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The Crazy Gang
The Crazy Gang
Nov 6, 2024 1:40 PM

Author:Dave Bassett,Wally Downes

The Crazy Gang

'If we can sell Newcastle Brown to Japan, and if Wimbledon can make it to the First Division, there is surely no achievement beyond our reach.' Margaret Thatcher

The Crazy Gang is the story of a football miracle. Promoted to the Football League in 1977, Wimbledon FC was a small team from south London that against the odds went all the way to the top of the First Division, then to win the FA Cup, in only just over a decade. With no money, scant resources and a blend of youth players and offcuts from other clubs, they were christened 'Rag-Arse Rovers'. They played hard on the pitch and partied hard off it.

Dave 'Harry' Bassett was the manager who drilled a fierce fighting spirit into his players, an unbreakable team ethos, but he was also an underrated master tactician and pioneer of innovative training methods. Wally Downes was the midfield fulcrum of the Dons, but also the ringleader for the various acts of debauchery and general silliness that earned the club their reputation.

In The Crazy Gang, Harry and Wally are joined by a host of former Wimbledon players and staff, both famous names like Vinnie Jones, Lawrie Sanchez and Dave Beasant, but also unsung heroes in the club's history, to tell it as it really was. This is real football, the way fans remember it, and a world away from multimillionaire Premier League primadonnas.

Reviews

A barrel of laughs.

—— The Sun

As you'd expect, it's warts and all, muck and bullets and any other cliché you care to mention. Don't dare miss it!

—— Sheffield Star

Hilarious

—— Soccer AM

Nobody ever wore the Arsenal shirt with more pride than Ray Parlour

—— Piers Morgan

Parlour emerges as somebody who is open and generous, always up for a laugh, rarely thinking of the consequences

—— New Statesman

Endearing and engrossing... what this book does beautifully is affirm that the enjoyment of football isn't so much about the game or the result, it's about the journey we, as supporters, take in the process.

—— The Football Pink

A timely celebration of non-league football... provides a great antidote to sport as big business.

—— The Bookseller

Football books can be a mixed bag, but Dave Roberts really hits the target with Home and Away.

—— The Non-League Paper

A cracking, beautifully-observed pilgrimage.

—— Birmingham Mail

A really good read. You don't have to be a Bromley fan to enjoy it.

—— Vanarama National League

A great read for anyone who loves football.

—— The Ball is Round

Roberts perfectly captures what it is to follow your team and the lengths that fans go to in order to get their football fix. And from these journeys it can be seen how Roberts' writing has been compared to Bill Bryson, with wit and warmth.

—— footballbookreviews.com

If ever there was an author that could capture the love for the non-league game then that man is Dave Roberts.

—— The Non-League Magazine

Getting the tone just right, the author's good humour shines throughout... there's a fresh-eyed quality to his observations.

—— Groundtastic
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