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 Customer Reviews
A well rendered telling of England's glory years, 04 Jan 2009
A year after the publication of Bobby Charlton's outstanding `My Manchester United Years' comes volume two - concerning his England career, which spanned 106 caps and an unprecedented four World Cup Finals.
No living player is better qualified to write about their experiences with England than Charlton, whose time in an England shirt spanned from the monochrome era of Tom Finney to that of Peter Shilton (whom even I, a thirty year old, recall as an England player).
The problem with it, particularly in the pre-Ramsey years, is that too little material is stretched out. Most other players combine their club and international volumes into a single volume. The length of Charlton's England career allows him to do two books - but in the context of a player's career, 106 games is the equivalent of a couple of seasons. It would be a bit like David Beckham writing `My LA Galaxy Years' in forty years time.
There is also a sense that he plays up to his status as the grand old man of English football. And who could blame him? He has, after all, won everything there is to be won in a career marked with courage, dignity and distinction. But the tone can seem fogeyish and at worst rambling, inane, and not true to Bobby Charlton's voice. After all, could you imagine him saying the following passage?
"Perhaps he decided that in this new world of football, of changing formations and the clearest evidence that in terms of ball skills and tactical subtleties many rival nations had passed us by, we need, as another embattled public figure, Prime Minister John Major, would later say `to get back to basics'."
Fortunately, most of the rest of the book isn't as horribly written as this, and by the time Alf Ramsey comes on board this volume hits full pace. The insights into the imperceptible Ramsey are compelling and better dealt with than by the likes of Alan Ball and Nobby Stiles in recent years. Charlton is particularly good on the routines and intensely close camp in the run up to the 1966 World Cup. He makes clear the debt of gratitude that the nation owes Alf Ramsey and he was surprisingly accepting of the way in which he was dropped by him after the 1970 World Cup.
Criticisms, however, tend to be oblique. I was surprised that there wasn't greater anger at the disgusting way Alf Ramsey and Bobby Moore were latterly treated by the FA. Perhaps he doesn't want to upset friends in high places? On the other hand, Peter Bonetti is singled out (albeit in Sir Bobby's roundabout way) for the defeat to West Germany in 1970.
In sum this is a decent companion to Sir Bobby's first volume of memoirs, even if it is slow to get going and, particularly in the early pages, there is a sense that his publishers are milking him for everything. Perhaps it fails by comparison to volume one, which was one of the best sporting memoirs of recent years. On its own merits, however, this is often a compelling story, generally well told if not sometimes eccentrically structured and strangely written - but it beats hands down any one of the turgid offerings by the current crop of underperforming England stars.
More England than Bobby, 21 Nov 2008
This is the second part of Sir Bobby Charlton's fascinating autobiography. In the first, "My Manchester United Years", he provided a lot of moving personal insight into, for example, his trauma post-Munich air disaster, how the club dealt with the other surviving players and their families, and his, at times, difficult relationship with his mother and brother. In other words it was a personally revealing book. This second part, by comparison, is in many ways more typical of a footballer's autobiography, focusing on match details and brief, albeit personal, pen pictures of the characters involved. For regular consumers of books covering this era of football there is little new or surprising here.
Despite this, the book is well-written, thoughful and informative. Here this great footballer leaves aside the pain and angst of Munich and transmits something of the sheer quality and competitiveness of football at the highest level. His convictions about teamwork are clear and here you feel is where he was most comfortable, immersed in what he did best alongside others of the same kind, where the only questions were how to play and how to win.
Finally, there are some striking glances into just how accessible top footballers used to be. For example, this most famous of Englishmen popped out to do some shopping on the morning of playing in the World Cup Final, in the capital city of his own country. I can vouch for this as I once wandered up his front drive, after he was a World and European Cup winner, and while he was hoovering the inside of his car I had a chat and obtained an autograph. For anyone who grew up watching Sir Bobby and remembers the era when he was simply the best English player alive then this book is a must-buy complement to volume one.
A must have 2-part autobiography for any serious sports fan, 15 Nov 2008
Nothing annoys me more than sports men and women writing their autobiography's after some brief initial success before disappearing into the abyss of the unsustainables...... Bobby Charlton 'scores' again firstly by employing an award winning ghost writer making the reading a real pleasure but also by having enough great stories to tell having had long and eventful sporting life. This book, as the cover suggests, chronicles Mr. Charlton's England career. The book is also not without humour and without spoiling it for you, his first confrontation with Pele is laugh out loud funny!
An Excellent Sequel, 10 Nov 2008
The original "United Years" did not leave much to be desired as an extraordinary account of the life an extraordinary man. However, the "England Years" proved to be just as compelling and interesting, the book provides the fascinating insight of a hugely influential player on a volatile period of English football and really shouldn't be missed. A great read for any sports fan.
An insiders view of the England football team 1958 to 1970, 07 Nov 2008
Although this is the second part of Bobby Charltons autobiography, it would be more accurate to think of it as being Bobby Charltons biography of the England football team from 1958, when he made his debut, to 1970, when he played his final England game, in the cruel defeat to West Germany in the Mexico World Cup.
As most of his autobiographical details were dealt with in the first book, the Manchester United Years, this book is almost totally devoted to football and there is very little of Bobby Charlton the man (as opposed to Bobby Charlton the footballer) in it. This is not meant as a critism because, like the first one, this is an excellent book.
It is largely forgotten now but fifty years ago the England football team was in a bit of the mess. At one stage - between 1958 & 1959 - they only won one game in eleven, and that was against an extremely weak USA team. As this book explains, the then manager, Walter Winterbottom, tried his best to build a winning team but he had an impossible task because in those days the England manager had very limited powers, having to refer most things, even team selection, to an FA committee. It was only after the arrival of the single-minded Alf Ramsey, in 1963, that things started to change for the better.
Being an integral part of Ramseys team (even if Sir Alf made sure that Charlton was aware that not even his place in the team was guaranteed)Bobby Charlton was well placed to cast judgement on his role in turning England into World Champions in 1966. He explains that to win the World Cup, Ramsey built a team containing not the eleven best English players but instead the eleven players who one do the best job as a TEAM. This is why the free scoring Jimmy Greaves did not play in the World Cup Final but instead the lesser talented Geoff Hurst did.
Although, quite rightly, the bulk of the book is about the 1966 World Cup and the build up towards it, Bobby Charltons two other World Cup campaigns, in 1962 & 1970, are well covered. The story of Englands quarter final defeat to West Germany after being two goals up and coasting is particuarly absorbing reading as there were many interesting side stories - Franz Beckenbauers marking job on Charlton, Gordon Banks's bad stomach, Englands capitulation after Charlton was substituted, Bobby Moore being accused of theft - involved.
A very good book, and together with 'The Manchester United Years' surely amongst the best fooball autobiographies ever written.
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Customer Reviews
A well rendered telling of England's glory years, 04 Jan 2009
A year after the publication of Bobby Charlton's outstanding `My Manchester United Years' comes volume two - concerning his England career, which spanned 106 caps and an unprecedented four World Cup Finals.
No living player is better qualified to write about their experiences with England than Charlton, whose time in an England shirt spanned from the monochrome era of Tom Finney to that of Peter Shilton (whom even I, a thirty year old, recall as an England player).
The problem with it, particularly in the pre-Ramsey years, is that too little material is stretched out. Most other players combine their club and international volumes into a single volume. The length of Charlton's England career allows him to do two books - but in the context of a player's career, 106 games is the equivalent of a couple of seasons. It would be a bit like David Beckham writing `My LA Galaxy Years' in forty years time.
There is also a sense that he plays up to his status as the grand old man of English football. And who could blame him? He has, after all, won everything there is to be won in a career marked with courage, dignity and distinction. But the tone can seem fogeyish and at worst rambling, inane, and not true to Bobby Charlton's voice. After all, could you imagine him saying the following passage?
"Perhaps he decided that in this new world of football, of changing formations and the clearest evidence that in terms of ball skills and tactical subtleties many rival nations had passed us by, we need, as another embattled public figure, Prime Minister John Major, would later say `to get back to basics'."
Fortunately, most of the rest of the book isn't as horribly written as this, and by the time Alf Ramsey comes on board this volume hits full pace. The insights into the imperceptible Ramsey are compelling and better dealt with than by the likes of Alan Ball and Nobby Stiles in recent years. Charlton is particularly good on the routines and intensely close camp in the run up to the 1966 World Cup. He makes clear the debt of gratitude that the nation owes Alf Ramsey and he was surprisingly accepting of the way in which he was dropped by him after the 1970 World Cup.
Criticisms, however, tend to be oblique. I was surprised that there wasn't greater anger at the disgusting way Alf Ramsey and Bobby Moore were latterly treated by the FA. Perhaps he doesn't want to upset friends in high places? On the other hand, Peter Bonetti is singled out (albeit in Sir Bobby's roundabout way) for the defeat to West Germany in 1970.
