The relative lull since the European Championship and the start up of the big domestic leagues in Europe offered an opportunity to catch up on some reading.


"Bloody Confused! - A Clueless American Sportswriter Seeks Solace in English Soccer" - Chuck Culpepper

The books recounts Chuck Culpepper's rapid journey from burnt out American sportswriter to avid fan of Portsmouth.

Love took Culpepper across the Atlantic Ocean in 2006 and little did he know that love would strike twice. He landed in a country dominated by the Premiership and all things related and what's more he found himself "purged of free media credentials, free media shuttle busses, and free media buffet lines."

In his new world he has to buy tickets (more difficult than you might expect if you don't have a "history" of ticket buying - a Catch-22 indeed) and has to plan and arrange transportation to far off cities. All this, while undergoing a culture shock of gigantic proportions.

"It was like starting over. It was like childhood, with beer".

Culpepper was without a team to follow and after narrowing the field he fell for the very unfashionable Portsmouth. Remember his arrival took place before top-ten-two-straight seasons-and-FA Cup Winners Portsmouth. The author's allegiance was cemented only a couple of months after the return of Harry Rednapp to Fratton Park and at that time Pompey was odds-on to be relegated.

Culpepper draws us into his growing love affair with Portsmouth as the team battles to escape relegation while he simultaneously struggles with his on-the-job soccer education. Because the events are still very recent the story resonates to an even greater degree because many of the key moments that led to Portsmouth's escape are so fresh in the readers mind.

Matthew Taylor's nerve-wracking penalties that beat Wigan and Sunderland and secured safety; Pedro Mendes' double against Manchester City including the cracking last second winner that nearly took the net with it; the Lua-Lua equalizer that gained an unlikely point off Arsenal.

The book concludes with Portsmouth finishing in ninth place in 2007. As I read, I constantly thought of Portsmouth and their "new" fan experiencing last season and in particular the trip to Wembley and the lifting of the FA Cup. (If nothing else you have to admire the author's sense of timing - success for the first time in over half a century for Portsmouth)

The only problem I had with the book was in the early chapters. I thought he tried a little too hard to make the idiosyncrasies of the game in England appear funny when in many cases they really are not - some are just different. 

The best part is his descriptions of mental trauma as Portsmouth first battle to stay in the Premiership and then the following season as qualification for Europe becomes a possibility. As Portsmouth get off to a great start the following season counting to forty points is quickly made a thing of the past and a loftier goal seems possible.

The irony of it is that while Portsmouth finish eight places and sixteen points better than the previous season they fail in their new mission - a place in the UEFA Cup - while the season before when their top flight future hung by a thread they achieved what they set out to do.

Culpepper is a top class writer and his description of some of the more poignant moments of his journey - Fratton Park after the death of Alan Ball for example - are truly memorable. A book well worth picking up whether you are a long time Premiership fan or a relatively new convert.

The book is published by Broadway Books and is out August 5. However, if you buy books from the UK you might want to note that the book appears to have been published in the UK last year under the title "Up Pompey".



"The Games of their Lives" - Geoffrey Douglas

This book was originally published in 1996 and went on to be made into a movie. The author tells the story of the USA team that travelled to the 1950 World Cup in Brazil and beat England 1-0. It was England's first World Cup appearance and you can imagine the chance that the largely semi-professional American team was given - particularly by the English media.

Geoffrey Douglas is not a football fan but he is a fine writer. If you don't get too upset at some inapt soccer descriptions you will enjoy a first-rate read. Douglas weaves together a social history of the communities that bred some of the players and the road they travelled that ultimately led to one of the great sporting upsets of all-time.

The recollections of the players as they describe the men who encouraged and influenced them along the way and memories of the local leagues and past battles are uplifting without being over sentimental. Perhaps most striking is how the players who beat England bore no acrimony in arriving back to a country that cared little or was largely unaware of the magnitude of the USA team's achievement.

I am guessing that even today few American soccer fans would be able to name more than a couple of the starting eleven that stunned England in Belo Horizonte 58 years ago. If you are one of them (or not) do yourself a favour and pick up the book.


After reading "The Games of their Lives" I went hunting for more and found that David Wangerin's history of the game in the USA has just been released in North America. The book, "Soccer in a Football World: The Story of America's Forgotten Game" was published two years ago in the UK. I'm only a third of the way through the book but it is a great read and it will be an eye opener to anyone who thinks that the game is a relatively recent import to the USA. 


In a similar vein I have the website "Pitch Invasion" to thank for bringing a series of articles by Richard Whittall to my attention. Richard Whittall has put together a condensed history of soccer in Toronto and North America with an emphasis on Canada. It is wonderful stuff.