The Beautiful Game?

Jan 11, 2025 2:55 PM

Author:David Conn

The Beautiful Game?

Football is at the heart of British culture – yet never has it been in greater turmoil.

Once, football stood for passion, community, honour, even beauty. The game is in danger of losing its lifeblood - and its soul.

In The Beautiful Game? David Conn, the game's most respected investigative journalist, sets out on a journey through the heart of our national game, exploring how the sport has failed - and who is to blame. This is a book for those who keep the faith, who believe that the sport itself, stripped of the greed and self-interest blighting its organisation, still has values, and can still be beautiful.

‘For a fascinating insight into the causes, and the creators, of the game's ills this is a superbly told tale’ Independent

Reviews

This is a quite magnificent book...with a splendid eye for important detail and a determination to ask difficult questions, Conn reminds us of what is important- Conn's greatest feat in a book that is well researched and written with searing honesty is to show the game's magnificent resilience

—— David Wash , Sunday Times

For a fascinating insight into the causes, and the creators, of the game's ills this is a superbly told tale

—— Peter Corrigan , Independent

An important book

—— The Times

Should be read by anyone who really cares about football

—— James Lawton , Independent

This is a must-read for all who love football

—— Delia Smith

An intelligent and passionate work about the business of football from Highbury to Glossop that is as skilfully written and structured as any thriller; a worthy book without a hint of worthiness about it

—— When Saturday Comes

Hard-hitting- but the added value of The Beautiful Game lies rather in the effort to understand what is happening to the minnows, not the sharks. The stories he tells are scandalous, touching, and encouraging, at the same time

—— The Times

Provides a useful framework for understanding change and is full of suggestions for "fooling yourself"- and those around you - into making changes you want to make but can't

—— Director

A particularly absorbing and entertaining read

—— Financial Times

A cautionary tale for those who believe that the grass - and their future paycheck - would be greener if only they could jump the fence into the rarefied world of the Masters of Business Administration

—— New York Times

Original, clever, funny - and full of insights into one of the most influential insitutions in the world

—— George Osborne, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer

What They Teach You...' is a hilarious, perceptive and unflinching account of the strange world of Harvard Business School, its students and the wider world of business which they are set to dominate. It is the Liar's Poker of the MBA set. Destined to become a classic

—— Albert Read, General Manager of Conde Nast

Informative, wry, and well-written, this book will make rewarding and pleasurable reading for anybody wishing to understand why business is the way it is.

—— John Cassidy, staff writer for The New Yorker and author of Dot.Con

Kirkpatrick's amazing reporting details what happens when a hacker culture turns into a multi-billion-dollar firm. Mark Zuckerberg sought to maintain that hacker energy, and it's fascinating to hear what resulted

—— Chris Anderson, Editor of Wired and author of The Long Tail

Engrossing. . . . A detailed and scrupulously fair history of [Facebook]

—— Rich Jaroslovsky , Bloomberg Businessweek

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