In sum this is a decent companion to Sir Bobby's first volume of memoirs, even if it is slow to get going and, particularly in the early pages, there is a sense that his publishers are milking him for everything. Perhaps it fails by comparison to volume one, which was one of the best sporting memoirs of recent years. On its own merits, however, this is often a compelling story, generally well told if not sometimes eccentrically structured and strangely written - but it beats hands down any one of the turgid offerings by the current crop of underperforming England stars.
More England than Bobby, 21 Nov 2008
This is the second part of Sir Bobby Charlton's fascinating autobiography. In the first, "My Manchester United Years", he provided a lot of moving personal insight into, for example, his trauma post-Munich air disaster, how the club dealt with the other surviving players and their families, and his, at times, difficult relationship with his mother and brother. In other words it was a personally revealing book. This second part, by comparison, is in many ways more typical of a footballer's autobiography, focusing on match details and brief, albeit personal, pen pictures of the characters involved. For regular consumers of books covering this era of football there is little new or surprising here.
Despite this, the book is well-written, thoughful and informative. Here this great footballer leaves aside the pain and angst of Munich and transmits something of the sheer quality and competitiveness of football at the highest level. His convictions about teamwork are clear and here you feel is where he was most comfortable, immersed in what he did best alongside others of the same kind, where the only questions were how to play and how to win.
Finally, there are some striking glances into just how accessible top footballers used to be. For example, this most famous of Englishmen popped out to do some shopping on the morning of playing in the World Cup Final, in the capital city of his own country. I can vouch for this as I once wandered up his front drive, after he was a World and European Cup winner, and while he was hoovering the inside of his car I had a chat and obtained an autograph. For anyone who grew up watching Sir Bobby and remembers the era when he was simply the best English player alive then this book is a must-buy complement to volume one.
A must have 2-part autobiography for any serious sports fan, 15 Nov 2008
Nothing annoys me more than sports men and women writing their autobiography's after some brief initial success before disappearing into the abyss of the unsustainables...... Bobby Charlton 'scores' again firstly by employing an award winning ghost writer making the reading a real pleasure but also by having enough great stories to tell having had long and eventful sporting life. This book, as the cover suggests, chronicles Mr. Charlton's England career. The book is also not without humour and without spoiling it for you, his first confrontation with Pele is laugh out loud funny!
An Excellent Sequel, 10 Nov 2008
The original "United Years" did not leave much to be desired as an extraordinary account of the life an extraordinary man. However, the "England Years" proved to be just as compelling and interesting, the book provides the fascinating insight of a hugely influential player on a volatile period of English football and really shouldn't be missed. A great read for any sports fan.
An insiders view of the England football team 1958 to 1970, 07 Nov 2008
Although this is the second part of Bobby Charltons autobiography, it would be more accurate to think of it as being Bobby Charltons biography of the England football team from 1958, when he made his debut, to 1970, when he played his final England game, in the cruel defeat to West Germany in the Mexico World Cup.
As most of his autobiographical details were dealt with in the first book, the Manchester United Years, this book is almost totally devoted to football and there is very little of Bobby Charlton the man (as opposed to Bobby Charlton the footballer) in it. This is not meant as a critism because, like the first one, this is an excellent book.
It is largely forgotten now but fifty years ago the England football team was in a bit of the mess. At one stage - between 1958 & 1959 - they only won one game in eleven, and that was against an extremely weak USA team. As this book explains, the then manager, Walter Winterbottom, tried his best to build a winning team but he had an impossible task because in those days the England manager had very limited powers, having to refer most things, even team selection, to an FA committee. It was only after the arrival of the single-minded Alf Ramsey, in 1963, that things started to change for the better.
Being an integral part of Ramseys team (even if Sir Alf made sure that Charlton was aware that not even his place in the team was guaranteed)Bobby Charlton was well placed to cast judgement on his role in turning England into World Champions in 1966. He explains that to win the World Cup, Ramsey built a team containing not the eleven best English players but instead the eleven players who one do the best job as a TEAM. This is why the free scoring Jimmy Greaves did not play in the World Cup Final but instead the lesser talented Geoff Hurst did.
Although, quite rightly, the bulk of the book is about the 1966 World Cup and the build up towards it, Bobby Charltons two other World Cup campaigns, in 1962 & 1970, are well covered. The story of Englands quarter final defeat to West Germany after being two goals up and coasting is particuarly absorbing reading as there were many interesting side stories - Franz Beckenbauers marking job on Charlton, Gordon Banks's bad stomach, Englands capitulation after Charlton was substituted, Bobby Moore being accused of theft - involved.
A very good book, and together with 'The Manchester United Years' surely amongst the best fooball autobiographies ever written.
Interesting but, please, next time employ a proof-reader!, 27 Dec 2008
First of all - the content of this book is undoubtedly interesting. I read it cover-to-cover in one day and, while well-read football fans will find little that they didn't already know, it acts as a nice reminder of the quirky stories and tales that make each of the 92 league clubs individual.
Very up-to-date - it references events in October 2008 - but does have a tendency to focus heavily on the most recent club events with historical incidents very much added as footnotes. While this does give the book a very of-the-moment feel - acting as a sort of state of the world address for each club as of the end of 2009 - it also, I suspect, contributes to the major flaw that ruins this book.
Being written right up to October 2008 and being printed in November 2008 - no doubt to capitalise on the Xmas market - has clearly left little or no time for proof-reading. The book is absolutely strewn with errors that would see a school boy's essay graded with an F. Typos, double spaces between words, sentences starting without a capital letter. Quite unbelievable that such mistakes can make it to print.
A few examples of the factual blunders - of which there are also plenty... In QPR's section "Rangers had 14 different homes in West London before trying Loftus Road in 1817", in Hereford's "[Graham] Taylor offered his resignation", in Portsmouth's section a whole paragraph is printed twice in two different parts of the same chapter while in Rotherham it is claimed that they "started the 2009-09 season".
Errors like this could easily have been avoided by just one re-read of the copy before it was sent to print, the fact that it wasn't just gives off a feeling that no care was given to the book and that getting it on the shelf for Xmas was far more important than making a quality product.
However, if you can see past such shoddy production - and the tiresome opinionated taxi-driver writing style in which famous names and events are posed as one word questions and then answered by the writer - then there is something to be gained from this product. A fun stocking filler that covers the major bases of each club but could have been much better with a little time and care spent on it.
The funniest serious book about football ever, 01 Dec 2008
I found this book through Facebook, of all places. Can We Play You Every Week has its own Facebook page which contains some of the more fascinating or funny things in the book. So there's a short documentary about a women's team of factory workers from Preston who were the most popular team in England in the 1920's. And some footage about the incredible Walter Tull, the first black outfield player in England and also the first black man to be appointed an English army officer - even though it was against army regs at the time. The funny stuff includes a northern pop star I'd never heard of reading the football results on the BBC and Melinda Messenger modelling latex (the relevance? the chairman of Doncaster Rovers was her cosmetic surgeon!!!!), as well as my own favourite, an emotional Delia Smith bellowing at Norwich City fans to make some noise. The Facebook page is very like the book, with a lot of very serious issues - racism, hooliganism, corruption, money - but in a very readable and entertaining way, and also has a lot of hilarious stuff too . It's also got a great explanation about why Brian Clough was a genius.
If you buy just one football book this year......., 30 Nov 2008
.... buy this one. Who'd have dreamed that the likes of Port Vale, Rotherham and Carlisle could be so entertaining? It's packed with info and laugh-out loud stories but it is so much more than a collection of football funnies. This bloke really knows his stuff and more often than not the comedy is there to make a serious point, For instance the chapter on Liverpool kicks off with a quote from the American owner of Liverpool - "My son Foster is a fan of soccer. He was a goaltender. His brother was a defenseman" - which says it all. This is very much a book for fans, and the author is often scathing about who runs the clubs and the league. He's especially good on the way money has affected the game and the part fans have played keeping clubs going. I was nearly put off buying it by the cover, I thought it might be one of those hooligan books, but it isn't. Although there's a very funny bit in it about the time two gangs of Millwall supporters beat each other up by accident. I bought it thinking I might put it in the loo and dip into it occasionally but actually I read it all in one go, it's a fantastic read.
Heart-warming book full of human interest stories , 28 Nov 2008
Most of these books are recycled rubbish and I couldn't see why this one would be any different but at half price on Amazon, in an optimistic moment I thought I'd give it a go. Glad I did. It's entertaining and funny, and is full of hilarious and incredible stories about the history of each club which gives them their individual identity. But after reading a few entries, the bigger picture becomes clear and you realise just how much football clubs actually have in common. Many have had chairman just interested in making a buck for themselves, or managers clueless about their team. Others have suffered from a useless FA, the greedy clubs at the top - but all have a loyal following of fans who turn out on murky Saturdays every week to cheer their lower division team on and dig into their pockets to keep their club alive if they have to. This book tells the heart-warming tales of fans who've clubbed together and rescued their ground by clearing weeds and rubble with their bare hands, bought their grounds - and even players - and formed their own trusts to run the clubs - all of which remind you that there is still a heart in football, not just a pay packet.
