Two Tribes

Journalist and Liverpool football fan, Tony Evans, has a new book set for release from Bantam Press. Two Tribes focuses on the 1986 FA Cup final between Liverpool and Everton, the first time the Merseyside clubs met in the showpiece final at Wembley Stadium.

In 1986, the eyes of the world were upon the two Liverpudlian clubs, a year after the Heysel Stadium disaster; a tragedy which had far-reaching impact upon the cultural and sporting landscape for years to come.

Evans has brilliantly constructed a time machine and cultural artefact looking at the cause and effect of the Heysel tragedy and why it might have happened, not blaming Liverpool fans as many tried to but focusing on the political landscape in the United Kingdom where a toxic environment of anti-government resentment led to protests upon the football terraces.

Evans' notes that hooliganism had been ripe in the football stands for many years not just in English stands but European ones when teams visited.  He notes that two weeks before Heysel, Everton played in the Cup Winners' Cup final in Rotterdam without any incident.  The contrast between the two was vast, partly because Liverpool was the best club side in the world at that moment, more of a spotlight was thrown on them and their fans.

Ultimately, the tragedy at Heysel was blamed on English supporters, with a blanket club ban on English sides in European competition for five years. This led to teams missing out on being in the best club tournaments, mainly Everton who won the league twice and could not play against the continental best.  This led to certain players moving to Continental Europe - Gary Lineker, Glenn Hoddle, Chris Waddle - to extend their careers.

Another reason led to things changing was the advent of a new money windfall as the 'Big Five' attempted to get more live football on television screens; broadcast companies would not feature live football apart from cup finals and major international tournaments for fear of broadcasting fights on the terrace rather than the beautiful game.

Evans makes good points on this influx of money and how it would change football and those who play it; the drinking culture is incorporated into a chapter on Frank McAvennie who helped West Ham to third in the first division when Liverpool won the double.

But for all the money, there is still a feeling that the clubs love their fans but are negligent to their safety as Heysel and the fire at Bradford were eerie harbingers to the ultimate tragedy of Hillsborough which was three years away.

It is important Evans states that football mirrors society at vital times in history; football during the mid-1980s was a place away from government where people seeked freedom from the monotony of social angst. 

Today we live in a world of isolationism, breaking away from Europe and selfishness; on our football fields we think our league is better than everyone else's yet our teams struggle in Europe and players are paid fortunes whilst fans are asked to pay more and more for a product that rarely delivers. 

Yet there remains in football a tribalistic mentality - us v them - that underscores many who watch the game, and seen at the London Stadium two weeks ago when West Ham fans made their bitterness known to the owners of West Ham United barraging them with chants from below as they sat in exulted seats.

Through the microcosm of one momentous year in English league football - from drunken footballers periously sitting astride the tenants of amateurism and professionalism; the Full Members' Cup in the absence of European competition - culminating in the coronation of one of England's greatest club sides, Evans has crafted a wonderful book that is part keepsake, part social comment, part football lore but fully brilliant.

Two Tribes is out from Bantam Press in Hardback from Thursday 22nd March.

My thanks to Thomas Hill at Transworld Books for the opportunity to review.

Out of the Shadows

Gary Jordan, a freelance journalist, has written a fan's perspective and history of the 1982 England World Cup side that despite being one of the best accumulation of talent failed to progress beyond the convoluted second round where two 0-0 draws eliminated a team that won its first three games confidently.

Harking back to the 1970 quarter final defeat by West Germany which was the end of that generation's playing time together and the end of international careers of Bobby Charlton and Martin Peters. Jordan makes pit stops at the terrible mid-1970s when England failed to qualify for two consecutive World Cup finals due to a mixture of being unable to change with the times and selection issues off the field as well as on it.

