Forever Boys: The Days of Citizens and Heroes (Wisden Sports Writing) - Hardcover

Lawton, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1472912403 ISBN 13: 9781472912404

Publisher: Wisden, 2015

Synopsis

Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year 2015

Sometimes you love a football team not only for their strengths, the splendour of their play and the appealing thrust of their character, but also the haunting possibility that their best hopes may never be fulfilled. This has rarely been demonstrated so vividly as by the Manchester City team who briefly, but unforgettably, illuminated the late sixties. And no one was more caught up in their struggles and their triumphs than James Lawton, a young sportswriter starting out on a career that would take him to all the great events of world sport. Yet still, 50 years after Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison began to shape the brilliant team, he counts watching their rise to glory as one of the most exciting times of his professional life.

Francis Lee, Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee - these players loomed large over the game as they charged at the peaks of English football, and today evoke a period of the sport's history that seems distant and unknowable, hard to see except through the rose-tinted gloss of nostalgia.

Lawton goes back to those heroes, interviewing all the main players and characters who are still alive, and vividly brings to life the story of that City team which with such wonderful panache, and freedom, won the first division title, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup between 1967 and 1970.

This, though, is not just the story of one team, but a broader one of how sport can sometimes so perfectly mirror the exaltation and the despair of the real world, how it carries those who do it, and sometimes even those who merely see it, to moments that will claim a permanent place in their hearts.

About this title

Product Description:

Sometimes you love a football team not only for their strengths, the splendour of their play and the appealing thrust of their character, but also the haunting possibility that their best hopes may never be fulfilled. This has rarely been demonstrated so vividly as by the Manchester City team who briefly, but unforgettably, illuminated the late sixties. And no one was more caught up in their struggles and their triumphs than James Lawton, a young sportswriter starting out on a career that would take him to all the great events of world sport. Yet still, 50 years after Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison began to shape the brilliant team, he counts watching their rise to glory as one of the most exciting times of his professional life. Francis Lee, Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee - these players loomed large over the game as they charged at the peaks of English football, and today evoke a period of the sport's history that seems distant and unknowable, hard to see except through the rose-tinted gloss of nostalgia. Lawton goes back to those heroes, interviewing all the main players and characters who are still alive, and vividly brings to life the story of that City team which with such wonderful panache, and freedom, won the first division title, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup between 1967 and 1970. This, though, is not just the story of one team, but a broader one of how sport can sometimes so perfectly mirror the exaltation and the despair of the real world, how it carries those who do it, and sometimes even those who merely see it, to moments that will claim a permanent place in their hearts.

Review:

A beautifully written, nostalgic journey . Lawton visits all living participants, but he breaks the good reporter's rule by including his own reflections. They make it all the richer (Sunday Times)

Excellent . Forever Boys is necessary reading for City fans (The (Glasgow) Herald)

This golden era is beautifully captured in James Lawton's Forever Boys (Choice Magazine)

It is a bitter-sweet account of life then and now, a beautifully-crafted and evocative recollection of the original City 'Super Team' (The Sun)

This is a great book for a lot of reasons. Simply put, it is some of the finest sportswriting to be seen in 2015. It is an obvious choice for Man City fans or anyone that loves the English game or the city of Manchester. It's also a great piece of nostalgia, a great opportunity to hear living legends talk about their journey in the beautiful game. It's a magical and unique experience, one that is an enjoyable from cover to cover. (International Soccer Network)

A wonderfully evocative book (Backpass)

It's a beautiful story lovingly told by a great writer who still holds City close to his heart. I can't recommend it highly enough. (Kevin Cummins Manchester City programme)

Spellbinding (Irish Examiner)

a fascinating portrait of - and tribute to - the men who did so much for the club (When Saturday Comes)

Football romantics, particularly those with ties in Manchester and Nottingham, will lap up the nostalgia of Forever Boys (The Independent on Sunday)

About this edition

• Publisher: Wisden
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1472912403
• ISBN 13: 9781472912404
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336