Beating Them at Their Own Game: How the Irish Conquered English Soccer - Couverture souple

West, Patrick

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1905483104 ISBN 13 : 9781905483105

Editeur : Liberties Press Ltd, 2006

Synopsis

Beating Them at Their Own Game charts how Irish players, managers and business people have come to have a disproportionate influence on soccer in the UK. An entertaining survey of the growing prominence of Irish figures from the post-war period to the present day, it chronicles the period of time in which soccer in Ireland has evolved from being derided as a foreign and essentially Anglo-Saxon game that no true Irishman would play to a beloved sport that inspires almost religious following.

Not only have the Irish taken soccer to their heart, they have taught the nation that gave the game - the same nation that ruled them for 800 years - how to play it. From Pat Jennings to Martin O Neill, Kevin Moran, Frank Stapleton, David O'Leary, Mick McCarthy, to Niall Quinn and Roy and Robbie Keane, in Beating Them at Their Own Game Patrick West documents how Irish players have in many ways changed and shaped English soccer over the last forty years.

Launched by former Republic Of Ireland manager Eoin Hand, the book also deals with the success of Northern Irish players - George Best, Sammy McIlroy and Norman Whiteside - the consummation of Ireland's ascendancy with their victory over England in the 1988 European Championships; Tony Cascarino's admission that he is not Irish; and the debates about how Irish the international team was and is; and the way in which the favor has been returned, with Jack Charlton and now Bobby Robson coaching the Irish side.

On another level it is a microcosm of how Ireland and Anglo-Irish relations have changed in recent years; how Ireland has become more multiracial and tolerant of foreign games; and how the English have lost their ancient hostility towards the Irish and come to view them increasingly as allies and neighbors.

Although Patrick West is British, he writes emphatically (and flatteringly) of his admiration of Irish sporting culture, following a tradition of Bill Bryson on England and Pete McCarthy on Ireland. Image courtesy of Fionnbar Callanan from his book, A Sporting Eye.

A propos du livre

Biographie de l'auteur

Patrick West is a freelance writer. Born in London in 1974 to an English father and Irish mother - journalist and writer Mary Kenny, he graduated from university with an MA in Cultural History. He has written for many papers including the London Times, the Irish Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Independent, as well as magazines such as FourFourTwo, and The Spectator, the Times Literary Supplement, Living Marxism and the Catholic Herald. He is also the author of The Poverty of Multiculturalism and Conspicuous Compassion. He is a keen supporter of Brentford FC, England and the Republic of Ireland.

Revue de presse

'The book is very impressive - even from a vantage of football ignorance I'm enjoying it as cultural history.' --Roy Foster, Professor of Modern History Oxford University

'well researched and well written...a celebration of genuinely great Irish players, from both sides of the border'. --Verbal magazine

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Liberties Press Ltd
• Date d'édition: 2006
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1905483104
• ISBN 13: 9781905483105
• Reliure: Broché
• Nombre de pages: 248
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible