The Glory Game

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Journalist Davies spent an entire season with the team, training with them, visiting the players’ homes and witnessing the dressing-room confrontations – a luxury that seems so alien in modern-day football’s PR-managed world.

Davies’ 1972 book offered incredible insight of life at a football club as he was granted unprecedented access to Tottenham Hotspur’s 1971-72 as they went on to win that season’s UEFA Cup and challenging at the sharp end domestically. His family moved to Carlisle in northern England when Davies was 11 and he attended the Creighton School in the city. Davies lived in Carlisle until he moved to study at university. During this time his father, who was a former Royal Air Force pay clerk, developed multiple sclerosis and had to retire on medical grounds from a civil service career. A long-term resident of London, Davies' third adopted team is Tottenham Hotspur. [12] In international football, Davies supports Scotland. [13] Personal life [ edit ]One of the most interesting parts of the book is the insight it provides into the personality of Bill Nicholson. Davies describes Nicholson as a tough but fair coach who was respected by his players. He details the team talks that Nicholson gave and how he motivated his players to perform at their best. Davies also provides insights into Nicholson's personal life, giving readers a better understanding of the man behind the coach. a b "Hunter Davies". Qosfc.com. 26 September 2009. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015 . Retrieved 20 November 2013. The exposure of the dreadful state of English social attitudes; whether it be about gender roles or sexuality or race relations. This tells of a white male only world that was becoming at odds with the progressive and inclusive world that was over-taking it. There are numerous cringe-worthy sections and several that would have been indefensible even in the dark ages of 1971. You give a single solitary shit about Hunter Davies or his myriad, meandering bigoted pontifications, ancient memories, humble brags or celebrity namedrops. Davies also spends a significant amount of time discussing the tactics used by Bill Nicholson. He provides detailed descriptions of the training sessions and the drills that were used to prepare the team for games. He also explains the tactics used in each game and how they were adjusted throughout the season. This gives readers a better understanding of the strategic thinking that goes into football and how it can make a difference on the field.

Edward Hunter Davies OBE (born 7 January 1936) is a British author, journalist and broadcaster. His books include the only authorised biography of the Beatles. Half a century since Hunter Davies’ seminal book, The Glory Game, was first published, it remains one of football’s most revered tombs. In children's literature, he has written the Ossie, Flossie Teacake and Snotty Bumstead series of novels. Davies joined the sixth form at Carlisle Grammar School and was awarded a place at University College, Durham to read for an honours degree in History, but after his first year he switched to a general arts course. He gained his first writing experience as a student, contributing to the university newspaper, Palatinate, where one of his fellow student journalists was the future fashion writer Colin McDowell. After completing his degree course he stayed on at Durham for another year to gain a teaching diploma and avoid National Service. Much of the talk of great teams from Dynamo Moscow to Dynamo Kiev and Steaua Bucharest is repeated in Inverting the Pyramid, but it’s the people to whom Wilson speaks for this book that implore the reader to care about teams they may otherwise ignore. Each country, each club, is dealt with great tact.During the summer months they lived in their second home near Loweswater in the Lake District. [17] It was sold in July 2016. [18] His autobiography The Beatles, Football and Me was published in 2007. [3] Davies, Hunter (17 April 2008). "Modern fitba, eh?". New Statesman. London . Retrieved 20 November 2013. What makes The Glory Game so special is not just the access that Davies had but also his writing style. He is a masterful storyteller, able to bring to life the sights, sounds, and emotions of the football pitch. His prose is lyrical, evocative, and at times poetic, capturing the drama and passion of the game in a way that few other writers have been able to match.

Davies, Hunter (9 November 2003). "Posher than Hampstead?". The Sunday Times. London. (subscription required)McDonagh, Melanie (12 February 2016). "Hunter Davies: 'As long as I live she'll be with me' ". London Evening Standard . Retrieved 18 January 2017. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of The Glory Game, however, is the insight it provides into the day-to-day workings of a football club. Davies spent a season with Tottenham Hotspur, attending training sessions, team meetings, and matches. He was able to witness firsthand how the team prepared for games, how they analyzed their opponents, and how they dealt with both success and failure. Davies was married to the writer Margaret Forster from 1960 [14] until her death in 2016. Their daughter Caitlin Davies is also an author. From 1963, the family lived in the north London district of Dartmouth Park. [15] [16]

One of the most striking aspects of Davies' writing is his ability to humanize the players. He doesn't portray them as larger-than-life figures, but rather as regular people with families, personal struggles, and insecurities. For example, he writes about the pressure that star player Jimmy Greaves faced to perform on the field, as well as his battles with alcoholism and depression off the field. He writes a football column for the New Statesman. [7] A compilation of these articles was released as a book, The Fan, in 2005 by Pomona Press. Davies writes "Confessions of a Collector" in The Guardian's Weekend colour magazine. [8] He has written a book about his collections with the same title.In addition to these weighty topics, Davies also writes about the lighter side of the players' lives. He describes the camaraderie and banter that existed within the team, as well as their hobbies and interests outside of football. For example, he writes about how goalkeeper Pat Jennings was an accomplished painter, and how forward Martin Chivers was a keen fisherman. One review on here complains that it should be about a team that was very successful and suggests Manchester United. Apart from the historical facts being against this, (United were in a dreadful slump during this period) the glory in the title is glory that is aspired to not necessarily enjoyed. Tottenham seem to me to have been an excellent choice if the aim was to capture the essence of early seventies English football. But, this was fortuitous. Hunter Davies was looking to the present for his readership and was as surprised as anyone when the book kept selling. It is still very much worth the read if you can remember the players. I think it is probably worth the read if you don't.