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A Random History of Football
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Review
'Great laugh for all serious football fans" (YORKSHIRE POST )
Product Description
Nowadays a top Premiership football club can spend 50 million on a Portuguese pin-up or a legendary Italian goalkeeper, but you cannot take into account the effects of a dodgy takeaway meal, a dropped bottle of aftershave on a goalkeeper's toe, or the fact that your most creative player has to leave town because of a chance drunken encounter with another player's wife. It is these random moments that have shaped football as much as the headline-grabbing Cantona kung fu kick and that Russian linesman in 1966. Along the meandering paths of this witty alternative history of the world's most popular game, you will learn: * Different sizes of football were used in each half of the inaugural World Cup Final of 1930. * The first England defeat was not that famous 6-3 home defeat in 1953 by Hungary but was in Madrid against Spain back in 1929 (4-3). * After penalty kicks were introduced in 1891, the Corinthian Casuals goalkeeper would stand idly by his post to allow the ball into his goal unhindered, such was the stigma of conceding a penalty. From the height of international football to the scandal of the Conference league Christmas party that cost far more than a bar-bill, Colin Murray tries his best to make you believe, once more, in football's unpredictability.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A Random History of Football This is more a random load of rubbish. I picked my way through the mind-numbing trivia until I arrived at page 20, where Murray's lazy research, if research there was, was laid bare for all to see. Here we were treated to a unique slant on the story of Bert Trautmann's heroic exploits in the 1956 cup final. Bert broke his neck but played on. This was the only detail that Murray managed to get right in his account - apart from the score! The game ended 3 - 1, but Murray assures us that Trautmann "was inevitably unable to halt Birmingham's charge for the Cup, ending up on the losing end of a 3 - 1 scoreline. Trautmann collected his loser's medal just like everyone else, before making the long journey home, as gutted as the next man." As ANY football lover knows, Birmingham City have not, to this day, EVER won the FA Cup, those of us who saw the final that day can assure him that Bert was on the winning side, that we saw Dave Ewing help him up to the royal box while the queen waited patiently to give him his winner's medal and that Manchester City won 3 - 1. Murray's account of the match is surprising ignorance, even in a Radio 1 DJ, but in someone who hosts Match of the Day 2 it is criminal. May I suggest he stops writing football books, as John Motson is far, far better at it.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I tried hard to like this book, honestly I did. Colin Murray seems a decent enough bloke, and quite a few of the stories included are entertaining and/or interesting enough, but there are just too many silly mistakes which diminish its credibility. Whether they can all be blamed on the author or on sloppy proofreading I can't tell, but thinking that there will be a World Cup finals tournament in 2012, or that Birmingham City won the 1956 FA Cup final is, unfortunately, fairly typical of the accuracy of the book as a whole.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a book which makes great bathroom reading; a few anecdotes about the travails of supporting Northern Ireland and Liverpool along with a bit of namedropping - Colin is we learn quite good mates with former wing wonder Pat Nevin.
Colin talks in the intro about the work that went into the book, but its hard to imagine that he broke a sweat knocking together this collection of football stories; some you may have heard of, some you may not, but none so memorable that you'll remember them once you've flushed the chain.
If you're after a lightweight book, its not a bad effort, but surely football is not in need of yet another lightweight tome.
Colin talks in the intro about the work that went into the book, but its hard to imagine that he broke a sweat knocking together this collection of football stories; some you may have heard of, some you may not, but none so memorable that you'll remember them once you've flushed the chain.
If you're after a lightweight book, its not a bad effort, but surely football is not in need of yet another lightweight tome.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
colin murray does it again!
After passing himself off as a music critic on Radio 1 and then metamorphosing into Stan Collymore's annoying sidekick on Channel 5's coverage of the Uefa Mickey Mouse League,... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Simony
Readable, but not much more
I would describe this book as mildly entertaining. There are some interesting anecdotes, but I suppose I just expected it to be a bit funnier. Read more
Published on 12 Nov 2009 by Simon Nicholas
Not just for the statto's
This is an entertaining read. Easy to pick up and put down as you wish. Whilst some facts will be known to you, it's fair to say most won't. Read more
Published on 22 Oct 2009 by Mr. R. J. Dunford
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