FOOTBALL BOOK REVIEWS

BY LES JACKSON

LAD FROM TROON WHO WAS CLEARLY DESTINED FOR BIGGER THINGS, MY INTEREST PEAKED WHEN WE SOLD STEVIE NICOL FOR A THEN CLUB RECORD OF £300,000 TO LIVERPOOL. I WAS ALSO NOT TOO KEEN ON BRIAN CLOUGH AT THE TIME SO WHILST MOST OF MY MATES LIKED NOTTINGHAM FOREST, I COULDN’T STAND THEM. BUT SUCH AN AFFINITY TAKES YOU SO FAR. HAVING BEGUN THE BOOK WITH A CURIOSITY, WHERE IT WORKS BEST FOR ME IS THE PERSONAL STORY. I BECAME EMBROILED, NOT JUST IN THE WAY IN WHICH THE FOOTBALL TEAM WAS FOLLOWED BUT THE EFFECT IT HAD UPON LES AND HIS FAMILY. I GET THE WALK ROUND THE HOUSES RATHER THAN SIT AND LISTEN TO THE GAME ON THE RADIO – THOUGH I STILL LISTEN, I GET THE DESIRE NOT TO MISS OUT ON THE BIG GAMES, THE, OFTEN, RIDICULOUS WAYS IN WHICH YOU TRY AND MAKE SURE YOU CAN BE WHERE YOU NEED TO BE TO HEAR AND SEE WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR AND SEE TOO.

LES ADDS COLOUR TO THE BIGGER OCCASIONS BY THE PECULIAR AND PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF WHAT A YOUNG CHILD WILL DO TO AN ICING SET, JOHN MANNING, HIS ARCH NEMESIS AT CHESS, MR. MATSON, THE TEACHER WHO INTRODUCED HIM TO THE GAME, THE REASON TIM WOULD HAVE BEEN A SUITABLE NICKNAME GROWING UP AND THE CLOSENESS OF A CLUB WHERE YOU COULD END UP IN A KICKABOUT WITH A PLAYER –EVEN IF HE WAS A BLUE. IT IS TELLING THE TALE OF A TIME LONG FORGOTTEN BY SOME BUT TREASURED BY A GENERATION AND WHILST IT IS PLEASING TO READ OF THE YEARS ATTENDING A UNIFORMED ORGANIZATION –THE BOYS BRIGADE – WHICH DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY SCANDAL, IT SERVES AS MORE THAN A PIECE OF SOCIAL HISTORY WITH WHICH TO BORE THE GRANDKIDS. IT ALSO REMINDS US OF WHY THE GAME HAS SUCH AND ENDURING RELATIONSHIP TO US – IT MATTERED, BECAUSE IT WAS WHAT DOMINATED OUR LIVES. IT

SEEPED INTO US NOT JUST BECAUSE THERE WERE FEW ALTERNATIVES, BUT BECAUSE IT WAS THERE – CLOSE TO US AND ACCESSIBLE.

THERE ARE TIMES WHEN THE STORY RESONATES MORE –HIS FIRST MATCH SAW LEICESTER CITY WITH PETER SHILTON IN GOAL – AS WAS MINE, QUESTIONABLE FASHION CHOICES AROUND A TIME WHEN THE BOMBSHELL OF SHANKLY RETIRING WHILST MINE WAS WHEN ALLY MACLEOD WENT TO TAKE ON SCOTLAND, DISCOVERING YOUR CHILD – IN HIS CASE, TOM – HAD A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS AILMENT, DERMATOMYOSITIS – DIFFERENT AILMENT, SAME TRAUMA FOR ME, AND THE ORANGE LODGE DAYS WHICH FOR US IN THE WEST COAST OF SCOTLAND HAVE AN ALTOGETHER MORE FIERY OUTCOME AND SIGNIFICANCE. BUT YOU DON’T NEED TO BE “OF A CERTAIN AGE” TO UNDERSTAND OR ENJOY THIS. PEOPLE ARE COLOURED IN, AND THE ISSUES ARE WIDENED OUT FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND. IN SHORT, YOU ARE TAKEN ON A JOURNEY WHERE ALL BECOMES CLEAR AS YOU ARE TRAVELLING AND NOT AWAITING A MAJOR REVEAL AT THE END OF IT ALL.

THE HILLSBOROUGH SECTION CAUGHT MY ATTENTION MOST. LES WAS THERE, AND AS HE ACKNOWLEDGES THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER LEGACY TALES WHICH COVER THE PAIN AND TRAGEDIES WHICH UNFOLDED.

JUSTICE FOR THE 97 IS WELL SERVED BUT, AS SOMEONE WHO FOLLOWS ENGLISH FOOTBALL AVIDLY, THE CHAPTER ON HILLSBOROUGH GAVE VITAL CONTEXT. WHY THE GROUND WAS USED, WHAT OTHER SEMIFINALS HAD BEEN THERE AND WHY IT HAD BECOME A SIGNIFICANT CHAPTER IN THE BOOK OF ANY YEAR WAS EXACTLY WHAT HAS BEEN MISSING FOR MANY FOOTBALL FANS. I GOT IT.

IT UNDERLINED WHY THE PERSONAL STORIES WERE SO IMPORTANT. WHAT HAPPENED CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD IN THE CONTEXT OF WHAT WAS LOST.