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Customer Reviews
A well rendered telling of England's glory years, 04 Jan 2009
A year after the publication of Bobby Charlton's outstanding `My Manchester United Years' comes volume two - concerning his England career, which spanned 106 caps and an unprecedented four World Cup Finals.
No living player is better qualified to write about their experiences with England than Charlton, whose time in an England shirt spanned from the monochrome era of Tom Finney to that of Peter Shilton (whom even I, a thirty year old, recall as an England player).
The problem with it, particularly in the pre-Ramsey years, is that too little material is stretched out. Most other players combine their club and international volumes into a single volume. The length of Charlton's England career allows him to do two books - but in the context of a player's career, 106 games is the equivalent of a couple of seasons. It would be a bit like David Beckham writing `My LA Galaxy Years' in forty years time.
There is also a sense that he plays up to his status as the grand old man of English football. And who could blame him? He has, after all, won everything there is to be won in a career marked with courage, dignity and distinction. But the tone can seem fogeyish and at worst rambling, inane, and not true to Bobby Charlton's voice. After all, could you imagine him saying the following passage?
"Perhaps he decided that in this new world of football, of changing formations and the clearest evidence that in terms of ball skills and tactical subtleties many rival nations had passed us by, we need, as another embattled public figure, Prime Minister John Major, would later say `to get back to basics'."
Fortunately, most of the rest of the book isn't as horribly written as this, and by the time Alf Ramsey comes on board this volume hits full pace. The insights into the imperceptible Ramsey are compelling and better dealt with than by the likes of Alan Ball and Nobby Stiles in recent years. Charlton is particularly good on the routines and intensely close camp in the run up to the 1966 World Cup. He makes clear the debt of gratitude that the nation owes Alf Ramsey and he was surprisingly accepting of the way in which he was dropped by him after the 1970 World Cup.
Criticisms, however, tend to be oblique. I was surprised that there wasn't greater anger at the disgusting way Alf Ramsey and Bobby Moore were latterly treated by the FA. Perhaps he doesn't want to upset friends in high places? On the other hand, Peter Bonetti is singled out (albeit in Sir Bobby's roundabout way) for the defeat to West Germany in 1970.
In sum this is a decent companion to Sir Bobby's first volume of memoirs, even if it is slow to get going and, particularly in the early pages, there is a sense that his publishers are milking him for everything. Perhaps it fails by comparison to volume one, which was one of the best sporting memoirs of recent years. On its own merits, however, this is often a compelling story, generally well told if not sometimes eccentrically structured and strangely written - but it beats hands down any one of the turgid offerings by the current crop of underperforming England stars.
More England than Bobby, 21 Nov 2008
This is the second part of Sir Bobby Charlton's fascinating autobiography. In the first, "My Manchester United Years", he provided a lot of moving personal insight into, for example, his trauma post-Munich air disaster, how the club dealt with the other surviving players and their families, and his, at times, difficult relationship with his mother and brother. In other words it was a personally revealing book. This second part, by comparison, is in many ways more typical of a footballer's autobiography, focusing on match details and brief, albeit personal, pen pictures of the characters involved. For regular consumers of books covering this era of football there is little new or surprising here.
Despite this, the book is well-written, thoughful and informative. Here this great footballer leaves aside the pain and angst of Munich and transmits something of the sheer quality and competitiveness of football at the highest level. His convictions about teamwork are clear and here you feel is where he was most comfortable, immersed in what he did best alongside others of the same kind, where the only questions were how to play and how to win.
Finally, there are some striking glances into just how accessible top footballers used to be. For example, this most famous of Englishmen popped out to do some shopping on the morning of playing in the World Cup Final, in the capital city of his own country. I can vouch for this as I once wandered up his front drive, after he was a World and European Cup winner, and while he was hoovering the inside of his car I had a chat and obtained an autograph. For anyone who grew up watching Sir Bobby and remembers the era when he was simply the best English player alive then this book is a must-buy complement to volume one.
A must have 2-part autobiography for any serious sports fan, 15 Nov 2008
Nothing annoys me more than sports men and women writing their autobiography's after some brief initial success before disappearing into the abyss of the unsustainables...... Bobby Charlton 'scores' again firstly by employing an award winning ghost writer making the reading a real pleasure but also by having enough great stories to tell having had long and eventful sporting life. This book, as the cover suggests, chronicles Mr. Charlton's England career. The book is also not without humour and without spoiling it for you, his first confrontation with Pele is laugh out loud funny!
An Excellent Sequel, 10 Nov 2008
The original "United Years" did not leave much to be desired as an extraordinary account of the life an extraordinary man. However, the "England Years" proved to be just as compelling and interesting, the book provides the fascinating insight of a hugely influential player on a volatile period of English football and really shouldn't be missed. A great read for any sports fan.
An insiders view of the England football team 1958 to 1970, 07 Nov 2008
Although this is the second part of Bobby Charltons autobiography, it would be more accurate to think of it as being Bobby Charltons biography of the England football team from 1958, when he made his debut, to 1970, when he played his final England game, in the cruel defeat to West Germany in the Mexico World Cup.
As most of his autobiographical details were dealt with in the first book, the Manchester United Years, this book is almost totally devoted to football and there is very little of Bobby Charlton the man (as opposed to Bobby Charlton the footballer) in it. This is not meant as a critism because, like the first one, this is an excellent book.
It is largely forgotten now but fifty years ago the England football team was in a bit of the mess. At one stage - between 1958 & 1959 - they only won one game in eleven, and that was against an extremely weak USA team. As this book explains, the then manager, Walter Winterbottom, tried his best to build a winning team but he had an impossible task because in those days the England manager had very limited powers, having to refer most things, even team selection, to an FA committee. It was only after the arrival of the single-minded Alf Ramsey, in 1963, that things started to change for the better.
Being an integral part of Ramseys team (even if Sir Alf made sure that Charlton was aware that not even his place in the team was guaranteed)Bobby Charlton was well placed to cast judgement on his role in turning England into World Champions in 1966. He explains that to win the World Cup, Ramsey built a team containing not the eleven best English players but instead the eleven players who one do the best job as a TEAM. This is why the free scoring Jimmy Greaves did not play in the World Cup Final but instead the lesser talented Geoff Hurst did.
Although, quite rightly, the bulk of the book is about the 1966 World Cup and the build up towards it, Bobby Charltons two other World Cup campaigns, in 1962 & 1970, are well covered. The story of Englands quarter final defeat to West Germany after being two goals up and coasting is particuarly absorbing reading as there were many interesting side stories - Franz Beckenbauers marking job on Charlton, Gordon Banks's bad stomach, Englands capitulation after Charlton was substituted, Bobby Moore being accused of theft - involved.
A very good book, and together with 'The Manchester United Years' surely amongst the best fooball autobiographies ever written.
Interesting but, please, next time employ a proof-reader!, 27 Dec 2008
First of all - the content of this book is undoubtedly interesting. I read it cover-to-cover in one day and, while well-read football fans will find little that they didn't already know, it acts as a nice reminder of the quirky stories and tales that make each of the 92 league clubs individual.
Very up-to-date - it references events in October 2008 - but does have a tendency to focus heavily on the most recent club events with historical incidents very much added as footnotes. While this does give the book a very of-the-moment feel - acting as a sort of state of the world address for each club as of the end of 2009 - it also, I suspect, contributes to the major flaw that ruins this book.
Being written right up to October 2008 and being printed in November 2008 - no doubt to capitalise on the Xmas market - has clearly left little or no time for proof-reading. The book is absolutely strewn with errors that would see a school boy's essay graded with an F. Typos, double spaces between words, sentences starting without a capital letter. Quite unbelievable that such mistakes can make it to print.
A few examples of the factual blunders - of which there are also plenty... In QPR's section "Rangers had 14 different homes in West London before trying Loftus Road in 1817", in Hereford's "[Graham] Taylor offered his resignation", in Portsmouth's section a whole paragraph is printed twice in two different parts of the same chapter while in Rotherham it is claimed that they "started the 2009-09 season".
Errors like this could easily have been avoided by just one re-read of the copy before it was sent to print, the fact that it wasn't just gives off a feeling that no care was given to the book and that getting it on the shelf for Xmas was far more important than making a quality product.
However, if you can see past such shoddy production - and the tiresome opinionated taxi-driver writing style in which famous names and events are posed as one word questions and then answered by the writer - then there is something to be gained from this product. A fun stocking filler that covers the major bases of each club but could have been much better with a little time and care spent on it.
