Una raccolta di racconti. Uno comincia spiegando che le storie di calcio sono interessanti solo quando parlano della tua squadra, agli altri non interessano granché, e andando avanti nel libro ti accorgi che è abbastanza vero: sono scritte bene, qualcuna riesce a essere anche divertente, ma alla fine piacciono solo ai tifosi di questa o quella squadra di cui ti stanno raccontando le gesta. Peraltro sono tutte squadre inglesi di categorie minori, scelte durante campionati che risalgono a venti o trent'anni fa, in cui giocavano personaggi di cui non ho mai sentito parlare. Tranne qualche momento piacevole in cui ho rivisto la stessa passione che ho provato io allo stadio o a seguire in televisione le vicissitudini della mia squadra, mi sono generalmente rotto il cazzo.

My kind of book. My memories of 1990 World Cup are so clear and this really took me back. I felt book was a touch disjointed in places but still portrayed the emotions very well.

Questa volta ho proprio sbagliato l'acquisto. Certo, io non amo il calcio e forse avrei dovuto immaginare che non poteva essere un libro adatto a me, ma pensavo che si trattasse di racconti in chiave ironica o spiritosa, in linea con lo stile di Hornby, che ha curato la raccolta. In effetti, qualcuno lo è, ma in linea di massima si parla piuttosto in dettaglio di partite, calciatori, arbitri e punteggi del campionato irlandese o inglese, a me del tutto sconosciuti. Faccio già fatica a ricordarmi qualche giocatore delle squadre italiane, figuriamoci questi. Di conseguenza, mi sono annoiata a morte nel leggerlo. Ma dipende da me e dal mio disinteresse per la materia. Magari a qualcuno di voi potrebbe anche piacere.

La raccolta comprende i seguenti racconti:
Roddy Doyle - Repubblica è una bellissima parola
Harry Pearson - Un campionato di tranquilla inutilità
Harry Ritchie - Take my whole life too
Ed Horton - Scomparire?
Olly Wicken - Illusioni di grandeur
D.J. Taylor - Fattene una ragione,
Hansen Huw Richards - Il Vangelo secondo san Giovanni l'Alchimista
Nick Hornby - Il vizio di Abbey
Chris Pierson - L'anno d'oro Matt Nation - Cosce da elefante
Graham Brack - Où sont les Neiges d'Antan?
Don Watson - Psycho Mike e il pattinaggio fantasma
Giles Smith - Sul campo per posta

“Premier League fans become entangled in the deadly seriousness of it all, but lower league football takes itself less seriously, has more sense of enjoyment and relaxation and fewer expectations.”

Now I don’t think for a second that all fans share this belief, but the general point is made. This is a book which very much concerns itself with some of the more unassuming corners of the British footballing landscape. This is also one of its biggest appeals, the largely unassuming content. The vast majority focus on lesser known clubs and their various struggles and achievements, which makes it all the more refreshing.

Raith Rovers, St Albans City, Bristol City and Swansea City are just some of the teams featured. We also end up at some better known destinations, though more renowned for their tertiary education, than their style of football - Oxford United (Which is as much about the Maxwell ownership era as the football season or club itself). Cambridge United (their 83/84 season which saw them going an incredible thirty-one games without a win in the then Second Division).

These are stories filled with tales of scrappy local derbies and other rivalries on and off the pitch. Its more about the grit than the glamour, these are the teams that tend to play in the sort of grounds where you are more likely to cheer on characters with flaws rather than stars with talent. And of course these are accounts which are a compact festival of facts, stats, trivia and grudges, that goes along with being a football fan.

Broadly speaking what we get here are humble people following humble clubs, with humble ambitions, understandably this may not sound overly exciting to most, but to football fans and in particular those who follow smaller clubs, this can be a really rewarding and relatable collection of essays.

Ahead of contributing to a similar style, if slightly lower profile, collection of 'my favourite season' stories I borrowed this from Russell.

It was enjoyable enough; even though the book published almost 20 years ago, it still possesses much currency and certain pieces were an absolute joy to read, particularly Olly Wicken's ballboy-eye view of Watford's 74-75 campaign.

If you collect football literature, then this should be on your shelves.

This was a collection of essays about football fans' favourite games/seasons from their club's histories. I was recommended this book by Rachel after really enjoying Fever Pitch (one of the best books i've ever read, and THE definitive book on being a football fan), but she did give me fair warning that it was nowhere as good, and I agree with her assessment.

Many of the chapters were talking about a specific season in a club's history that I had no interest in, and I felt like that experience was not particularly relatable. I guess it's also because many of the essays were for lower-league clubs, and I support a mega-club, thus I couldn't really empathise with what it was like to win promotion from League 2 to League 1, or to finally see your club go to the quarter-finals of the FA cup as a non-league side.

I'm also not sure if the submissions were from fans or actual writers, but I felt that the quality of writing was nowhere near what was produced in Fever Pitch. It felt much more amateur, like something you would read on a blog. However, the passion did come through, which is the most important.

Quite a fascinating read, actually. Hornby's, Wicken's, and Doyle's pieces were my favorites. Overall, it's full of emotion and love for football in all its forms.

A quirkly little collection of football memoirs, from a diverse group of writers.

The clubs and memories here are, for the most part, lesser known and from a pre-Sky tv era.

It took me back to my first football experiences, standing on terraces, kids being shoved down to the front, so you could see the action, or what passed for action on the muddy quagmires the pitches inevitably were.

Some of the contributors here wouldn't appear out of place in Rain Man, such is their grasp of stats and recall of scorers.

My memories blur from one crap experience to another, but that is exactly the magic that these stories convey: the feeling of helplessness and dismay from supporting a truly terrible team.

I wore my team's lack of silverware as a badge of honour: no glory hunting catcalls for me, just unremitting monotony.

These are tales for a true football fan, who will empathise and smile along with the unceasing optimism displayed within these pages.

A collection of stories that will resonate with any fan who dimly recalls the origin of their dedication to a single team. Well worth the read.