Post by ZeroTheHero on May 20, 2016 13:41:37 GMT
Hi all -
I have just read two football books that might be of interest and thought you might like to know what I thought of them just in case you are looking for something to read on the beach.
'Journeyman' by Ben Smith
Subtitled 'One Man's Odyssey Through The Lower Leagues Of English Football'
Smith was a midfielder who played for various lower league teams - Hereford, Yeovil, Shrewsbury and Weymouth among others. I suppose most of us probably saw him playing for Crawley under Fatty Evans. This book (and in fact the Chris Hargreaves effort below as well) cuts back and forth between a chronological account of his career and a running commentary on his current life at the time of writing the book. Now I am not one for remembering every player who has ever played against us, unless they really made an impression at the time. I don't really recall this chap, so that probably tells it's own story! There is quite a lot of 'I could have made it, if only I hadn't kept going down the pub' in this book - that may or may not be true, we can all remember talented footballers who wasted their gifts. I found the book is a bit humourless, and a bit 'then we played team X and I played Ok, then we played team Y and I was a bit crap' in places. The bits I found most interesting were the behind the scenes stuff: how lower league footballers are treated by their managers, how footballers move from one club to another, what the finances are like etc. In fact the bit that held my attention most was his account of life at Crawley. Steve Evans and his odious sidekick sound every bit as horrible as you might imagine. It's not written in sparkling prose and there are a couple of things an editor should have picked up. There are a few OUFC mentions, but not enough to make it worth reading for that alone. In conclusion, I quite enjoyed it, but wasn't sorry when I had finished reading it.
'Where's Your Caravan?' by Chris Hargreaves
Subtitled 'My Life On Football's B-Roads'
I'm sure we all remember Chris Hargreaves. For those who don't, as well as us, he also played for Hereford, Plymouth, Northampton, Brentford and Hull plus both playing for and managing - fairly briefly - Torquay. He was at the club both on our relegation from the league and our return back to it. This book has remarkable similarities to the Ben Smith book - similar clubs, similar time period, and a similar structure to the book. (Smith was starting to teach when writing his, Hargreaves was doing a bit of coaching, a bit of gardening(!) and planning to open a shop). Immediately Hargreaves comes over as a more interesting character than Smith and you empathise more with him during the book. He can also see the silly side of both himself and the situations in which he finds himself. There is still some regret about missed chances (although I can't help but wonder whether both of these chaps have slightly elevated views of their own capabilities!), and a similar tale of dodgy managers, nights out that would have been better avoided, haggling for £50 a week extra pay and a dawning realisation that the bright lights and huge pay packets were never really going to happen. There is much more OUFC content in this one - although Hargreaves has more affection for some of his other ex-clubs. I enjoyed this one more than the Ben Smith book. It finishes with Hargreaves opening his shop. Out of interest, I googled it and it looks like it has closed down.
For beach reading, I would definitely pick the Hargreaves book. Apart from the stuff about Steve Evans, I don't think there is anything about lower league football in general in Smith's book that isn't covered in 'Where's Your Caravan?'.
I'm always interested in reading books about our level of football (as opposed to glossy memoirs by Prem players) - so any other recommendations would be welcome....
ZtH
I have just read two football books that might be of interest and thought you might like to know what I thought of them just in case you are looking for something to read on the beach.
'Journeyman' by Ben Smith
Subtitled 'One Man's Odyssey Through The Lower Leagues Of English Football'
Smith was a midfielder who played for various lower league teams - Hereford, Yeovil, Shrewsbury and Weymouth among others. I suppose most of us probably saw him playing for Crawley under Fatty Evans. This book (and in fact the Chris Hargreaves effort below as well) cuts back and forth between a chronological account of his career and a running commentary on his current life at the time of writing the book. Now I am not one for remembering every player who has ever played against us, unless they really made an impression at the time. I don't really recall this chap, so that probably tells it's own story! There is quite a lot of 'I could have made it, if only I hadn't kept going down the pub' in this book - that may or may not be true, we can all remember talented footballers who wasted their gifts. I found the book is a bit humourless, and a bit 'then we played team X and I played Ok, then we played team Y and I was a bit crap' in places. The bits I found most interesting were the behind the scenes stuff: how lower league footballers are treated by their managers, how footballers move from one club to another, what the finances are like etc. In fact the bit that held my attention most was his account of life at Crawley. Steve Evans and his odious sidekick sound every bit as horrible as you might imagine. It's not written in sparkling prose and there are a couple of things an editor should have picked up. There are a few OUFC mentions, but not enough to make it worth reading for that alone. In conclusion, I quite enjoyed it, but wasn't sorry when I had finished reading it.
'Where's Your Caravan?' by Chris Hargreaves
Subtitled 'My Life On Football's B-Roads'
I'm sure we all remember Chris Hargreaves. For those who don't, as well as us, he also played for Hereford, Plymouth, Northampton, Brentford and Hull plus both playing for and managing - fairly briefly - Torquay. He was at the club both on our relegation from the league and our return back to it. This book has remarkable similarities to the Ben Smith book - similar clubs, similar time period, and a similar structure to the book. (Smith was starting to teach when writing his, Hargreaves was doing a bit of coaching, a bit of gardening(!) and planning to open a shop). Immediately Hargreaves comes over as a more interesting character than Smith and you empathise more with him during the book. He can also see the silly side of both himself and the situations in which he finds himself. There is still some regret about missed chances (although I can't help but wonder whether both of these chaps have slightly elevated views of their own capabilities!), and a similar tale of dodgy managers, nights out that would have been better avoided, haggling for £50 a week extra pay and a dawning realisation that the bright lights and huge pay packets were never really going to happen. There is much more OUFC content in this one - although Hargreaves has more affection for some of his other ex-clubs. I enjoyed this one more than the Ben Smith book. It finishes with Hargreaves opening his shop. Out of interest, I googled it and it looks like it has closed down.
For beach reading, I would definitely pick the Hargreaves book. Apart from the stuff about Steve Evans, I don't think there is anything about lower league football in general in Smith's book that isn't covered in 'Where's Your Caravan?'.
I'm always interested in reading books about our level of football (as opposed to glossy memoirs by Prem players) - so any other recommendations would be welcome....
ZtH