The funniest serious book about football ever, 01 Dec 2008
I found this book through Facebook, of all places. Can We Play You Every Week has its own Facebook page which contains some of the more fascinating or funny things in the book. So there's a short documentary about a women's team of factory workers from Preston who were the most popular team in England in the 1920's. And some footage about the incredible Walter Tull, the first black outfield player in England and also the first black man to be appointed an English army officer - even though it was against army regs at the time. The funny stuff includes a northern pop star I'd never heard of reading the football results on the BBC and Melinda Messenger modelling latex (the relevance? the chairman of Doncaster Rovers was her cosmetic surgeon!!!!), as well as my own favourite, an emotional Delia Smith bellowing at Norwich City fans to make some noise. The Facebook page is very like the book, with a lot of very serious issues - racism, hooliganism, corruption, money - but in a very readable and entertaining way, and also has a lot of hilarious stuff too . It's also got a great explanation about why Brian Clough was a genius.
If you buy just one football book this year......., 30 Nov 2008
.... buy this one. Who'd have dreamed that the likes of Port Vale, Rotherham and Carlisle could be so entertaining? It's packed with info and laugh-out loud stories but it is so much more than a collection of football funnies. This bloke really knows his stuff and more often than not the comedy is there to make a serious point, For instance the chapter on Liverpool kicks off with a quote from the American owner of Liverpool - "My son Foster is a fan of soccer. He was a goaltender. His brother was a defenseman" - which says it all. This is very much a book for fans, and the author is often scathing about who runs the clubs and the league. He's especially good on the way money has affected the game and the part fans have played keeping clubs going. I was nearly put off buying it by the cover, I thought it might be one of those hooligan books, but it isn't. Although there's a very funny bit in it about the time two gangs of Millwall supporters beat each other up by accident. I bought it thinking I might put it in the loo and dip into it occasionally but actually I read it all in one go, it's a fantastic read.
Heart-warming book full of human interest stories , 28 Nov 2008
Most of these books are recycled rubbish and I couldn't see why this one would be any different but at half price on Amazon, in an optimistic moment I thought I'd give it a go. Glad I did. It's entertaining and funny, and is full of hilarious and incredible stories about the history of each club which gives them their individual identity. But after reading a few entries, the bigger picture becomes clear and you realise just how much football clubs actually have in common. Many have had chairman just interested in making a buck for themselves, or managers clueless about their team. Others have suffered from a useless FA, the greedy clubs at the top - but all have a loyal following of fans who turn out on murky Saturdays every week to cheer their lower division team on and dig into their pockets to keep their club alive if they have to. This book tells the heart-warming tales of fans who've clubbed together and rescued their ground by clearing weeds and rubble with their bare hands, bought their grounds - and even players - and formed their own trusts to run the clubs - all of which remind you that there is still a heart in football, not just a pay packet.
A fascinating rounded read, 16 Oct 2008
For all the shenanigans that went on over the past 15 years or so at the FA this is brilliant. David Davies seems like a pretty decent bloke, Sven and Terry too, despite the dodginess. Its the others that need lining up against the wall. This is at times frustrating, at times hilarious, at times it makes you angry... bit like what it must have been like working there. But you really get a sense of what went on, and why we haven't won anything for so long. Not like your typical dull football autobiog. I really enjoyed it!
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Customer Reviews
A well rendered telling of England's glory years, 04 Jan 2009
A year after the publication of Bobby Charlton's outstanding `My Manchester United Years' comes volume two - concerning his England career, which spanned 106 caps and an unprecedented four World Cup Finals.
No living player is better qualified to write about their experiences with England than Charlton, whose time in an England shirt spanned from the monochrome era of Tom Finney to that of Peter Shilton (whom even I, a thirty year old, recall as an England player).
The problem with it, particularly in the pre-Ramsey years, is that too little material is stretched out. Most other players combine their club and international volumes into a single volume. The length of Charlton's England career allows him to do two books - but in the context of a player's career, 106 games is the equivalent of a couple of seasons. It would be a bit like David Beckham writing `My LA Galaxy Years' in forty years time.
There is also a sense that he plays up to his status as the grand old man of English football. And who could blame him? He has, after all, won everything there is to be won in a career marked with courage, dignity and distinction. But the tone can seem fogeyish and at worst rambling, inane, and not true to Bobby Charlton's voice. After all, could you imagine him saying the following passage?
"Perhaps he decided that in this new world of football, of changing formations and the clearest evidence that in terms of ball skills and tactical subtleties many rival nations had passed us by, we need, as another embattled public figure, Prime Minister John Major, would later say `to get back to basics'."
Fortunately, most of the rest of the book isn't as horribly written as this, and by the time Alf Ramsey comes on board this volume hits full pace. The insights into the imperceptible Ramsey are compelling and better dealt with than by the likes of Alan Ball and Nobby Stiles in recent years. Charlton is particularly good on the routines and intensely close camp in the run up to the 1966 World Cup. He makes clear the debt of gratitude that the nation owes Alf Ramsey and he was surprisingly accepting of the way in which he was dropped by him after the 1970 World Cup.
Criticisms, however, tend to be oblique. I was surprised that there wasn't greater anger at the disgusting way Alf Ramsey and Bobby Moore were latterly treated by the FA. Perhaps he doesn't want to upset friends in high places? On the other hand, Peter Bonetti is singled out (albeit in Sir Bobby's roundabout way) for the defeat to West Germany in 1970.
In sum this is a decent companion to Sir Bobby's first volume of memoirs, even if it is slow to get going and, particularly in the early pages, there is a sense that his publishers are milking him for everything. Perhaps it fails by comparison to volume one, which was one of the best sporting memoirs of recent years. On its own merits, however, this is often a compelling story, generally well told if not sometimes eccentrically structured and strangely written - but it beats hands down any one of the turgid offerings by the current crop of underperforming England stars.
More England than Bobby, 21 Nov 2008
This is the second part of Sir Bobby Charlton's fascinating autobiography. In the first, "My Manchester United Years", he provided a lot of moving personal insight into, for example, his trauma post-Munich air disaster, how the club dealt with the other surviving players and their families, and his, at times, difficult relationship with his mother and brother. In other words it was a personally revealing book. This second part, by comparison, is in many ways more typical of a footballer's autobiography, focusing on match details and brief, albeit personal, pen pictures of the characters involved. For regular consumers of books covering this era of football there is little new or surprising here.
Despite this, the book is well-written, thoughful and informative. Here this great footballer leaves aside the pain and angst of Munich and transmits something of the sheer quality and competitiveness of football at the highest level. His convictions about teamwork are clear and here you feel is where he was most comfortable, immersed in what he did best alongside others of the same kind, where the only questions were how to play and how to win.
Finally, there are some striking glances into just how accessible top footballers used to be. For example, this most famous of Englishmen popped out to do some shopping on the morning of playing in the World Cup Final, in the capital city of his own country. I can vouch for this as I once wandered up his front drive, after he was a World and European Cup winner, and while he was hoovering the inside of his car I had a chat and obtained an autograph. For anyone who grew up watching Sir Bobby and remembers the era when he was simply the best English player alive then this book is a must-buy complement to volume one.
A must have 2-part autobiography for any serious sports fan, 15 Nov 2008
Nothing annoys me more than sports men and women writing their autobiography's after some brief initial success before disappearing into the abyss of the unsustainables...... Bobby Charlton 'scores' again firstly by employing an award winning ghost writer making the reading a real pleasure but also by having enough great stories to tell having had long and eventful sporting life. This book, as the cover suggests, chronicles Mr. Charlton's England career. The book is also not without humour and without spoiling it for you, his first confrontation with Pele is laugh out loud funny!
An Excellent Sequel, 10 Nov 2008
The original "United Years" did not leave much to be desired as an extraordinary account of the life an extraordinary man. However, the "England Years" proved to be just as compelling and interesting, the book provides the fascinating insight of a hugely influential player on a volatile period of English football and really shouldn't be missed. A great read for any sports fan.
An insiders view of the England football team 1958 to 1970, 07 Nov 2008
Although this is the second part of Bobby Charltons autobiography, it would be more accurate to think of it as being Bobby Charltons biography of the England football team from 1958, when he made his debut, to 1970, when he played his final England game, in the cruel defeat to West Germany in the Mexico World Cup.
As most of his autobiographical details were dealt with in the first book, the Manchester United Years, this book is almost totally devoted to football and there is very little of Bobby Charlton the man (as opposed to Bobby Charlton the footballer) in it. This is not meant as a critism because, like the first one, this is an excellent book.
