The Mavericks: English Football When Flair Wore Flares

Description

'A great book' - Henry Winter 'A lovely read, the kind in which you constantly annoy people by reading the funny bits out loud' - Irish Post One of Four Four Two magazine's '50 Football Books You Must Read' First published 25 years ago, The Mavericks was one of a new breed of literary football books. Artfully combining sports journalism with social history and sharp pop culture references, this updated edition explores 1970s football when a cult group of footballers delivered flair on the pitch and flamboyance off it. Cocky, coiffured strikers meet David Bowie and Alvin Stardust; Gola boots exchange kicks with A Clockwork Orange and The Likely Lads; 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 - now featuring a new Foreword, Postscript and photos - examines an anomaly at the heart of English culture, one that symbolised the death of post-Sixties optimism, the end of innocence. 'In an era of PR-bleaching and PC-niceties, The Mavericks 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.' - Rick Broadbent

Rob Steen is an award-winning author, sportswriter and freshly retired senior lecturer in journalism at the University of Brighton. He has written for the Guardian, Independent, Financial Times, Sunday Times and Mojo. He has written numerous books on sport and has been shortlisted twice for the prestigious William Hill Sports Book of the Year award.

Quite splendid... just delicious - and brilliantly researched. * The Times * A lovely read, the kind in which you constantly annoy people by reading the funny bits out loud * Irish Post * A great book * Henry Winter * If you enjoyed The Damned United you will savour Rob Steen's The Mavericks, an evocative look at football when the game was enhanced by genuinely edgy entertainers rather than overpaid characterless robots. * Waterstones.com * The Mavericks is irresistible, artfully combining sports journalism with social history and sharp pop-culture references. * Impact * In an era of PR-bleaching and PC-niceties, The Mavericks 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. * Rick Broadbent, The Times * 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. * The Independent * Great to see The Mavericks 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. * Kevin Mitchell, The Guardian * 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. * Rob Shepherd, talkSPORT * An irreverent and unflinching look back at football in the Seventies * Choice Magazine * For that missing element in a decent football book, the confessional Rob Steen has this down to his customary fine writer's art with The Mavericks. * Mark Perryman, Philosophy Football *