Andrew Ward & John Williams - Football Nation (2009)
History – 420 pages – my copy (paperback; 2010) bought for £2.99 from Plymouth Works, May 2011
- 3 nods out of 5 -
‘They say football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that’ – Bill Shankly, football great.
Football Nation is a diverse collection of chapters documenting ‘sixty years of the beautiful game’. A shared effort, between Messrs Ward and Williams, it recounts the state of football in the 1940s, its rise in popularity in the 1960s, its problems with debt and hooliganism, to the glitzy money mad modern day.
For football fans, this book is a welcome arrival to the stacks of sub-stand sports literature on the shelves. Ward and Williams dig into known history (1958 Munich air disaster, the 1966 World Cup etc) as well as unearthing hidden gems in football’s story: those who gave so much, yet have been forgotten (the Worm’s favourite being Norman Chester). The book never concentrates on the likes of Top Ten Goals, Top Ten Players (etc, etc, etc) of popular culture, but rather on the roots of the game, of the introduction of black players, of those at the bottom, playing for pure love and devotion.
The really interesting thing about this book is its complete confidence in experimenting with various styles, from the essay to oral history, from radio script to play. Some of the fictional chapters hint a little of an A-Level student, looking at ways to impress the marking lecturer; yet their existence adds to this book and its attempt to record the last sixty years of football in Britain.
For the football fan, this book is an interesting and lively read; perfect Christmas and birthday present material. And of the many who turn their nose when a round ball is kicked: this book provides a window into the beautiful game, a window not to be ignored.
