The Glory Game

Product Information

The writer. He is present with the players and readers equally. He has just the right touch. He's aware and informed not just about the game but also about the culture. I've been a fan since I used to read his columns in Punch while waiting for a girlfriend to finish her shift at a dental practice. I've allowed our "Hunt" to tell me all about the Beatles and to guide me along Hadrian's Wall. The fellow can inform and entertain without either getting in the other's way. Hunter Davies, author of the only authorized biography of The Beatles, wrote in his introduction to the 2011 edition of T he Glory Game about a concern he had when the book first appeared in 1973. He hoped that it would appeal to an audience larger than Tottenham Hotspur fans. Through the unprecedented access Mr. Davies was granted by Tottenham, he was able to examine the club from all sides, to give a complete look at the inner workings of a top division team, and write a story that transcends the lines of fandom, and the hands of time. Each chapter takes us to a specific place beginning of course with the swimming ponds. We meet some of the characters on the heath from the dog walkers to the rich and famous and the hippies that are using the space for their own particular ends. There are several visits to the pubs, he wanders along the pergola, a generally unknown spot as well as visits to the sheep that are making an appearance now. Davies has also written a biography of the fell walker Alfred Wainwright, and many works about the topography and history of the Lake District.

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. [2] After completing his degree course he stayed on at Durham for another year to gain a teaching diploma and avoid National Service. [3] Writing career [ edit ] Davies has stated that the first football team he supported was Queen of the South, when he lived in Dumfries. [1] After moving to Carlisle aged 11, he adopted English Football League club Carlisle United. [11] I was hoping for a bit more on his time with the Beatles and the 1960s more generally. Hunter touches on these areas but as he has written so many books, and newspaper columns, and done many other interesting things, he doesn't dwell on anything for long. The only subject that gets extensively covered is his life with Margaret.

The Glory Game defined the fly-on-the-wall sports book. Although Nicholson later claimed that he’d occasionally felt inhibited by Davies’ presence (particularly when chastising Martin Chivers), the Spurs players and staff were remarkably candid in confiding their hopes and fears. Aside from the frequent references to flares, Triumph Stags, and Nicholson’s hatred of men with long hair, Davies’ book simply doesn’t date. “The tensions, the personality clashes, the fear of losing one’s place in the team, the monotony of training, triumph and despair, concern over injuries, old players fading... all these factors will remain constants in team sports for as long as they’re played,” argues Davies. In the 1971/72 season, Davies was granted unprecedented access to Tottenham boss Bill Nicholson and his 19-man first-team pool. With no official contract behind him, he admits to “worming my way in” at White Hart Lane, and convincing all those concerned that an “inside story” book charting Spurs’ season would be a worthwhile project. In 1972, Davies wrote a book about football, The Glory Game, a behind-the-scenes portrait of Tottenham Hotspur. Davies also wrote a column about his daily life in Punch called "Father's Day", presenting himself as a harried paterfamilias. In 1974, he was sent by The Sunday Times to look at a comprehensive school in action. He wrote three articles and then stayed on at the school – Creighton School in Muswell Hill, north London, now part of Fortismere School – to watch and study through a year in its life. The result was a book, the Creighton Report, published in 1976. [5] 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. Edward Hunter Davies OBE is an author, journalist and broadcaster, and a former editor for the Sunday Times of London. He is the author of numerous books, including The Glory Game and the only authorised biography of the Beatles. He was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, to Scottish parents. For four years his family lived in Dumfries until Davies was aged 11.

The book moves across one season through chapters on the players, manager, staff, directors, and even fans. Almost anyone connected with the team who would talk to him, and even a few who were reluctant to, are profiled. In the chapter ‘Bill Goes to Bristol ‘, Davies takes a trip with manager Bill Nicholson to watch a reserves match. For all of the difficulties in getting the manager to open up, the conversation that they share in this chapter reveals Nicholson as a man whose life is as measured and considered as the answers he gives. “I get no pleasure out of being a manager,” he tells Davies. “It’s a job.” The Glory Game is a book that has stood the test of time. More than four decades after its initial release, it is still considered a classic of sports literature and is widely read by fans of football and lovers of great writing alike.

Retailers:

Even though I have read bits and pieces about Hampstead Heath, a couple of books on the people that head to the ponds on a regular or daily basis to take a dip and it has come up in books on spies, both fictional and real-life examples. My mum and dad are both Londoners and I have been there many many times. But I have never been there. The format. A season makes for a good story. The opportunity to explore different aspects of the club and the characters therein. You get to know people and care a little about them in human terms. I've enjoyed a few books that have taken this approach and this challenges my favourite which up until now has been I Lost My Heart to the Belles by Pete Davies where Davies once again showed himself to be a generation ahead of his time.