"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
It's a vision of the century which sees the siege of the Imperial mindset mirrored in the fortunes of the England football team and those individuals who kept goal--from Reg Matthews to David Seaman, each successive lofty yeoman a totem to the British Way of Life. Chapman has written an intelligent study of the roots and function of identity, but at no point do the scale of his ideas to swamp his comic instinct or finely developed sense of the absurd--this is a readable and amusing take on the meaning of being number 1. --Alex Hankin
‘Witty and acutely observed, it is the story of post-war Britain told through the eyes of a North London boy brought up on the tradition of goalkeeping legends.’
Daily Mail
‘More than football... woven together with skill and style.’
Independent
‘Well written, charming, funny.’
Sunday Times
‘There are times when words are worth a thousand pictures... invigorating history, but the football too is excellent’
Glasgow Herald
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Book Description PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # VC-9780007291502
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. The beguiling story of one boys dream to play in goal, that most British of positions, culminating in the moment when he faces the mighty Zico If the French are the flair in midfield, the Germans the attack from the inside channels, the Italians the cry-foul defence, then Britain is the goalkeeper: stand alone, the bastion of last resort, more solid than spectacular, part of the team and yet not. And Britains place in the world is epitomised by its goalkeepers: post war austerity is embodied in Bert Williams (Walsall and England) , a wartime PT boy whose athleticism scarcely concealed a masochistic edge: he ended his training routine with a full-length dive on to concrete; the end of Empire abroad came as the army and politicians were being humiliated in Suez and the football team, despite the best efforts of Gill Merrick (Birmingham and England), were being humbled by the Hungarians at home; the thawing of the cold war is begun not over Cuban missiles but over Lev Yashin, the superb and widely admired Russian whose arrival for the world cup in 1966 changes the attitudes of a nation the Reds cannot be all bad if they have such an exemplary keeper. And for Peter Chapman (Orient Schoolboys and one appearance in the World Eleven to face Brasil), like his father before him (Armed Forces), it is always the goalkeeper who is the indicator of national well-being. A genuine, touching story of a nations affection for footballs perennial underdog, of a childhood obsession and of a glorious footballing tradition from Kelsey to Jennings, Swift to Trautmann, Bonetti to Shilton that culminates perhaps ends even in the last truly British goalkeeper: David Seaman. The beguiling story of one boys dream to play in goal, that most British of positions, culminating in the moment when he faces the mighty Zico Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780007291502
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 320 pages. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0007291507
Book Description Condition: New. . Seller Inventory # 52GZZZ01U8UJ_ns
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 320 pages. 7.64x5.12x1.02 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # x-0007291507
Book Description PAP. Condition: New. New Book. Shipped from UK. Established seller since 2000. Seller Inventory # VC-9780007291502