- Paperback: 290 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (17 Aug 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 074759516X
- ISBN-13: 978-0747595168
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 274,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
PRAISE FOR 'THE LONDON COMPENDIUM' 'Breathtakingly detailed ... tells you all you need to know' Time Out 'Addictively browsable' Independent, Books of the Year 'This is not just a book for Londoners but for anyone with an interest in the capital's history - and the more unusual the better ... enough to enliven a walk in even the most insalubrious part of the city' Sunday Telegraph, Books of the Year
Product Description
"The London Football Companion" follows the history of the sport in the capital, from its foundations in the days of gentleman amateurs to the obscene wealth and tabloid scandals of the modern age. As it winds its way postcode-by-postcode from Westminster to Watford via all points in between, it takes in everything from bungs and brawls to tantrums and transfers. The Brewer Street kebab shop that cost Paul Gascoigne a trip to the 1998 World Cup, the traffic jam on Tottenham High Road that made Roman Abramovich give up on his plans for Spurs and buy further west, and the Central London pub where the FA was founded are just some of the places that feature in the stories, scandals, tragedies and triumphs that make up the footballing heritage of our capital."The London Football Companion" takes an anecdotal look at the capital's clubs and how football has evolved over the decades, from Premiership giants Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham, through characterful sides like Charlton, Crystal Palace, QPR and Millwall, to Sunday league football on Hackney Marshes. What emerges is a wonderfully rich, entertaining and compulsively browsable history of the beautiful game.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A potentially good idea of collecting stories from a soccer anecdote packed city just sort of fizzles out in a welter of badly told good tales and irrelevantly added asides. There is some major talent on display here but it's poorly organised and fails to play to the idea's strengths. If you are obsessed with football and want some facts about the game in London this will give you many (but miss out some of the best*), however if you are a purist and want entertaining as well there are better places to go. It's not bad it's just like one of those afternoons at the match where you think that there may be more to life.
Or put another way could have been Arsenal under Wenger is actually Arsenal under Graham Graham. See also Chelsea under Avram Grant, Palace under Dowie, Tottenham under Hoddle etc.
*Dick Turpin's horse stabled in what is now the function room at the Boleyn Ground is one absentee.
Or put another way could have been Arsenal under Wenger is actually Arsenal under Graham Graham. See also Chelsea under Avram Grant, Palace under Dowie, Tottenham under Hoddle etc.
*Dick Turpin's horse stabled in what is now the function room at the Boleyn Ground is one absentee.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is not a bad book, but it should come with a health warning for supporters of MY club - Spurs ......
The author is clearly of the red, lost after leaving South London persuasion, and there is not an entry about my team flavoured with honesty or balance. I am sturdy enough to take this kind of banter, because the book DOES have its merits, and IS entertaining. However a more honest writer would not only have declared his allegiance in a rather arch and back-handed way, but would also have splashed it across all the book's blurbs in block capitals, and been prepared to take the financial consequences. And in addition, I would ask why Barnet FC is in London, whereas the now sadly defunct Enfield FC is not (does the author live near the former?).
I suspect that this book, apart from being biassed, is a work in progress, published too soon. And there was me thinking that the modern day supporter of the Filth was a prawn sandwich eater and loaded .....
The author is clearly of the red, lost after leaving South London persuasion, and there is not an entry about my team flavoured with honesty or balance. I am sturdy enough to take this kind of banter, because the book DOES have its merits, and IS entertaining. However a more honest writer would not only have declared his allegiance in a rather arch and back-handed way, but would also have splashed it across all the book's blurbs in block capitals, and been prepared to take the financial consequences. And in addition, I would ask why Barnet FC is in London, whereas the now sadly defunct Enfield FC is not (does the author live near the former?).
I suspect that this book, apart from being biassed, is a work in progress, published too soon. And there was me thinking that the modern day supporter of the Filth was a prawn sandwich eater and loaded .....
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
more than a travel guide
7 May 2011
Format:Paperback
Yes, much of this book is focused on places of historical significance (i.e., FA HQ, bar where George Best got drunk) in LOndon as regards soccer that you can skip altogether. Yet when the authors starts talking about London's 12 soccer clubs' history and grounds as well the national team's flops he'll have you hooked.
The author has the best no-BS analysis of why England's so-called recent "Golden Generation" (Frank "can't hit a net the size of a branyard door when wearing England colors" Lampard, David "metrosexuals are go!" Beckham et al) failed so miserably on the Euro and World Cup stages.
There are also some brilliant spot-on nailed-in pegs of sides like West Ham and Tottenham as to why they never seem to do anything in the league.
It's definitely a must-bring along for any soccer fan's trip to the English capital and will make your visit to any soccer ground all that more enjoyable.
The author has the best no-BS analysis of why England's so-called recent "Golden Generation" (Frank "can't hit a net the size of a branyard door when wearing England colors" Lampard, David "metrosexuals are go!" Beckham et al) failed so miserably on the Euro and World Cup stages.
There are also some brilliant spot-on nailed-in pegs of sides like West Ham and Tottenham as to why they never seem to do anything in the league.
It's definitely a must-bring along for any soccer fan's trip to the English capital and will make your visit to any soccer ground all that more enjoyable.
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