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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'Barry Davies writes as he commentates: with geniality, fluency and an easy air of authority'
(Time Out )Product Description
Barry Davies' face and voice are instantly recognisable to any UK sports fan. He has guided audiences through some of the most compelling and exciting moments in televised sport over the past 40 years. Here, he relives the magic of those events and reveals what was going on behind the scenes.
He has broadcast at a record 10 World Cup finals, and until stepping down in 2004 he was Match of the Days longest-serving commentator. But his expertise goes far beyond football: 10 Summer Olympic Games and numerous Winter Olympics, sharing in Torvill and Deans success in 1984 and heartbreak 10 years later. He is also synonymous with Wimbledon and the Boat Race.
The controversies of sport are also addressed, from the Hand of God to crooked judges and professional rivalries off-screen, together with many light-hearted mishaps played out in front of millions of viewers.
He has broadcast at a record 10 World Cup finals, and until stepping down in 2004 he was Match of the Days longest-serving commentator. But his expertise goes far beyond football: 10 Summer Olympic Games and numerous Winter Olympics, sharing in Torvill and Deans success in 1984 and heartbreak 10 years later. He is also synonymous with Wimbledon and the Boat Race.
The controversies of sport are also addressed, from the Hand of God to crooked judges and professional rivalries off-screen, together with many light-hearted mishaps played out in front of millions of viewers.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I was always expecting to enjoy this because I've long been a fan of Davies's comentary style, but I think it has something in it even for people who aren't. Anyone who has watched sport over the course of all or part of the last 40 years can't fail but to be drawn into how they were seen by a man who was behind the microphone for so many of the big events - every World Cup 1966-2002 and every Olympic Games since 68, not to mention Heysel among 25-odd years of European football finals. Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding's spat; a whole chapter on "Motty and me"; England football managers from Ramsey on, from the ones who wouldn't talk to the ones who'd enjoy a pint in the bar discussing ideas for tactics in tomorrow's game; (even the bit on the Boat Race is quite intereting, if you can describe that as sport!). First class read IMO.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Despite all the famous sayings, nobody has ever picked up on the fact that Barry Davies regards every game he watches (whether it's football, tennis or whatever) as a Contest !!! Barry was without doubt the most outstanding Football Commentator of his generation, and always said what he thought rather than the drivel Motty comes out with. An excellent book and let's hope there's another one in the future.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This autobiography is a strange read. Barry Davies writes with a poetic feel, which at times is quite pleasant. Unfortunately, the snobbery that can sometimes come across in his commentary is in full measure here.
The book is crammed full of incidents where he feels hard done by, or where he was proved right after some sort of opposition. It might be that he predicted a win for a particular team, but his views weren't adhered to. Or a certain journalist said something about him in the 70s, which was grossly unfair (in BD's view). Or that John Motson kept getting the nod for the FA Cup Final (again, grossly unfair in BD's opinion). The resentment is still very fresh, and in every chapter he seems to need to tell the reader another anecdote in which he was let down/not treated fairly/not listened to. It gets a bit much after a while, particularly when Davies seems to suggest that certain England managers would have faired better if they had listened to some of his tactical advice. Davies was and still is a great commentator, but he is a journalist, not a tactician. This is just one example of how Davies can get a bit above his station at times.
Therefore, the book is a curious mixture of immense ego and deep insecurity. He could have sent the book to a therapist, rather than a publishing house. Barry Davies has had a life and career that few have matched, and that many would envy, and yet he's still bitter. He needs to wake up and smell the roses. He doesn't seem to appreciate all of the glories that his career and life have given him, which is rather a shame.
The book is crammed full of incidents where he feels hard done by, or where he was proved right after some sort of opposition. It might be that he predicted a win for a particular team, but his views weren't adhered to. Or a certain journalist said something about him in the 70s, which was grossly unfair (in BD's view). Or that John Motson kept getting the nod for the FA Cup Final (again, grossly unfair in BD's opinion). The resentment is still very fresh, and in every chapter he seems to need to tell the reader another anecdote in which he was let down/not treated fairly/not listened to. It gets a bit much after a while, particularly when Davies seems to suggest that certain England managers would have faired better if they had listened to some of his tactical advice. Davies was and still is a great commentator, but he is a journalist, not a tactician. This is just one example of how Davies can get a bit above his station at times.
Therefore, the book is a curious mixture of immense ego and deep insecurity. He could have sent the book to a therapist, rather than a publishing house. Barry Davies has had a life and career that few have matched, and that many would envy, and yet he's still bitter. He needs to wake up and smell the roses. He doesn't seem to appreciate all of the glories that his career and life have given him, which is rather a shame.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
INTERESTING,FAIRLY INTERESTING...
Does what it says on the tin really,Barry Davies was my favourite BBC football commentator by a long way,intelligent(a rare word in the football world)with a dry,slightly... Read more
Published on 23 Mar 2010 by Juan Sheet
Uninteresting. Very uninteresting.
How can such an excellent commentator produce such a dull book? I expected some behind the scenes insight, some juicy stories, perhaps some gossip. Read more
Published on 27 Feb 2009 by G. Robertson
Actually not very interesting
By definition commentators comment. In other words, they're on the periphery, looking in rather than truly part of the action. Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2009 by Paul Kirkwood
Very Disappointing
From childhood to date, Barry Davies is/was my favourite football commentator. To listen again to his commenatries from the 70s is akin to listening to a favourite record of the... Read more
Published on 30 Jan 2009 by Toffeeman
Too much "other sport"
Whenever I have seen this book in bookshops or in the library it has been in the football books section. Read more
Published on 25 Aug 2008 by Mr. D. H. Mills
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