Jules
Rimet Still Gleaming?: England and the World Cup, by Ken Jones (2003)
ONE would think that, given the recent boom in football literature, the shelves would be teeming with good books about England's history in the World Cup finals - but the fact that Ken Jones' book is a welcome and enlightening addition to the genre demonstrates that this is clearly not the case.
Although a Welshman (but don't hold that against him), veteran journalist Jones is more than qualified to write about the many years of hurt suffered by England fans. Indeed, the book is made all the richer by his exclusive interviews with key players, as well as carefully chosen comments from his and fellow reporters' work through the decades.
Not surprisingly, England's massive underachievement dominates the book - but it is the reasons behind it that are interesting. Years and years of arrogance on the part of the bigwigs at the top of the FA meant that managers had hardly any control over who they wanted to pick - and it took the FA an unbelievably long time to even realise the need for a full-time England boss and the benefit of regular training sessions. This inevitably filtered down to club managers, many of whom subscribing to the view that their proteges would be more "hungry" for the ball on matchdays if they didn't see one during the week.
It took a number of humiliations (most notably defeat by the USA in 1950), disappointing showings in World Cup finals - and regular savagings by the Press - for the FA to wake up to the fact that a whole new world of football was emerging and England were being left behind.
But what is also evident is the how long it took to do something about it - and Jones makes the point that this typically blinkered insularity, the blind refusal to admit things may need changing, still exists in the national game today. He also suggests the reactionary tabloid Press is partly to blame for perpetuating this - and the media comes in for increasing scrutiny in the latter stages of the book.
The story is told clearly and chronologically, and is an essential read for anyone looking to learn more about the history of the national side. And even for fans who do remember the days before 1966 and all that, there are enough anecdotes, interviews and incisive criticism to make this a really fresh approach to what could have become stale and boring in less capable hands.
Review by Sam Hawcroft