ideas and beliefs around Celtic football club. Author Richard Purden travels the world to find fans far and wide, from the ordinary to the celebrity. And there are indeed a wealth of the latter – as well as rocker Rod Stewart, who writes the foreword, there are exclusive interviews with famous fans such as Billy Connolly, Jim Kerr and Noel Gallagher.

The sleeve on the hardcover edition lists these names and many more besides, and the presentation is such that, before opening the book, you could be forgiven for thinking it is a collection of short essays by these people, instead of a series of detailed interviews framed by author Burden’s point of view. Still, the variety of people interviewed, and the variety of places Purden visits to talk to them, make for a fascinating book, especially for the Celtic fan, of course. It would also no doubt be of interest to those studying the impact of religion and sectarianism on football, and vice versa – subjects the book cannot and does not avoid.

There are many mentions of Brother Walfrid, who was an Irish Marist Brother and founder of the club – his ideals punctuate the book, and while it is acknowledged that these ideals have not always been lived up to, Purden passionately argues that Celtic are a force for good, and continue to be so. Another interesting claim is made by Simple Minds frontman Kerr, who argues that it was the Bhoys who invented Total Football before the Dutch – indeed, they even taught them it, Kerr says.

Other areas touched on include Celtic’s Italian connections (Purden travels to Italy and meets the secretary of the Italian Celts, Roberto Longobardi), American fans (he chats to fans in The Parlour Bar, home of New York’s largest Celtic supporters’ club), Celtic’s place within popular culture and politics, and much more.

This book is an incisive, thoughtful and necessarily partisan look at one of the world’s most recognisable clubs. One wonders whether too much is made of the club’s unique place in history (we all like to think our club has singular historical importance, after all), but it is undeniable that Celtic have made a global impact, not least because of their origins, and many such claims made in the book cannot really be argued with.

Essential for the Celtic fan – and still a good read for those who don’t wear the Hoops. Whether Rangers fans would touch it, though, is another matter…

Review by Sam Hawcroft

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Kissing the Badge: How Much Do You Know About 20 Years of the Premier League? by Phil Ascough (2011)

This is a quiz book that offers just that little bit more than mere trivia. It’s perfect for long car or train journeys on away days (especially, of course, if you follow a Premier League team), but it’s also one of those books that’s interesting to dip in and out of whether you feel like testing your fellow footy mates or just yourself.

The book is separated into a number of different categories (20, appropriately enough), such as Keepers, Controversies, and Heroes and Villains, which in itself sets it apart from other quiz volumes. Each category is preceded by a brief but incisive analysis before, firstly, a collection of 20 facts, and then 20 questions, with the answers on the following page. The research is highly impressive in its scope and variety – even the most ardent Premier League fan will surely find many things they didn’t know, and there’s a good deal of humour and incident along the way. Do you know, for example, who was the first player in the Premier League era to represent England with five different clubs?

There is also an interesting appendix, the All-Time Premier League Table, which has been compiled from the results in every season since the league’s inception in 1992. Pretty unsurprisingly, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool make up the top four, with Swindon Town propping up the table at number 44. As a Hull City fan, I was heartened to see the Tigers coming in at a fairly respectable number 38 – and there is also a notable number of facts about them in the book. Despite the fact that City only troubled the Premier League for two seasons, they made enough of an impact to warrant the inclusion of a few entries, including Phil Brown’s infamous team-talk on the pitch at Manchester City, and Geovanni’s goal in the stunning 2-1 win against Arsenal at the Emirates. Now, this may have something to do with the fact that author Phil Ascough is indeed a fellow Tigers fan, but I can’t tell whether his bias led him to sneak a few more City facts in as I am also quite biased in that respect. Anyway, fair play to him for putting the Tigers on the map.

This book is under 200 pages long, and does not claim to be authoritative or exhaustive, but it still manages to pack in a hell of a lot of information. If you follow a Premier League team, an ex-Premier League team, or just enjoy Sky’s Super Sunday once in a while, there’s something for you here. Even if you are highly cynical about how the new top-flight transformed football as we knew it, this book not only acknowledges this but embraces it. Ultimately, Ascough argues that, “in the midst of the media frenzy and corporate clamour, the game itself retains the capacity to thrill and to shock, to enthral and bemuse, to exhilarate and devastate all at the same time” – which is why “deep down, all fans want to be part of the Premier League”.

Oh, and the answer to the question I mentioned earlier was David James.

Review by Sam Hawcroft

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