Bob

Have you tried Steak Diana Ross, Diary of Football Nobody. Still
cheap copies knocking around.

DR

--- In sixtiesandseventiessoccer@yahoogroups.com, "Bob Dunning"
<bob.dunning@...> wrote:
>
> It's a bit long winded, but here's a review for Jimmy Armfield's
> autobiography. I'm between books at the moment, has anyone a
> suggestion for the next football book I should read? Nothing too
> expensive please, but otherwise I'm up for any suggestion.
>
> Bob7071
>
> May 2007
> 'Jimmy Armfield the Autobiography: Right Back to the Beginning' by
> Jimmy Armfield with Andrew Collomosse.
> (Headline, 2003)
>
> Jimmy Armfield's grammar school origins permeate this whole book.
He
> comes across as an intelligent, well mannered diplomat, who loves
his
> football and his life. I keep saying it, but why people waste
their
> time reading biographies of the current stars when they can enrich
> their lives by reading life stories like Jimmy's I will never know.
> Jimmy was a child during the war years and the opening chapters
> capture a unique moment in English history when children got on
with
> their childhood whilst the adults did their best to bomb the world
> into oblivion. In the future if social historians need source
> material of living an ordinary life in 1940s Britain they need
look
> no further than biographies such as Jimmy's.
>
> Some of Jimmy's lifetime ability to seamlessly marry the
> stereotypical male world around him with more feminine-side
pursuits
> began at school, when as a boy in Lancashire he appeared on stage
> dancing the Cracowiak for the Polish troops, and got away with it.
> Rather sweetly, though unknowingly at the time, one of the other
> dancers was his future wife. In later life he replicated this by
not
> only devoting his life in the male attributed world of football he
> was also his local church organist.
>
> Jimmy was a natural sportsman and it was not long before his
talents
> were spotted by Blackpool, one of the top Division One (when it
> really was Division One) sides of the era. Like all lads of his
age
> he still had to do his National Service, and his early football
> career was defined by juggling his duty to the army and turning
out
> for Blackpool, working his way up from the reserves to being a
first
> team regular playing alongside Stanley Matthews.
>
> 'He would have been sat next to Duncan when the tragic plane
accident
> in Munich 1958'
>
> The army team at this time was rather handy including as it did
> future Manchester United players Duncan Edwards and Eddie Colman.
> Jimmy's description of the brilliance of Duncan's skills was one
of
> the most touching moments of the book. Duncan and he would sit
next
> to each other on trips to army matches. Later Jimmy tells us
> Manchester United came in for him and was turned down without
> discussion, in the days when the clubs really did own the players,
> and no more was said. Jimmy reflects that had Blackpool sold him,
the
> chances are he would have been sat next to Duncan when the tragic
> plane accident in Munich 1958 killed him and Eddie Colman.
>
> Next follows his rise to being a Blackpool regular then captain,
and
> ultimately being England regular and captain - taking over from
> Johnny Haynes after the 1962 World Cup finals. In these Finals
Jimmy
> was an established player and Bobby Moore was an emerging star.
Over
> the next four years of course, England was evolving into the most
> famous team in its history. Gordon Banks also debuted around the
time
> of the '62 World Cup, Ray Wilson, Bobby Charlton were also
> established. Roger Hunt was alternating with Jimmy Greaves.
>
> 'Being cold-hearted, Jimmy's loss was Sir Alf's gain'
>
> The rest did not debut until 1964, and in what must have been a
> personal tragedy for Jimmy one of the team's casualties by this
time
> was Jimmy himself. In the last game of the 1963-64 season playing
for
> Blackpool against Ipswich Town in front of Sir Alf Ramsey, Jimmy
got
> a groin injury which kept him out of the England's 1964 Summer
> preparations and allowed Bobby Moore to take over as captain.
> Being cold-hearted, Jimmy's loss was Sir Alf's gain. By the time
> Jimmy was fit again George Cohen had taken his place on the field
and
> Bobby had taken his captaincy, but Jimmy was the perfect standby,