It is largely forgotten now but fifty years ago the England football team was in a bit of the mess. At one stage - between 1958 & 1959 - they only won one game in eleven, and that was against an extremely weak USA team. As this book explains, the then manager, Walter Winterbottom, tried his best to build a winning team but he had an impossible task because in those days the England manager had very limited powers, having to refer most things, even team selection, to an FA committee. It was only after the arrival of the single-minded Alf Ramsey, in 1963, that things started to change for the better.
Being an integral part of Ramseys team (even if Sir Alf made sure that Charlton was aware that not even his place in the team was guaranteed)Bobby Charlton was well placed to cast judgement on his role in turning England into World Champions in 1966. He explains that to win the World Cup, Ramsey built a team containing not the eleven best English players but instead the eleven players who one do the best job as a TEAM. This is why the free scoring Jimmy Greaves did not play in the World Cup Final but instead the lesser talented Geoff Hurst did.
Although, quite rightly, the bulk of the book is about the 1966 World Cup and the build up towards it, Bobby Charltons two other World Cup campaigns, in 1962 & 1970, are well covered. The story of Englands quarter final defeat to West Germany after being two goals up and coasting is particuarly absorbing reading as there were many interesting side stories - Franz Beckenbauers marking job on Charlton, Gordon Banks's bad stomach, Englands capitulation after Charlton was substituted, Bobby Moore being accused of theft - involved.
A very good book, and together with 'The Manchester United Years' surely amongst the best fooball autobiographies ever written.
Interesting but, please, next time employ a proof-reader!, 27 Dec 2008
First of all - the content of this book is undoubtedly interesting. I read it cover-to-cover in one day and, while well-read football fans will find little that they didn't already know, it acts as a nice reminder of the quirky stories and tales that make each of the 92 league clubs individual.
Very up-to-date - it references events in October 2008 - but does have a tendency to focus heavily on the most recent club events with historical incidents very much added as footnotes. While this does give the book a very of-the-moment feel - acting as a sort of state of the world address for each club as of the end of 2009 - it also, I suspect, contributes to the major flaw that ruins this book.
Being written right up to October 2008 and being printed in November 2008 - no doubt to capitalise on the Xmas market - has clearly left little or no time for proof-reading. The book is absolutely strewn with errors that would see a school boy's essay graded with an F. Typos, double spaces between words, sentences starting without a capital letter. Quite unbelievable that such mistakes can make it to print.
A few examples of the factual blunders - of which there are also plenty... In QPR's section "Rangers had 14 different homes in West London before trying Loftus Road in 1817", in Hereford's "[Graham] Taylor offered his resignation", in Portsmouth's section a whole paragraph is printed twice in two different parts of the same chapter while in Rotherham it is claimed that they "started the 2009-09 season".
Errors like this could easily have been avoided by just one re-read of the copy before it was sent to print, the fact that it wasn't just gives off a feeling that no care was given to the book and that getting it on the shelf for Xmas was far more important than making a quality product.
However, if you can see past such shoddy production - and the tiresome opinionated taxi-driver writing style in which famous names and events are posed as one word questions and then answered by the writer - then there is something to be gained from this product. A fun stocking filler that covers the major bases of each club but could have been much better with a little time and care spent on it.
The funniest serious book about football ever, 01 Dec 2008
I found this book through Facebook, of all places. Can We Play You Every Week has its own Facebook page which contains some of the more fascinating or funny things in the book. So there's a short documentary about a women's team of factory workers from Preston who were the most popular team in England in the 1920's. And some footage about the incredible Walter Tull, the first black outfield player in England and also the first black man to be appointed an English army officer - even though it was against army regs at the time. The funny stuff includes a northern pop star I'd never heard of reading the football results on the BBC and Melinda Messenger modelling latex (the relevance? the chairman of Doncaster Rovers was her cosmetic surgeon!!!!), as well as my own favourite, an emotional Delia Smith bellowing at Norwich City fans to make some noise. The Facebook page is very like the book, with a lot of very serious issues - racism, hooliganism, corruption, money - but in a very readable and entertaining way, and also has a lot of hilarious stuff too . It's also got a great explanation about why Brian Clough was a genius.
If you buy just one football book this year......., 30 Nov 2008
.... buy this one. Who'd have dreamed that the likes of Port Vale, Rotherham and Carlisle could be so entertaining? It's packed with info and laugh-out loud stories but it is so much more than a collection of football funnies. This bloke really knows his stuff and more often than not the comedy is there to make a serious point, For instance the chapter on Liverpool kicks off with a quote from the American owner of Liverpool - "My son Foster is a fan of soccer. He was a goaltender. His brother was a defenseman" - which says it all. This is very much a book for fans, and the author is often scathing about who runs the clubs and the league. He's especially good on the way money has affected the game and the part fans have played keeping clubs going. I was nearly put off buying it by the cover, I thought it might be one of those hooligan books, but it isn't. Although there's a very funny bit in it about the time two gangs of Millwall supporters beat each other up by accident. I bought it thinking I might put it in the loo and dip into it occasionally but actually I read it all in one go, it's a fantastic read.
Heart-warming book full of human interest stories , 28 Nov 2008
Most of these books are recycled rubbish and I couldn't see why this one would be any different but at half price on Amazon, in an optimistic moment I thought I'd give it a go. Glad I did. It's entertaining and funny, and is full of hilarious and incredible stories about the history of each club which gives them their individual identity. But after reading a few entries, the bigger picture becomes clear and you realise just how much football clubs actually have in common. Many have had chairman just interested in making a buck for themselves, or managers clueless about their team. Others have suffered from a useless FA, the greedy clubs at the top - but all have a loyal following of fans who turn out on murky Saturdays every week to cheer their lower division team on and dig into their pockets to keep their club alive if they have to. This book tells the heart-warming tales of fans who've clubbed together and rescued their ground by clearing weeds and rubble with their bare hands, bought their grounds - and even players - and formed their own trusts to run the clubs - all of which remind you that there is still a heart in football, not just a pay packet.
A fascinating rounded read, 16 Oct 2008
For all the shenanigans that went on over the past 15 years or so at the FA this is brilliant. David Davies seems like a pretty decent bloke, Sven and Terry too, despite the dodginess. Its the others that need lining up against the wall. This is at times frustrating, at times hilarious, at times it makes you angry... bit like what it must have been like working there. But you really get a sense of what went on, and why we haven't won anything for so long. Not like your typical dull football autobiog. I really enjoyed it!
At last - an honest appraisal!, 17 Dec 2008
Instead of the claptrap that the tabloid papers print before and after every England game - Briggs takes a sensible look at what has made the England team the highly skilled yet immensely unpredictable outfit that it is today. Full of anecdotes - many of which you may know - many of which you've never heard and a load that you had forgotten - it is meticulously researched (as you'd expect from a Telegraph journalist) and proof that Briggs (a cricket correspondent) can turn his hand to other sports as well. If you have ever waved a red and white ensign during the european or world cup - make sure you know why you're supporting them by reading this book!
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Customer Reviews
A well rendered telling of England's glory years, 04 Jan 2009
A year after the publication of Bobby Charlton's outstanding `My Manchester United Years' comes volume two - concerning his England career, which spanned 106 caps and an unprecedented four World Cup Finals.
No living player is better qualified to write about their experiences with England than Charlton, whose time in an England shirt spanned from the monochrome era of Tom Finney to that of Peter Shilton (whom even I, a thirty year old, recall as an England player).
The problem with it, particularly in the pre-Ramsey years, is that too little material is stretched out. Most other players combine their club and international volumes into a single volume. The length of Charlton's England career allows him to do two books - but in the context of a player's career, 106 games is the equivalent of a couple of seasons. It would be a bit like David Beckham writing `My LA Galaxy Years' in forty years time.
There is also a sense that he plays up to his status as the grand old man of English football. And who could blame him? He has, after all, won everything there is to be won in a career marked with courage, dignity and distinction. But the tone can seem fogeyish and at worst rambling, inane, and not true to Bobby Charlton's voice. After all, could you imagine him saying the following passage?
"Perhaps he decided that in this new world of football, of changing formations and the clearest evidence that in terms of ball skills and tactical subtleties many rival nations had passed us by, we need, as another embattled public figure, Prime Minister John Major, would later say `to get back to basics'."
Fortunately, most of the rest of the book isn't as horribly written as this, and by the time Alf Ramsey comes on board this volume hits full pace. The insights into the imperceptible Ramsey are compelling and better dealt with than by the likes of Alan Ball and Nobby Stiles in recent years. Charlton is particularly good on the routines and intensely close camp in the run up to the 1966 World Cup. He makes clear the debt of gratitude that the nation owes Alf Ramsey and he was surprisingly accepting of the way in which he was dropped by him after the 1970 World Cup.
Criticisms, however, tend to be oblique. I was surprised that there wasn't greater anger at the disgusting way Alf Ramsey and Bobby Moore were latterly treated by the FA. Perhaps he doesn't want to upset friends in high places? On the other hand, Peter Bonetti is singled out (albeit in Sir Bobby's roundabout way) for the defeat to West Germany in 1970.