Ron Greenwood - England manager 1977-1982

Jordan does investigate and explain how England side-stepped Brian Clough twice; initially for his nemesis Don Revie and then the FA darling, Ron Greenwood.  However, the reason England stumbled throughout the 1970s was more a fact to an inflated ego and self-importance of the Football Association following the glory of 1966.  England felt they were the best in the world, yet they did not follow it up despite playing so admirably in Mexico 1970; tactical naivety led to Alf Ramsey substituting Bobby Charlton when 2-0 up prompting a West German fightback which England could not prevent.

The 1982 England World Cup Squad

Ramsey got too long in the tooth by 1973 when Poland denied England at Wembley, and Revie could not do much better in attempting to qualify for Argentina in 1978.  Revie promptly left England for the oil money of the Middle East leaving England as poison chalice for whomever took charge.

Greenwood comes across as an esteemable figure, lauded by his peers and hugely admired by his players who got the best out of youngsters and was able to combine experience and youth in a dynamic package.  Whilst he had the veterans of Kevin Keegan, Trevor Brooking and Phil Thompson, he equally relied on the brash Bryan Robson, Ray Wilkins and Terry Butcher who would all become mainstays for the next four years.

However, Greenwood still succumb to problems that regularly beset England managers at major tournaments - think of the crippling metatarsals to David Beckham and Michael Owen, for Greenwood it was the lower back injury to Kevin Keegan who did not seek help from a respected German doctor until it was too late; and then tactical downfalls and second guessing. England needing to win the second second round group game versus Spain decided to play tactically and wait for an opportunity to win rather than go for the 'jugular' as Terry Butcher suggests, leaving the calvary of Keegan/Brooking only 26 minutes to save the day.  Greenwood admits he was damned if he did and damned if he did not but the chance of glory should not be passed up.

Kevin Keegan - injury cost him a starting place

These are familiar pitfalls for all England managers and Gareth Southgate may well encounter these before Russia next summer but ultimately when you have a class of player at your disposal you should not pass it up, and while Southgate is attempting to incorporate youth in with mainstays, the foundation of any campaign requires goals. If you cannot score goals, you cannot win games.

The book is a nice read from Gary Jordan, short sharp chapters that recall the matches fondly bringing in all manner of cultural resonance from the Falklands War to the searing heat of Spanish summers which led to Paul Mariner losing a stone in weight wearing a heavy polyester kit during the opening France game.

Written with passion and fondness for a by-gone pre-1992 Premier League era, Jordan has written a great tome to a team that though full of talent is regularly forgotten about in the shadow of our recall.

Out of the Shadows is out now from Pitch Publishing.

You can follow Gary Jordan on Twitter, he is sports features writer for The American, a magazine aimed at Ex-Pats in England

Interview with Roland Lazenby, Author of 'Showboat'

       Why Kobe Bryant?

He was a player I first became interested in years ago, in 1996 while writing about Jordan. I decided to take a look at the new generation of players coming into the league to see which ones might inherit the mantle. He wasn’t a prime player as a rookie, but he stood out because of his immense work ethic. After I finished Michael Jordan, The Life, I began looking for another subject to write about. Sonny Vaccaro, the basketball kingmaker, suggested Bryant. “He’s the most complicated guy in the NBA,” Vaccaro said. He was right.

      How long did the book take to write?

      The publisher wanted me to write it in 10 months. I finished it in 14, writing seven days a week, 10-14 hours a day. It was quite a grind, but his story was fascinating to me.

     

      Bryant transcends his sport yet he seems an introvert personality. Was it hard to get people to talk about him?

      Yes, some people were fearful of upsetting him, just as some media personalities have admitted being fearful of having me on their shows because they don’t want to anger him. It’s an independent look, a biography, which can be difficult for huge stars. They all like to control their narrative, but Kobe really wants to control his narrative.

      Did your opinion of Bryant change as you wrote the book and got to the end?

      It varied depending on what part of the book I was writing. I wrote a book about his adjustment to the NBA in 1999, called Mad Game, The NBA Education of Kobe Bryant, when he was 19 to 21. I thought I understood him. I had no idea.

