{"product_id":"9781472974853","title":"The Mavericks : English Football When Flair Wore Flares","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Mavericks\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Rob Steen\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eArtfully combining sports journalism with social history and sharp pop culture references, \u003ci\u003eThe Mavericks \u003c\/i\u003eexplores 1970s football when a cult group of footballers delivered flair on the pitch and flamboyance off of it. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCocky, coiffured strikers meet David Bowie and Alvin Stardust; Gola boots exchange kicks with \u003ci\u003eA Clockwork Orange \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Likely Lads\u003c\/i\u003e; Admiral sock tags, platform heels and kipper ties mingle with cod wars, Harrods bombings and three-day weeks. In this, Steen recreates the early Seventies, the era when football joined the vanguard of English youth culture. This personal account revolves around seven Englishmen who followed in the trail blazed by football's first tabloid star, George Best--Stan Bowles, Tony Currie, Charlie George, Alan Hudson, Rodney Marsh, Peter Osgood and Frank Worthington. Proud individuals amid an increasingly corporate environment, their invention and artistry were matched only by a disdain for authority and convention. Their belief in football as performance art, as showbiz, gave the game a boost, and elevated them to cult status. During their heyday, nevertheless, they were largely ignored by a succession of England managers, none of whom were able to assemble a side competent enough to qualify for the World Cup finals. Against a backdrop of increasing violence on the field and terraces alike, of battles between players and the Establishment, this book examines an anomaly at the heart of English culture, one that symbolized the death of post-Sixties optimism, the end of innocence.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Quite splendid... just delicious – and brilliantly researched.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A lovely read, the kind in which you constantly annoy people by reading the funny bits out loud” —\u003ci\u003eIrish Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A great book” —\u003ci\u003eHenry Winter\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“If you enjoyed \u003ci\u003eThe Damned United \u003c\/i\u003eyou will savour Rob Steen's \u003ci\u003eThe Mavericks\u003c\/i\u003e, an evocative look at football when the game was enhanced by genuinely edgy entertainers rather than overpaid characterless robots.” —\u003ci\u003eWaterstones.com\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Mavericks \u003c\/i\u003eis irresistible, artfully combining sports journalism with social history and sharp pop-culture references.” —\u003ci\u003eImpact\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In an era of PR-bleaching and PC-niceties, \u003ci\u003eThe Mavericks\u003c\/i\u003e is an oasis of flair, hair and devil-may-care attitude. Yet beneath Rob Steen also highlights with real poignancy the sometimes grim and earthy reality behind the curtain. This brilliant book remains essential reading for anyone who likes social history with a nice backheel.” —\u003ci\u003eRick Broadbent, The Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An evocative work which is given its cutting edge by the author's success in uncovering the idiosyncrasies that set the fancy dans apart from each other as their mutual non-conformism.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Great to see \u003ci\u003eThe Mavericks\u003c\/i\u003e back in print. Wonderful evocation of the early 70s, an era when players weren't afraid to express themselves - on the pitch or in the bar.” —\u003ci\u003eKevin Mitchell, The Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“One of the conundrums of football in the Seventies, now perceived as a golden age by a certain generation, is why did England fail to qualify for the 1974 and 1978 World Cup when a decade before they had been world champions? One of the main reasons is that managers Ramsey then Revie shunned a group of hugely gifted 'Rock and Roll' players - Marsh, Currie, Bowles, Osgood, George, Hudson and Worthington. Rob Steen's book brilliantly gets under the skin of the era both on and off the pitch when the game was more about passion than pound notes.” —\u003ci\u003eRob Shepherd, talkSPORT\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“an irreverent and unflinching look back at football in the Seventies” —\u003ci\u003eChoice Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781472974853\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Bloomsbury Sport","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40739261415630,"sku":"9781472974853","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_fcb5c810-6e63-484a-9762-28feabce765d.jpg?v=1641360075","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781472974853","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}