- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (27 Sep 1990)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140131930
- ISBN-13: 978-0140131932
- Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 11 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
613,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #76 in Books > Sports, Hobbies & Games > Football > British > Football Clubs > West Ham United
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Product Description
Product Description
The ghosted autobiography of John Lyall, the football manager who was dismissed by his club, West Ham, after 34 years as player and manager.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
John Lyall's autobiographical story of his time at West Ham written shortly after his dismissal, an act which still rankles with the Upton Park faithful today who view Lyall as an honest, loyal and straight forward man who was treated shabbily.
The reader is taken through Lyall career at West Ham, cut short by injury, through his apprenticeship to Ron Greenwood and onto his reign at the Boleyn for a decade and a half from the mid 70s to the end of the 80s.
This book, however, is not just for West Ham fans but also for sport historians everywhere. Written just 20 years ago, the picture painted of a club who a few years earlier had narrowly failed to win the League (the real one, not that guady pot they have today) is revealing, what will strike the reader is the pure amateurness of the administration in top clubs of the day, with Lyall and his 2 assistants training, scouting players & opponents, dealing with players & contracts, running the finances of the club and (on occassion) being the wages clerk. There were no directors of football back then, and pretty much no-one else either.
A good book that read today puts context into a sport that, on the pitch at least, has long forgotten what loyalty is. For all those nouveau fans out their who are happy to win trophies with teams of mercenary foreign stars, you should read this and contemplate - is that team you support really yours? It was once.
The reader is taken through Lyall career at West Ham, cut short by injury, through his apprenticeship to Ron Greenwood and onto his reign at the Boleyn for a decade and a half from the mid 70s to the end of the 80s.
This book, however, is not just for West Ham fans but also for sport historians everywhere. Written just 20 years ago, the picture painted of a club who a few years earlier had narrowly failed to win the League (the real one, not that guady pot they have today) is revealing, what will strike the reader is the pure amateurness of the administration in top clubs of the day, with Lyall and his 2 assistants training, scouting players & opponents, dealing with players & contracts, running the finances of the club and (on occassion) being the wages clerk. There were no directors of football back then, and pretty much no-one else either.
A good book that read today puts context into a sport that, on the pitch at least, has long forgotten what loyalty is. For all those nouveau fans out their who are happy to win trophies with teams of mercenary foreign stars, you should read this and contemplate - is that team you support really yours? It was once.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Autobiography written fairly soon after the much-loved West Ham United manager had been sacked in 1989. Simply written, it tells the story of his injury-curtailed playing career, his coaching apprenticeship under Malcolm Allison, Ted Fenton, and the legendary Ron Greenwood at the helm of West Ham's stylish 1960s and 70s heyday - culminating in his succesful period at the top and the happy years of Wembley finals and the thrilling 1985-86 season in considerable detail. An enjoyable read for any Hammer or lover of the Beautiful Game in general.
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