Football Man : People and Passions in Soccer - Softcover

Arthur Hopcraft

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140032975 ISBN 13: 9780140032970

Publisher: PENGUIN, 1971

Synopsis

'Football matters, as poetry does to some people and alcohol does to others...Football is inherent in the people...There is more eccentricity in deliberately disregarding it than in devoting a life to it. The way we play the game, organise it and reward it reflects the kind of community we are' Written just two years after England's '66 triumph when the national game was at its zenith, Arthur Hopcraft's The Football Man is repeatedly quoted as the best book ever written about the sport. This definitive, magisterial study of football and society is a snapshot of a defining era in sporting history; changes and decisions were made in the sixties that would create the game we know today. For many who are disenchanted with the modern game - the grip of businesses and corporations, the dominance of advertising, the extortionate ticket prices and inaccessible matches, the fickleness of teenage millionaires - The Football Man takes the reader back to the heart and soul of the national game when pitches were muddy and the players were footballers not 'brands'. This is a long awaited reissue of the classic football 'bible'.

About this title

About the Author:

One of the most celebrated names of football writing, Arthur Hopcraft was witness to many of the highlights of the English game which he wrote about with unreserved passion and intelligence. A successful and highly revered writer and journalist, he was also the Guardian's feature writer and a prolific scriptwriter. Among his best-known works is his adaptation of John Le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

From Booklist:

*Starred Review* This was first published in England in 1968, and its title refers to the kind of football played there, with a ball you can’t throw unless it goes out of bounds or you are a goalkeeper. Widely recognized as a classic, it is composed primarily of thoughtful, essayistic profiles of the different kinds of men—players, managers, team directors, referees, fans, amateurs, and journalists—who then populated the sport. Readers will know from the very first pages that they are in the hands of a deep thinker and a gifted stylist, careful to turn a phrase only where it will glitter most. Hopcraft, who wrote not for tabloids but the Guardian, Observer, and the Sunday Times (and who went on to become a successful TV scriptwriter, with the adaptation of John le Carré’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy to his credit), is that rarest of birds, an intellectual who understands fans’ feelings, and when he calls their chants a “plainsong of the terraces,” the language isn’t merely ornamental, it’s meaningful. Admittedly, this reprint will be of limited interest to younger fans choosing among the teams they watch on TV; while some of the figures and teams Hopcraft writes about are still well-remembered or well-known, others have passed into the pages of history (Sam Ellis) or the depths of the lower divisions (Oldham Athletic). But it’s a fascinating portrait of a historic moment in a nation that continues to export its sport to an eager world. Players were making the transition from working-class heroes to highly paid superstars, England was celebrating its first (and still only) World Cup victory, and the first spasms of hooliganism were in worrying evidence. An influential and still highly absorbing exploration, this deserves its place on a very short list of the best soccer books of all time. --Keir Graff

About this edition

• Publisher: PENGUIN
• Publication date: 1971
• ISBN 10: 0140032975
• ISBN 13: 9780140032970
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 216