Author: Ben
Book Review: The Far Corner
The Far Corner: A Mazy Dribble through North-East Football by Harry Pearson
Published by Little, Brown and Company
October 1994
ISBN: 978-0-316-91189-4
Harry Pearson is a Billy Bragg lookalike and Guardian journalist with the misfortune to have been born in a village near Middlesbrough called Great Ayrton, whose most well-known son is the explorer Captain James Cook. Thankfully, he’s also got a sense of humour about it: “It’s quite …
The Monday Profile: Alan Smith
How many former England internationals are there currently plying their trade in the third tier? Not many, I’d wager. And how many League One players can boast that they once appeared in a Champions League semi-final against Valencia (even if that appearance was curtailed by a red card)? Again, not many. But, as of 29th January this year, there is at least one: Alan Smith. Even still, us …
Partisanship vs perspective: in defence of critical distance
“Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology.” So begins Terry Eagleton’s 2006 review of Dawkins’ much-celebrated book The God Delusion. Let’s be charitable and overlook the irony (to which Eagleton seems oblivious) of such sniffy dismissiveness coming from …
Conversations with Stan Horne (Manchester City, Aston Villa and Fulham)
With the fallout from recent incidents involving Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra, and John Terry and Anton Ferdinand, dominating the back pages, racism in English football is once again a hot topic. An opportune time, then, to ask Stan Horne about (among other things) his experiences as the first ever black player for a trio of current Premier League clubs: Villa, Fulham and his beloved Man City.
BW: Did …
The Monday Profile: Jordan Rhodes
You’ve got to feel for Andy Rhodes. Most fathers, having just witnessed their son score four times to single-handedly salvage a point from a pulsating and fiercely contested derby match in front of more than 28,000 spectators, would be bursting at the seams with pride. But not Andy, who, as Sheffield Wednesday’s goalkeeping coach, had just seen his charge Stephen Bywater beaten four times, his own flesh and blood …