The Football Man - Softcover

One of the most celebrated names of football writing, Arthur Hopcraft was witness to many of the highlights of the English game which he wrote about with unreserved passion and intelligence. A successful and highly revered writer and journalist, he was also the Guardian's feature writer and a prolific scriptwriter. Among his best-known works is his adaptation of John Le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

*Starred Review* This was first published in England in 1968, and its title refers to the kind of football played there, with a ball you can’t throw unless it goes out of bounds or you are a goalkeeper. Widely recognized as a classic, it is composed primarily of thoughtful, essayistic profiles of the different kinds of men—players, managers, team directors, referees, fans, amateurs, and journalists—who then populated the sport. Readers will know from the very first pages that they are in the hands of a deep thinker and a gifted stylist, careful to turn a phrase only where it will glitter most. Hopcraft, who wrote not for tabloids but the Guardian, Observer, and the Sunday Times (and who went on to become a successful TV scriptwriter, with the adaptation of John le Carré’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy to his credit), is that rarest of birds, an intellectual who understands fans’ feelings, and when he calls their chants a “plainsong of the terraces,” the language isn’t merely ornamental, it’s meaningful. Admittedly, this reprint will be of limited interest to younger fans choosing among the teams they watch on TV; while some of the figures and teams Hopcraft writes about are still well-remembered or well-known, others have passed into the pages of history (Sam Ellis) or the depths of the lower divisions (Oldham Athletic). But it’s a fascinating portrait of a historic moment in a nation that continues to export its sport to an eager world. Players were making the transition from working-class heroes to highly paid superstars, England was celebrating its first (and still only) World Cup victory, and the first spasms of hooliganism were in worrying evidence. An influential and still highly absorbing exploration, this deserves its place on a very short list of the best soccer books of all time. --Keir Graff