| Talk 60's 70's Football at Yahoo! Clubs sixtiesandseventiessoccer | ||||||||||||||||
 |
OBook and Magazine Reviews | |||||||||||||||
| Bob 70-71 | - See magazines condensed to their 70-71 content !!
September 2001ITV Premiership Television Coverage. Bob Rating: B Now the dust has settled down a bit on the major change in UK football television coverage, I thought I would review it - before it disappears from our screen with the players' strike ! Things began when ITV paid zillions of pounds to win the rights away from the BBC for showing Premiership football . The death of 'Match of the Day' was mourned by everybody ... at the BBC at least, and we were promised a 'new era' of football coverage. The season opened on 18 August 2001, and the shock news was that the highlights flagship - 'The Premiership' - was to be viewed at peak time, 7 pm Saturday night, a time usually reserved for variety and entertainment shows. 'The 7pm start time ... that's just silly.' The first programme was greeted with headlines in the Sunday papers about the lack of any football in what was supposed to be a football highlights programme. Each match was condensed to non-existance, whilst interviews, chats, dull features and adverts became the stars of the show. The adverts I can forgive. I'm a realist, and cannot blame the channel for wanting to get a return on their investment. The lack of fuller highlights I can almost forgive, because I'm only interested in the Leeds match anyway. Indeed, future shows claimed to increase the live action in response to the complaint. But the 7pm start time ... that's just silly ! Consequently, I've never seen the show since its opening day ! In the premier, 'The Premiership', Terry Venables (QPR) was his usual informed and witty self. Terry and Ally (McCoist) was a failed attempt at recapturing the spirit of 'Saint and Greavesie'. But most mystifying of all, Tezza was given some gismo to help explain tactics made during the match, which neither he nor I understood at all. Everthing seemed like an exercise in not being 'Match of the Day', rather being anything astoundingly new. But what football fan is around on a Saturday evening to watch the show anyway ? The majority are in the pub - whilst the rest of us are watching Disney videos with their kids. If I tried to keep the football on at that time, I would get six eyes staring at me as if I was evil incarnate, so it's not worth the effort. There is a same night repeat, past midnight, by which time most football fans are too drunk to know where the remote control is, or, like me, too tired to care. 'Ally McCoist is like the man in the pub who makes you laugh'. However, on Mondays 'The Premiership' becomes an altogether better programme. It has what it calls the 'Fans Parliament'. An informed and confident fan from each of the Premiership's sides are given the opportunity to pass on the terraces' perspective of the clubs' activities. It is headed by Gabby Logan (ne้ Yorath, Terry's daughter) and I really like it. Gabby's fun and relaxed, her co-presenter Ally McCoist is like the bloke in the pub who makes you all laugh, and the fans bring the only football interviews worth listening to on telly. So why is this shown so bloody late ? It's worth staying up for, but by the end my mind's beginning to drift into sleep in spite of myself. Kathrin, my wife, reminds me we do have a video player - fair point - but the last time I had time to watch a video I'd recorded from the telly, Ron Atkinson was Manchester United's manager not ITV's senior commentator. 'There has been no ... revolution.' There are
further highlight programmes, too. Gabby whips
us through the Sunday highlights, Bob Wilson (Arsenal) takes us through the European
games. But lets face it there has been no football
coverage revolution. Gabby, Ally and the fan's parliament
I like, the 7pm start time I hate, the rest is just more
of the same... By Colin Shindler. Headline, 2001. Bob Rating: BBBBB Finally got the time to complete reading Colin Shindler's book that covers three generations of the Summerbee football dynasty, 'Fathers, Sons and Football'. The book has been written by a Manchester City and Mike Summerbee fan, and has a 'three-books-in-one' quality about it. 'It's a living history' First there's the story of Mike's father and uncle. George and Gordon - known to the family as Bunt - started their careers at Aldershot Town. George (Mike's father) looked to be the player that was going to make the big time when he signed for Preston North End, a top (old) First Division side that won the FA Cup in 1938 having been Finalists in 1937. The reality was though, that George just couldn't break into the team, due it would seem to Bill Shankly's refusal to miss a match through injury, and manager, Jim Taylor's refusal to pick him on anything other than a very occasional basis. George on the day of the FA Cup Final win itself believed he was to be in the team, but was left out to be the twelth man in the days before substitutes were allowed. Hence the book starts as a pretty bitter tale of the downs and falls of journeyman footballers in the thirties and forties, when players had a good wage compared to other workers, but little prospects outside of the game once their career was over. The maximum wage prevented any crazy earnings that we have today. Shindler tells the story against a background of the historical events of the day, and brings it to life by the memories of the family, including Mike's mother, Dulcie. It's a living history, embracing the inevitable struggles of ordinary people in an unordinary profession in the era of last centuries' World Wars. 'Escape to Victory.' Next up, the book takes a right hand turn into hero worship. Shindler has the same passion for Mike Summerbee as I do for 70-71 footballers (which includes Mike, of course !) Mike's career had the heights his father's never did. Ironically,George, had always believed Mike's older brother, John, to be the better player, and sadly died before Mike's glittering career took off, so he never witnessed it. This is the part of the book I had come to find, and I wasn't disappointed. Colin cannot hide his status as a fan, and it bubbles with excitement as Mike and Man City take off. The details of his career at Swindon Town, then as it tailed off with Burnley, Blackpool, Stockport County and Crewe Alexandria are also detailed. An unexpected gem, was the description of his time on the set of the cult football film, 'Escape to Victory'. Then, we have part three, the continuing career of Mike's son, Nicky. Here the book flips right over into the regular football biography and 'story behind the headlines' style. I found this least interesting, natrually, but that reflect's my age and which generation I choose for my heroes as much as anything else ! 'Intelligent and interesting.' Overall the book is an intelligent and interesting take on the football biography genre. It has a depth to it, usually absent from tales of football heroes. The inclusion of family fall outs and suppport give it a human feel quite outside of the football careers that run through three generations. Nerdy career breakdowns, which I love so much, are rightly avoided, but all the big career moments are included along with what was happening to the family at that time. And it all begs the question will there be a sequal, ' Fathers, Sons, Grandsons and Football' ?? See Rock and Goal Years Yokshire Television. First broadcast 26 September 2001 Bob Rating: BBB The first episode of this new compliation programme was shown in the Yorkshire Television Region, and covered the 1969-70 season. What a classic ! It followed the age old formula of a season's review matched with music contemporary to the season. But what made this half hour montage so special is that it only covered the teams from the Yorkshire region. Hence more footage of Leeds United !!! Special moments included the series' opening shot of Billy Bremner holding the League Championship trophy - as Leeds went into the 69-70 season as Champions. Site friend Phil Moody would have enjoyed coverage of Scunthorpe United including goals by Kevin Keegan and Nigel Cassidy. Another site favourite, Ken Wagstaffe was seen scoring for Hull City, and so was Swansea City's new manager Colin Addison, in fact he was seen scoring two goals for Sheffield United. There was several Frank Worthington goals in his Huddersfield Town days, but better still an absolute cracker by Trevor Cherry, also in his days with the Terriers. The star of the show, though has got to have been Eddie Gray. The two immortal goals for Leeds United versus Burnely almost made me weep at their perfection. Two naff moments - Gary Sprake being a clown versus Liverpool, letting a goal in through his legs, and a Leeds United changing room scene, which threatened to show Jack Charlton's todger. And next week - World Wars permitting - it's the 1970-71 review ! For further September 2001 news see ...
|
|||||||||||||||
| Bob Dunning 27 September 2001 |
Click to see the latest Soccer headlines www.bobdunning.net |