> whom Sir Alf could rely on to fill the shoes if Bobby or George
had
> either been injured in the 1966 Tournament itself. Jimmy played
just
> two more internationals, both in 1966, both as captain, and both
in
> which he played well enough to be selected, but in retrospect it
> seems that Jimmy's experience was the reason for his recall in Sir
> Alf's mind.
>
> There then follows the most intriguing part of the book in which
> Jimmy plays the perfect role as the unofficial leader of the 1966
> World Cup squad Second XI. It is fascinating to read the tale from
> the perspective of a player once removed from the first team
action,
> and it seems he took the role on with the dedication and diligence
he
> gives to everything in his life. After a training match v Arsenal
in
> which the second team won 3-1 the players hoisted him onto the
> shoulders to leave the pitch.
>
> 'Jimmy was chosen .... after the nuclear bomb of Brian Clough's 44
> days'
>
> Jimmy's football career ended in 1970-71 season. Jimmy had already
> been player-manager of the FA tour to Tahiti, New Zealand and the
Far
> East in 1969, so it was natural he should go into club management,
> and Bolton Wanderers is where he headed. He won the Third Division
> Championship in 1973, and became the surprise new manager of Leeds
> United in October 1974. It seems Jimmy was chosen for his level-
> headed diplomacy, to steady the ship after the nuclear bomb of
Brian
> Clough's 44 days.
>
> As a Leeds fan, who had bought the book in the Leeds United
> supporter's shop, this was obviously the reason I'd come along for
> the ride, and I was not disappointed. Jimmy by all accounts did
the
> job he was hired for. Rather than callously sweeping away the old
> guard he took a softly softly approach and the Revie players
> eventually found new clubs, some with considerable transfer fees
> considering the late stages of their careers.
>
> Though the old boys reached the 1975 European Cup final losing to
a
> Bayern Munich team that outplayed Leeds United at their own game
of
> snatching a barely deserved goal then soaking up the pressure -
even
> managing to score a second on the break of an ever more desperate
> Leeds side in its death throes. As the old team was unpicked and
the
> new side took shape, its lack of instant success, and the general
> lack of flair in Jimmy's management style meant the board lost
> patience. By his own account, the team that Jimmy built was never
> given a fair chance; he was sacked and he left the football
frontline
> for good. But even now we're only two thirds the way through the
> book.
>
> 'BBC Radio Five Live, the means by which
> whole generations of football fans know Jimmy
> to the exclusion of his playing career!'
>
> For anyone interested in football commentating, this book is a
dream.
> Jimmy follows his journalistic roots from reporting minor league
> matches in the Blackpool Gazette, through being a serious sports
> journalist for the Daily Express, and finally on to his legendary
> commentary on BBC Radio Five Live, the means by which whole
> generations of football fans know Jimmy to the exclusion of his
> playing career!
>
> What a book! The later chapters include his head hunting role when
he
> helped the FA to pick Terry Venables and Glenn Hoddle as England
> managers, and his emerging status as a statesman of the game. I
would
> love to hear repeats of his radio series in which he interviews of
> some of his football heroes. This sounds like an archive for which
> the BBC should be very proud they chose the right man for the job.
> Again, his diligence comes through and you know he wants to do it
to
> celebrate the heroes he was interviewing rather than the sound of
his
> own voice.
>
> As I read the concluding chapters Jimmy announced he is undergoing
> treatment for cancer, so as you can imagine I was stony throated
by
> the final page. I hope his treatment succeeds; we need legends
like
> Jimmy around who not only inform us about former times but still
> embrace the glories of the new. I'm proud to say that this site
once
> voted Jimmy the best commentator in the media! An accolade he
truly
> deserves; but this book shows he has had four separate football
> careers - player, manager, headhunter and reporter - and he
excelled
> in them all!
>