      Do you feel the criticism that Bryant did not play well with others (O'Neal in particular) ring true?

      In the book, I lay out the criticisms over that. Jordan caught the same flak. It’s a function of their skill, their talent, their personalities, their alpha competitive natures.

      Where does he sit in your list of all-time great NBA players?

      I don’t make lists of all time greats. I’m just a writer. I let those guys settle it on the court. Kobe is 3 on the all-time scoring list. As he says, that puts him in the conversation. It’s hard to claim superiority over guys like Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell and Magic Johnson (in no certain order).

      What is the most impressive feat of his career? - 5 titles, the 81 game, the longevity of his career?

      Well, you’re supposed to play the game to win. I’ll take championships every time, especially five of them.

   

      Will he succeed if he ran a team? Will he be better than Jordan did?

      I admire Jordan as an owner. He took Charlotte, the Chernobyl of the NBA, and has revitalized that miserable franchise. Kobe’s a bright man, so he could certainly be an owner. He’s a bit aloof at times, but the people who work for his media companies seem to enjoy him. It would be a new gig, so I think we have to withhold judgment and see if that’s where he goes.

-     

      What is the state of the NBA right now?

      The NBA is a young league, and the game has gone to a new style. Some of it, the Warriors, is beautiful. But the pace and space style of today’s game also makes for some ugly teams. You just have to wait and see if post play makes a recovery in the game. Whatever happens, it’s going to take time.

Will we ever see another Kobe Bean Bryant?

Not in today’s game. It has changed. Kobe and Michael were very effective post players as guards. But the game is a jump-shooting game these days, make or miss. And fans deride the triangle offense as something from the past. One of the earliest offenses was screen and roll but people act like it’s a new invention.

Showboat is out now from Little Brown and Company now for £19.95 RRP, although the kindle edition is better with more pages.

The Yucks

Jason Vuic is a lifelong Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan, and he brings his critical journalistic eye to the creation and formation of the NFL franchise known as the Bucs that were born in the Tampa Bay area of Florida in 1976 and in became the losingest team in NFL history when they lost 26 consecutive games ending in 1977.

The book is a pleasant sprightly read through the early history of a franchise that would ultimately reach the pinnacle by winning the Super Bowl in 2003. Yet it was a very long road, and continues to be so; they have endured more losing seasons than winning seasons in their 40 year history. Although following the draft of Jameis Winston last year, perhaps the cementing of a stronger team is coming to fruition.

The story began with promoter Bill Marcum who wanted to bring a NFL team to his hometown, and the owner Hugh Culverhouse, who was a miserly figure such as charging players for soda in the locker room. Yet the best stories and tidbits of the novel come from the ever quotable head coach John McKay, who would drill his players in an attempt to replicate the success he had at the University of Southern California (USC).

The images that stick with you are a college great in McKay who won National Championships being unable to replicate the success at a professional level, doing two-a-days in 100 degree heat for a whole month running his pros into the ground and instilling a negativity from the outset.

John McKay - coach of the worst team in NFL history

This failure to build a cohesion and team spirit because they were too fatigued meant that they were always facing an uphill battle, and the losing began leading to them becoming a national punchline led by Johnny Carson on 'The Tonight Show'.

Yet the Bucs had good players in quarterback Steve Spurrier (who would go on to become a college great himself in the coaching ranks), defensive end Pat Toomay who was ultimately banished after writing a tell-all book.

However bad they were, the Yucks became something more than if they were a .500 team. They became prominent in the public consciousness and everyone knew who the Bucs were, even if they were not winning. Fans came to the games to cheer on their endeavours no matter how poor they were, McKay would offer a fight with fans who questioned his integrity yet it all culminated with a victory over New Orleans in the Superdome over the Saints led by Archie Manning (the father of Peyton and Eli), the account of their plane ride home is worth the read alone. A first victory turned into the greatest victory.

The Yucks is out now from Simon & Schuster in Hardback