In sum this is a decent companion to Sir Bobby's first volume of memoirs, even if it is slow to get going and, particularly in the early pages, there is a sense that his publishers are milking him for everything. Perhaps it fails by comparison to volume one, which was one of the best sporting memoirs of recent years. On its own merits, however, this is often a compelling story, generally well told if not sometimes eccentrically structured and strangely written - but it beats hands down any one of the turgid offerings by the current crop of underperforming England stars.
More England than Bobby, 21 Nov 2008
This is the second part of Sir Bobby Charlton's fascinating autobiography. In the first, "My Manchester United Years", he provided a lot of moving personal insight into, for example, his trauma post-Munich air disaster, how the club dealt with the other surviving players and their families, and his, at times, difficult relationship with his mother and brother. In other words it was a personally revealing book. This second part, by comparison, is in many ways more typical of a footballer's autobiography, focusing on match details and brief, albeit personal, pen pictures of the characters involved. For regular consumers of books covering this era of football there is little new or surprising here.
Despite this, the book is well-written, thoughful and informative. Here this great footballer leaves aside the pain and angst of Munich and transmits something of the sheer quality and competitiveness of football at the highest level. His convictions about teamwork are clear and here you feel is where he was most comfortable, immersed in what he did best alongside others of the same kind, where the only questions were how to play and how to win.
Finally, there are some striking glances into just how accessible top footballers used to be. For example, this most famous of Englishmen popped out to do some shopping on the morning of playing in the World Cup Final, in the capital city of his own country. I can vouch for this as I once wandered up his front drive, after he was a World and European Cup winner, and while he was hoovering the inside of his car I had a chat and obtained an autograph. For anyone who grew up watching Sir Bobby and remembers the era when he was simply the best English player alive then this book is a must-buy complement to volume one.
A must have 2-part autobiography for any serious sports fan, 15 Nov 2008
Nothing annoys me more than sports men and women writing their autobiography's after some brief initial success before disappearing into the abyss of the unsustainables...... Bobby Charlton 'scores' again firstly by employing an award winning ghost writer making the reading a real pleasure but also by having enough great stories to tell having had long and eventful sporting life. This book, as the cover suggests, chronicles Mr. Charlton's England career. The book is also not without humour and without spoiling it for you, his first confrontation with Pele is laugh out loud funny!
An Excellent Sequel, 10 Nov 2008
The original "United Years" did not leave much to be desired as an extraordinary account of the life an extraordinary man. However, the "England Years" proved to be just as compelling and interesting, the book provides the fascinating insight of a hugely influential player on a volatile period of English football and really shouldn't be missed. A great read for any sports fan.
An insiders view of the England football team 1958 to 1970, 07 Nov 2008
Although this is the second part of Bobby Charltons autobiography, it would be more accurate to think of it as being Bobby Charltons biography of the England football team from 1958, when he made his debut, to 1970, when he played his final England game, in the cruel defeat to West Germany in the Mexico World Cup.
As most of his autobiographical details were dealt with in the first book, the Manchester United Years, this book is almost totally devoted to football and there is very little of Bobby Charlton the man (as opposed to Bobby Charlton the footballer) in it. This is not meant as a critism because, like the first one, this is an excellent book.
It is largely forgotten now but fifty years ago the England football team was in a bit of the mess. At one stage - between 1958 & 1959 - they only won one game in eleven, and that was against an extremely weak USA team. As this book explains, the then manager, Walter Winterbottom, tried his best to build a winning team but he had an impossible task because in those days the England manager had very limited powers, having to refer most things, even team selection, to an FA committee. It was only after the arrival of the single-minded Alf Ramsey, in 1963, that things started to change for the better.
Being an integral part of Ramseys team (even if Sir Alf made sure that Charlton was aware that not even his place in the team was guaranteed)Bobby Charlton was well placed to cast judgement on his role in turning England into World Champions in 1966. He explains that to win the World Cup, Ramsey built a team containing not the eleven best English players but instead the eleven players who one do the best job as a TEAM. This is why the free scoring Jimmy Greaves did not play in the World Cup Final but instead the lesser talented Geoff Hurst did.
Although, quite rightly, the bulk of the book is about the 1966 World Cup and the build up towards it, Bobby Charltons two other World Cup campaigns, in 1962 & 1970, are well covered. The story of Englands quarter final defeat to West Germany after being two goals up and coasting is particuarly absorbing reading as there were many interesting side stories - Franz Beckenbauers marking job on Charlton, Gordon Banks's bad stomach, Englands capitulation after Charlton was substituted, Bobby Moore being accused of theft - involved.
A very good book, and together with 'The Manchester United Years' surely amongst the best fooball autobiographies ever written.
Interesting but, please, next time employ a proof-reader!, 27 Dec 2008
First of all - the content of this book is undoubtedly interesting. I read it cover-to-cover in one day and, while well-read football fans will find little that they didn't already know, it acts as a nice reminder of the quirky stories and tales that make each of the 92 league clubs individual.
Very up-to-date - it references events in October 2008 - but does have a tendency to focus heavily on the most recent club events with historical incidents very much added as footnotes. While this does give the book a very of-the-moment feel - acting as a sort of state of the world address for each club as of the end of 2009 - it also, I suspect, contributes to the major flaw that ruins this book.
Being written right up to October 2008 and being printed in November 2008 - no doubt to capitalise on the Xmas market - has clearly left little or no time for proof-reading. The book is absolutely strewn with errors that would see a school boy's essay graded with an F. Typos, double spaces between words, sentences starting without a capital letter. Quite unbelievable that such mistakes can make it to print.
A few examples of the factual blunders - of which there are also plenty... In QPR's section "Rangers had 14 different homes in West London before trying Loftus Road in 1817", in Hereford's "[Graham] Taylor offered his resignation", in Portsmouth's section a whole paragraph is printed twice in two different parts of the same chapter while in Rotherham it is claimed that they "started the 2009-09 season".
Errors like this could easily have been avoided by just one re-read of the copy before it was sent to print, the fact that it wasn't just gives off a feeling that no care was given to the book and that getting it on the shelf for Xmas was far more important than making a quality product.
However, if you can see past such shoddy production - and the tiresome opinionated taxi-driver writing style in which famous names and events are posed as one word questions and then answered by the writer - then there is something to be gained from this product. A fun stocking filler that covers the major bases of each club but could have been much better with a little time and care spent on it.
The funniest serious book about football ever, 01 Dec 2008
I found this book through Facebook, of all places. Can We Play You Every Week has its own Facebook page which contains some of the more fascinating or funny things in the book. So there's a short documentary about a women's team of factory workers from Preston who were the most popular team in England in the 1920's. And some footage about the incredible Walter Tull, the first black outfield player in England and also the first black man to be appointed an English army officer - even though it was against army regs at the time. The funny stuff includes a northern pop star I'd never heard of reading the football results on the BBC and Melinda Messenger modelling latex (the relevance? the chairman of Doncaster Rovers was her cosmetic surgeon!!!!), as well as my own favourite, an emotional Delia Smith bellowing at Norwich City fans to make some noise. The Facebook page is very like the book, with a lot of very serious issues - racism, hooliganism, corruption, money - but in a very readable and entertaining way, and also has a lot of hilarious stuff too . It's also got a great explanation about why Brian Clough was a genius.
If you buy just one football book this year......., 30 Nov 2008
.... buy this one. Who'd have dreamed that the likes of Port Vale, Rotherham and Carlisle could be so entertaining? It's packed with info and laugh-out loud stories but it is so much more than a collection of football funnies. This bloke really knows his stuff and more often than not the comedy is there to make a serious point, For instance the chapter on Liverpool kicks off with a quote from the American owner of Liverpool - "My son Foster is a fan of soccer. He was a goaltender. His brother was a defenseman" - which says it all. This is very much a book for fans, and the author is often scathing about who runs the clubs and the league. He's especially good on the way money has affected the game and the part fans have played keeping clubs going. I was nearly put off buying it by the cover, I thought it might be one of those hooligan books, but it isn't. Although there's a very funny bit in it about the time two gangs of Millwall supporters beat each other up by accident. I bought it thinking I might put it in the loo and dip into it occasionally but actually I read it all in one go, it's a fantastic read.
Heart-warming book full of human interest stories , 28 Nov 2008
Most of these books are recycled rubbish and I couldn't see why this one would be any different but at half price on Amazon, in an optimistic moment I thought I'd give it a go. Glad I did. It's entertaining and funny, and is full of hilarious and incredible stories about the history of each club which gives them their individual identity. But after reading a few entries, the bigger picture becomes clear and you realise just how much football clubs actually have in common. Many have had chairman just interested in making a buck for themselves, or managers clueless about their team. Others have suffered from a useless FA, the greedy clubs at the top - but all have a loyal following of fans who turn out on murky Saturdays every week to cheer their lower division team on and dig into their pockets to keep their club alive if they have to. This book tells the heart-warming tales of fans who've clubbed together and rescued their ground by clearing weeds and rubble with their bare hands, bought their grounds - and even players - and formed their own trusts to run the clubs - all of which remind you that there is still a heart in football, not just a pay packet.
