Book description
Despite its immense wealth, and the high public profile it enjoys,
English football is not a land of milk and honey. The national side
has won the World Cup only once when England staged the tournament in
1966 and the woeful performances in recent years would suggest that
Sir Alf Ramsey's success will retain its unique status.
Fifty People Who Fouled Up Football casts a sceptical eye on
the game in this country. It looks at the game as it really is,
through the gaze of an outsider, who grew up loving the game but who
has been turned off by the excesses of players, managers, broadcasters
and fans, and increasingly by the rich men who own and run the clubs.
The big bang came in 1992, when the Premier League went its own
merry way, aided by the millions that Sky television found to ease the
passage. Now the game is richer, and can attract the world's leading
stars, but it is poorer in spirit. The old football community means
little to these Masters of the Universe. The old links between club
and community have been ruined, and many players live in a different
world, where they feel free to behave as they like.
The book names the guilty, who include those on the fringes of
the game as well as the ones at the heart of it. Indignant in the
right sense, it is a lament for a spoilt game, and a world that has vanished.
The 50 People are:
Alan Green; Alan Hansen; Alan Hardaker -- FA administrator; Alan
Sugar; Alf Ramsey; Ashley Cole;.Bill Shankley; Bob Shennan; Charles
Hughes;Cristiano Ronaldo; David Baddiel; David and Victoria Beckham;
Denis Wise; Derek Hatton; Don Revie; Garry Cook; George Best; George
Graham; Golden Generation; Gordon Taylor; Graham Poll; Graham Taylor;;
Harold Thompson; Hooligans; Hunter Davies; Ian Wright; Joey Barton;
John Hall/Freddie Shepherd; Jonathan Barnett & Mel Stein; Jose
Mourinho; Ken Bates; Lord Kinnaird; Nick Love; Paul Gascoigne ; Paul
Ince; Peter Kenyon; Peter Ridsdale; Peter Swales; Piers Morgan; Pini
Zahavi; Richard Keys; Richard Scudamore; Robinho; Roman Abramovich;
Sam Allardyce; Sepp Blatter; Steve McLaren; Terry Venables;Tony Banks.
