Faith of Our Fathers: Football as a Religion (Mainstream sport) (Paperback)

I'm not one of those people who rush out and buy every book written about Liverpool or any book written by those who have represented our club or still represent it. Mainly they are people trying to cash in on their careers or opt for the footballing equivalent of a bit of kiss and tell. Likewise when books like 'Fever Pitch' hit the street I left them lying there. Written by the 'new' supporter who probably doesn't understand what football was all about pre-Sky and pre-Hillsborough. Liverpool fans wrote two books that I did get hold of and read. One was by Kevin Sampson, 'Extra Time,' which was easy to identify with because a lot of the people he mentioned were people who we actually know or know of. The other book was 'FAITH OF OUR FATHERS' by Alan Edge. When I got a copy of this I couldn't believe it. It was as if it had been written by anyone who has ever stood on the Kop or any Red who has grown up supporting our team. Yet it could have been written about any team because it is an accurate account of just how thousands, millions even, have gone through the process of supporting their team. 'FAITH OF OUR FATHERS' is not just about Liverpool fans it is about YOU especially if you have been a Red since the Shankly Days. It's about how our love for Liverpool would have started. Dad taking lad. Lad going into the kids area and progressing to the singing and swaying Kop. Fearful at first but growing up to be part of the Kop and the history of the Kop. This was the real Kop, not some copycat imitation that sprung up in the south or in the midlands. This was the real thing. It tells of the singing, the legends on the pitch that were idolised and then immortalised. Those you stood and cheered on 'Shankly Day!' It takes you through those never to be forgotten teenage years to the European glory and through the laughter and the tears of those great times. The worshipping of Shankly and the sadness on his departure and sudden death is brought back to anyone who was part of it and as I read it I found myself saying, "bloody hell, yes, I remember that!" It goes through the Paisley years, less flamboyant but never has a club tasted so much success. It doesn't mess about when raising the ugly topic of hooliganism and it talks of the grief of Heysel and then the sad, sad time that surrounded the whole of Merseyside after Hillsborough. Alan Edge isn't like those who have written about Hillsborough out of ignorance, he was there and that night he was at Anfield in tears like the thousands of others. The problem with 'FAITH OF OUR FATHERS' is that it isn't fantasy and won't be made into a film. It's not about someone who can afford to live in the limelight alongside the players and compare wealth. It's not something that is going to appeal to the David Mellor's and Tony Banks of this world because it is simply about real people not footballing impostors. It's not for those that can't identify with you and me it's for you and me. Anfield has 40,000+ Liverpool fans inside it every home Saturday plus many times that number claiming to be a fan. So why only such a small percentage of you bought this book is baffling. All I say is go out there and get it. If you want to read just how the Kop became part of folklore then read 'FAITH OF OUR FATHERS'

JOHN PEARMAN Editor of Red All Over The Land, A Liverpool Fanzine.

His coverage of the bright lights and heady days of Liverpool's dominance in European and English football are a joy, and not just for Liverpool fans either. The agony and ecstasy are part of every single football supporter's life. He tells of how incensed he was of the Hillsborough coverage in the media that he tracked down one of the journalists who's apathy summed up the 'unfashionable' state of 1980's football.

If you support Manchester United this book may make for painful reading. On the other hand, if your normal, then this book will make the ideal summer reading material as you lie on foreign shores.

Waiting for the football season to start.