A fascinating rounded read, 16 Oct 2008
For all the shenanigans that went on over the past 15 years or so at the FA this is brilliant. David Davies seems like a pretty decent bloke, Sven and Terry too, despite the dodginess. Its the others that need lining up against the wall. This is at times frustrating, at times hilarious, at times it makes you angry... bit like what it must have been like working there. But you really get a sense of what went on, and why we haven't won anything for so long. Not like your typical dull football autobiog. I really enjoyed it!
At last - an honest appraisal!, 17 Dec 2008
Instead of the claptrap that the tabloid papers print before and after every England game - Briggs takes a sensible look at what has made the England team the highly skilled yet immensely unpredictable outfit that it is today. Full of anecdotes - many of which you may know - many of which you've never heard and a load that you had forgotten - it is meticulously researched (as you'd expect from a Telegraph journalist) and proof that Briggs (a cricket correspondent) can turn his hand to other sports as well. If you have ever waved a red and white ensign during the european or world cup - make sure you know why you're supporting them by reading this book!
pushing for the play-off places , 28 Dec 2008
this isnt an unputdownable rollercoaster ride of a book but it is an interesting account of a real life journeyman footballer who played in the lower leagues....Im a big football fan but Id never heard of him so I was looking forward to a real life account that told it like it was and not some superstar premiership striker that writes his autobiography when hes 23. The book more than anything makes you realise that football is a job. no more ...no less. Youre paid to play and thats the bottom line. this is very clear in swanny and he makes no attempt to disguise it. it also shows it as a very cruel sport in that once you can no longer contribute youre out. theres no mercy. once youre finished there will be a million more coming behind you so youre out and theyre in. loyalty doesnt exist.... well except for the loyalty that existed to the bank balance. its a good book... i enjoyed the read...its well written and easy to read and sometimes very funny...its not going to win trophies (bit like swanny) but its definitely pushing for the playoff places even if we are talking about the old third division.
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Customer Reviews
A well rendered telling of England's glory years, 04 Jan 2009
A year after the publication of Bobby Charlton's outstanding `My Manchester United Years' comes volume two - concerning his England career, which spanned 106 caps and an unprecedented four World Cup Finals.
No living player is better qualified to write about their experiences with England than Charlton, whose time in an England shirt spanned from the monochrome era of Tom Finney to that of Peter Shilton (whom even I, a thirty year old, recall as an England player).
The problem with it, particularly in the pre-Ramsey years, is that too little material is stretched out. Most other players combine their club and international volumes into a single volume. The length of Charlton's England career allows him to do two books - but in the context of a player's career, 106 games is the equivalent of a couple of seasons. It would be a bit like David Beckham writing `My LA Galaxy Years' in forty years time.
There is also a sense that he plays up to his status as the grand old man of English football. And who could blame him? He has, after all, won everything there is to be won in a career marked with courage, dignity and distinction. But the tone can seem fogeyish and at worst rambling, inane, and not true to Bobby Charlton's voice. After all, could you imagine him saying the following passage?
"Perhaps he decided that in this new world of football, of changing formations and the clearest evidence that in terms of ball skills and tactical subtleties many rival nations had passed us by, we need, as another embattled public figure, Prime Minister John Major, would later say `to get back to basics'."
Fortunately, most of the rest of the book isn't as horribly written as this, and by the time Alf Ramsey comes on board this volume hits full pace. The insights into the imperceptible Ramsey are compelling and better dealt with than by the likes of Alan Ball and Nobby Stiles in recent years. Charlton is particularly good on the routines and intensely close camp in the run up to the 1966 World Cup. He makes clear the debt of gratitude that the nation owes Alf Ramsey and he was surprisingly accepting of the way in which he was dropped by him after the 1970 World Cup.
Criticisms, however, tend to be oblique. I was surprised that there wasn't greater anger at the disgusting way Alf Ramsey and Bobby Moore were latterly treated by the FA. Perhaps he doesn't want to upset friends in high places? On the other hand, Peter Bonetti is singled out (albeit in Sir Bobby's roundabout way) for the defeat to West Germany in 1970.
In sum this is a decent companion to Sir Bobby's first volume of memoirs, even if it is slow to get going and, particularly in the early pages, there is a sense that his publishers are milking him for everything. Perhaps it fails by comparison to volume one, which was one of the best sporting memoirs of recent years. On its own merits, however, this is often a compelling story, generally well told if not sometimes eccentrically structured and strangely written - but it beats hands down any one of the turgid offerings by the current crop of underperforming England stars.
More England than Bobby, 21 Nov 2008
This is the second part of Sir Bobby Charlton's fascinating autobiography. In the first, "My Manchester United Years", he provided a lot of moving personal insight into, for example, his trauma post-Munich air disaster, how the club dealt with the other surviving players and their families, and his, at times, difficult relationship with his mother and brother. In other words it was a personally revealing book. This second part, by comparison, is in many ways more typical of a footballer's autobiography, focusing on match details and brief, albeit personal, pen pictures of the characters involved. For regular consumers of books covering this era of football there is little new or surprising here.
Despite this, the book is well-written, thoughful and informative. Here this great footballer leaves aside the pain and angst of Munich and transmits something of the sheer quality and competitiveness of football at the highest level. His convictions about teamwork are clear and here you feel is where he was most comfortable, immersed in what he did best alongside others of the same kind, where the only questions were how to play and how to win.
Finally, there are some striking glances into just how accessible top footballers used to be. For example, this most famous of Englishmen popped out to do some shopping on the morning of playing in the World Cup Final, in the capital city of his own country. I can vouch for this as I once wandered up his front drive, after he was a World and European Cup winner, and while he was hoovering the inside of his car I had a chat and obtained an autograph. For anyone who grew up watching Sir Bobby and remembers the era when he was simply the best English player alive then this book is a must-buy complement to volume one.
A must have 2-part autobiography for any serious sports fan, 15 Nov 2008
Nothing annoys me more than sports men and women writing their autobiography's after some brief initial success before disappearing into the abyss of the unsustainables...... Bobby Charlton 'scores' again firstly by employing an award winning ghost writer making the reading a real pleasure but also by having enough great stories to tell having had long and eventful sporting life. This book, as the cover suggests, chronicles Mr. Charlton's England career. The book is also not without humour and without spoiling it for you, his first confrontation with Pele is laugh out loud funny!
An Excellent Sequel, 10 Nov 2008
The original "United Years" did not leave much to be desired as an extraordinary account of the life an extraordinary man. However, the "England Years" proved to be just as compelling and interesting, the book provides the fascinating insight of a hugely influential player on a volatile period of English football and really shouldn't be missed. A great read for any sports fan.
An insiders view of the England football team 1958 to 1970, 07 Nov 2008
Although this is the second part of Bobby Charltons autobiography, it would be more accurate to think of it as being Bobby Charltons biography of the England football team from 1958, when he made his debut, to 1970, when he played his final England game, in the cruel defeat to West Germany in the Mexico World Cup.
As most of his autobiographical details were dealt with in the first book, the Manchester United Years, this book is almost totally devoted to football and there is very little of Bobby Charlton the man (as opposed to Bobby Charlton the footballer) in it. This is not meant as a critism because, like the first one, this is an excellent book.
It is largely forgotten now but fifty years ago the England football team was in a bit of the mess. At one stage - between 1958 & 1959 - they only won one game in eleven, and that was against an extremely weak USA team. As this book explains, the then manager, Walter Winterbottom, tried his best to build a winning team but he had an impossible task because in those days the England manager had very limited powers, having to refer most things, even team selection, to an FA committee. It was only after the arrival of the single-minded Alf Ramsey, in 1963, that things started to change for the better.
Being an integral part of Ramseys team (even if Sir Alf made sure that Charlton was aware that not even his place in the team was guaranteed)Bobby Charlton was well placed to cast judgement on his role in turning England into World Champions in 1966. He explains that to win the World Cup, Ramsey built a team containing not the eleven best English players but instead the eleven players who one do the best job as a TEAM. This is why the free scoring Jimmy Greaves did not play in the World Cup Final but instead the lesser talented Geoff Hurst did.
Although, quite rightly, the bulk of the book is about the 1966 World Cup and the build up towards it, Bobby Charltons two other World Cup campaigns, in 1962 & 1970, are well covered. The story of Englands quarter final defeat to West Germany after being two goals up and coasting is particuarly absorbing reading as there were many interesting side stories - Franz Beckenbauers marking job on Charlton, Gordon Banks's bad stomach, Englands capitulation after Charlton was substituted, Bobby Moore being accused of theft - involved.
