Book description
Founded in 1898, FC Barcelona or Barça, is the world's biggest and
best-loved football club. Barça has more than 500 local fan clubs spread
across the world, while its championship matches attract a global TV
audience. Former players include such legendary figures as Kubala,
Maradona, Cruyff, Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Lineker, and Barça has been
managed by greats such as Helenio Herrera, Cesar Menotti and Bobby
Robson. The club's honorary members include Pope John Paul II and opera
star José Carreras. To unravel the background to the Barça phenomenon,
Jimmy Burns has unearthed police files and long-forgotten newspaper
reports. He has travelled with supporters and has talked to people
intimately linked to the club, from managers and players to groundsmen
and doctors, whilst also gaining access to those who have conspired to
gain political and financial control. Â Burns' examination of the
club's fates and fortunes always goes well beyond the game
itself...Burns is a brilliant journalist...Unmissable' Jimmy Burns is
social affairs and employment correspondent at the
FINANCIAL TIMES. His previous books are The Land That Lost Its Heroes,
winner of the Somerset Maugham prize for non-fiction; Beyond the Silver
River; Spain: A Literary Companion; and the internationally acclaimed
Hand of God: The Life of Diego Maradona.
