Author Description

Perfect for fans of original and engaging sports writing, this is the first intelligent and accessible history of soccer chants in the UK "The tales we tell each other on the terraces create something you cannot see, only feel, but it is very real and it goes very deep..." Soccer chants--spontaneous, witty, tribal, and, sometimes, downright offensive--are the grassroots of the game, from the Premiership all the way down to the Conference, and the sentiments behind the roar when the "Dirty northern b*st*rds!" meet the "Soft southern b*st*rds!" follow the divisions and the history of modern Britain. No other sport has a culture quite like it. In this witty and insightful narrative, Tim Marshall explores this powerful and passionate weekly ritual from the industrial revolution to the sexual revolution, touching on issues of race, class, and regional identity. Telling stories of the deep-rooted, tribal rivalries between the great industrial cities, via Elgar's chant for Wolverhampton Wanderers, to the moving origins of Captain John Currie Lauder's "Keep Right on to the End of the Road," now sung by thousands of Birmingham City fans, this book brings to life the love, hate, passion--and humor--that are the spirit of British soccer.