A very good book, and together with 'The Manchester United Years' surely amongst the best fooball autobiographies ever written.
Interesting but, please, next time employ a proof-reader!, 27 Dec 2008
First of all - the content of this book is undoubtedly interesting. I read it cover-to-cover in one day and, while well-read football fans will find little that they didn't already know, it acts as a nice reminder of the quirky stories and tales that make each of the 92 league clubs individual.
Very up-to-date - it references events in October 2008 - but does have a tendency to focus heavily on the most recent club events with historical incidents very much added as footnotes. While this does give the book a very of-the-moment feel - acting as a sort of state of the world address for each club as of the end of 2009 - it also, I suspect, contributes to the major flaw that ruins this book.
Being written right up to October 2008 and being printed in November 2008 - no doubt to capitalise on the Xmas market - has clearly left little or no time for proof-reading. The book is absolutely strewn with errors that would see a school boy's essay graded with an F. Typos, double spaces between words, sentences starting without a capital letter. Quite unbelievable that such mistakes can make it to print.
A few examples of the factual blunders - of which there are also plenty... In QPR's section "Rangers had 14 different homes in West London before trying Loftus Road in 1817", in Hereford's "[Graham] Taylor offered his resignation", in Portsmouth's section a whole paragraph is printed twice in two different parts of the same chapter while in Rotherham it is claimed that they "started the 2009-09 season".
Errors like this could easily have been avoided by just one re-read of the copy before it was sent to print, the fact that it wasn't just gives off a feeling that no care was given to the book and that getting it on the shelf for Xmas was far more important than making a quality product.
However, if you can see past such shoddy production - and the tiresome opinionated taxi-driver writing style in which famous names and events are posed as one word questions and then answered by the writer - then there is something to be gained from this product. A fun stocking filler that covers the major bases of each club but could have been much better with a little time and care spent on it.
The funniest serious book about football ever, 01 Dec 2008
I found this book through Facebook, of all places. Can We Play You Every Week has its own Facebook page which contains some of the more fascinating or funny things in the book. So there's a short documentary about a women's team of factory workers from Preston who were the most popular team in England in the 1920's. And some footage about the incredible Walter Tull, the first black outfield player in England and also the first black man to be appointed an English army officer - even though it was against army regs at the time. The funny stuff includes a northern pop star I'd never heard of reading the football results on the BBC and Melinda Messenger modelling latex (the relevance? the chairman of Doncaster Rovers was her cosmetic surgeon!!!!), as well as my own favourite, an emotional Delia Smith bellowing at Norwich City fans to make some noise. The Facebook page is very like the book, with a lot of very serious issues - racism, hooliganism, corruption, money - but in a very readable and entertaining way, and also has a lot of hilarious stuff too . It's also got a great explanation about why Brian Clough was a genius.
If you buy just one football book this year......., 30 Nov 2008
.... buy this one. Who'd have dreamed that the likes of Port Vale, Rotherham and Carlisle could be so entertaining? It's packed with info and laugh-out loud stories but it is so much more than a collection of football funnies. This bloke really knows his stuff and more often than not the comedy is there to make a serious point, For instance the chapter on Liverpool kicks off with a quote from the American owner of Liverpool - "My son Foster is a fan of soccer. He was a goaltender. His brother was a defenseman" - which says it all. This is very much a book for fans, and the author is often scathing about who runs the clubs and the league. He's especially good on the way money has affected the game and the part fans have played keeping clubs going. I was nearly put off buying it by the cover, I thought it might be one of those hooligan books, but it isn't. Although there's a very funny bit in it about the time two gangs of Millwall supporters beat each other up by accident. I bought it thinking I might put it in the loo and dip into it occasionally but actually I read it all in one go, it's a fantastic read.
Heart-warming book full of human interest stories , 28 Nov 2008
Most of these books are recycled rubbish and I couldn't see why this one would be any different but at half price on Amazon, in an optimistic moment I thought I'd give it a go. Glad I did. It's entertaining and funny, and is full of hilarious and incredible stories about the history of each club which gives them their individual identity. But after reading a few entries, the bigger picture becomes clear and you realise just how much football clubs actually have in common. Many have had chairman just interested in making a buck for themselves, or managers clueless about their team. Others have suffered from a useless FA, the greedy clubs at the top - but all have a loyal following of fans who turn out on murky Saturdays every week to cheer their lower division team on and dig into their pockets to keep their club alive if they have to. This book tells the heart-warming tales of fans who've clubbed together and rescued their ground by clearing weeds and rubble with their bare hands, bought their grounds - and even players - and formed their own trusts to run the clubs - all of which remind you that there is still a heart in football, not just a pay packet.
A fascinating rounded read, 16 Oct 2008
For all the shenanigans that went on over the past 15 years or so at the FA this is brilliant. David Davies seems like a pretty decent bloke, Sven and Terry too, despite the dodginess. Its the others that need lining up against the wall. This is at times frustrating, at times hilarious, at times it makes you angry... bit like what it must have been like working there. But you really get a sense of what went on, and why we haven't won anything for so long. Not like your typical dull football autobiog. I really enjoyed it!
At last - an honest appraisal!, 17 Dec 2008
Instead of the claptrap that the tabloid papers print before and after every England game - Briggs takes a sensible look at what has made the England team the highly skilled yet immensely unpredictable outfit that it is today. Full of anecdotes - many of which you may know - many of which you've never heard and a load that you had forgotten - it is meticulously researched (as you'd expect from a Telegraph journalist) and proof that Briggs (a cricket correspondent) can turn his hand to other sports as well. If you have ever waved a red and white ensign during the european or world cup - make sure you know why you're supporting them by reading this book!
pushing for the play-off places , 28 Dec 2008
this isnt an unputdownable rollercoaster ride of a book but it is an interesting account of a real life journeyman footballer who played in the lower leagues....Im a big football fan but Id never heard of him so I was looking forward to a real life account that told it like it was and not some superstar premiership striker that writes his autobiography when hes 23. The book more than anything makes you realise that football is a job. no more ...no less. Youre paid to play and thats the bottom line. this is very clear in swanny and he makes no attempt to disguise it. it also shows it as a very cruel sport in that once you can no longer contribute youre out. theres no mercy. once youre finished there will be a million more coming behind you so youre out and theyre in. loyalty doesnt exist.... well except for the loyalty that existed to the bank balance. its a good book... i enjoyed the read...its well written and easy to read and sometimes very funny...its not going to win trophies (bit like swanny) but its definitely pushing for the playoff places even if we are talking about the old third division.
A different type of book, 05 Oct 2008
This is well worth a read by anyone who fears that their club is going down the pan.
Forget any preconceptions about the club or the alledged activities of the author as the main thrust of this book is how a club can be run into the ground and the motives behind such events from both sides of the fence.
This is a revealing and honest look at the Sam H years at Ninian Park and how so many people were drawn into a dream that almost became the ultimate nightmare for Cardiff supporters.
I would recomend this book highly if only because it departs from the normal supporters tales.
An interesting read of my Football club, 21 Sep 2008
Well done to all who contributed to this effort,it gives an insight into how our club was being run by Sam.Thanks for letting us ordinary fans inside the rooms of Ninian Park.
Dreams, 07 Aug 2008
For anyone with even a remote interest in Cardiff City football club, Sam Hammam, or even the machinations of club-level football politics in general, this book is compulsory reading.
As a Cardiff City fan it came as no great surprise that the book was interesting. What did surprise me was that it is also entertaining. It is well-structured and well-written. I don't mean well-written in the purist sense - a masterpiece in English literature it certainly ain't. But that's the point - it is a book written by fans in the style of the contributor, which makes it all the more compelling as a story told straight from the heart.
As far as a wider audience is concerned, there may not be enough of interest here to attract those beyond the group mentioned in my introduction (I'll pass it on to one and get back to you!). I suspect it may come across as too parochial.
Also, for those that may have been put off by any perceived 'baggage' surrounding the book (hinted at by the headhunters tag and the ill-chosen cover) I suspect that reading the book may do more to confirm their misgivings than to allay them.
But, taking the book purely for what it is, I would consider this a very worthwhile project which certainly exceeded my expectations.
Joff , 28 Jul 2008
I fantastic read about issues that go on within a professional football club in the U.K.
A must for any sports fan, as the contents cover a wide range of topics.
geokillie, 19 Jul 2008
great book for anyone whos club has had the same plight as cardiff,from the bitter boardroom who were quite happy to
run down a proud club with tradition, to the white knight who promised so much
the previous review states that its essential for any cardiff fans but to be honest its about every team outside the premiership or in my case kilmarnock fc
anybody who reads this book will nod in agreement to the same problems your own club has went through.
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