It's been a month since the publication of this history of the Euros, by our own Jonathan O'Brien. At least, he used to be on here - he's one of those users who changed his name so often that I lost track, like I have of several people on OTF. Anyway, just wondered why it's not been plugged on here, and if anyone has read it.
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If he is who I think he is (doctor strangely strange et al) then he hasn't posted here for ages. He seems the right type of writer for that topic though. -
Thanks both, look forward to reading.
Anodyne Bubbleperm was my fave of his aliases. I miss him slagging off the South's footballers then sulking when the rest of us did
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He's very active on twitter, especially when Celtic or Manchester United are playing: @obrien_jonathanComment
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I'd like to read it.
Wikipedia says it was first called "Euro - year" in 1996. In a quiz, I'd have guessed around 1984.
It was still the Nations' Cup (in the media, if not officially) when Bobby Moore was embarrassed by Netzer and co, which was about the time it became a big thing (to an English TV audience, or in other words, to me). Previous tournaments got less coverage than a schoolboys' international at Wembley.Comment
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Ooh, there's a Hugh McIlvanney report to savour.
https://www.theguardian.com/observer...541541,00.htmlComment
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Was unaware that this had been published, so thanks for flagging it up imp. Have bought and downloaded the Kindle version.Comment
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[to UA] Thanks, good to know the old memory still functions occasionally.Comment
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Having been in France at the time, I can attest to the fact that that moniker was widespread.
Whereas it was very much not four years earlier
I do think it took longer to establish itself in English, though.Last edited by ursus arctos; 01-06-2021, 20:29.Comment
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My memory of it is probably due to being on holiday in France during the tournament, hitch-hiking and youth hostelling. I remember feeling relieved that England weren't there, so I could get lifts, and talk to drivers about le foot instead of les hooligans.Comment
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Panini's 1980 sticker album was called Europa 80 and the official logo in 88 was UEFA 88. The trophy platform in 92 was emblazoned Euro 92. However, I'm sure that in the build-ups we were still using the verbal phrase "European champs" for the same reason you'd say World Cup rather than "the Worlds".
I think "the Euros" may have gained acceptance at the same time as the currency. The fact the word had become familiar in daily life meant it was no longer an odd monicker for a tournament.Last edited by Satchmo Distel; 02-06-2021, 10:57.Comment
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Mine's still not arrived, and usually if it hasn't come by now then it won't come at all. Glad it's got some exposure there, though. I read the introduction and a wee bit of the first chapter and then ordered the e-book - it looks good, and the kind of book to get me even more in the mood for the tournament.Originally posted by Capybara View PostComment
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We were all Gunter Netzer in kick outs for weeks afterwards around our way.Originally posted by tee rex View PostComment
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Having got a few chapters in, I think it's only fair to warn potential buyers that there are a lot of quotes in the book taken from this. The latter also has the advantage of footage, rather than prosaic description on page.Comment
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Just started reading from back to front. He doesn't agree with my review of 2016
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I bought it after finding out about its existence due to this thread -- it's very good. A worthy companion to the Brian Glanville book on the World Cup that I dust off every four years*. I was wondering where the quotes came from, a little disappointing they aren't from interviews but considering all the other strengths of the book they aren't a big deal. 4.5/5.
*I know the real heads swear by the Cris Freddi version, but he hasn't updated that for yonks and although Glanville isn't everybody's cup of tea, I've always liked his writing and there is enormous value in having a review of the tournament from someone who was there, as he has been for every World Cup since 1954.Comment
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I gave up on the book and watched the DVDs again instead. I see there's a 'Bibliography' at the end listing sources, including the Uefa boxed set, but it's shoddy work not to provide footnotes sourcing quotes.Comment
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Hello all,
Someone drew my attention to this, so I thought I'd briefly re-register to mention that the book did initially contain a very long list of every single quote source, which Pitch Publishing weren't keen on because it increased the pagination of the book by about 30-odd pages. They said I could include it, but I would have to chop the equivalent (6,800 words) out of the main copy as a result. So I decided I would rather keep the main material intact, and instead stick in a bibliography.
The list is available on request via email if anyone actually wants to see it (though it's not fully complete, because as soon as I realised last year that it wasn't going to make it into the finished article, I stopped adding entries to it).
Flynnie, thank you for the kind words, I really appreciate it. Ian, sorry to hear you didn't like it.
JonathanComment
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Evening Sir and well done on an excellent effort. I'm now enjoying the 1984 chapter.
Apologies on behalf of the GAWA for our refusal to attack Germany back in 2016. We tried that since when it didn't matter...and let in 6
Last edited by Duncan Gardner; 07-06-2021, 21:08.Comment
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I'd like to read more about the origins and early days of the tournament, though that could be a book in itself. The politics of it: non-participants included England, no surprise there, but also Italy, West Germany, etc. There had been 2 World Cups held in Europe in the 1950s, even TV coverage had arrived, so it's not immediately obvious why this new project was ignored.
And one for the Guardian Knowledge ... the preliminary round tie between the USSR and Hungary had a year's interval between the two legs. Is this a record?Comment
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I wouldn't exactly say I "didn't like it", as such - in fact the early chapters got me really gunning to watch the DVDs again. It was just that once I started doing that and recognised so many of the quotes, reading the book became superfluous. Plus, I'm not a fan of reading goal-by-goal match descriptions of games that happened even yesterday, let alone decades ago.Originally posted by Borracho View Post
With the index, I'd have insisted on the extra 30 pages, but then I wouldn't expect Pitch to give a shit about something like that given the standards of editing and accuracy I've seen in some of their previous books. I don't understand why they don't focus on publishing a handful of well-edited, well-produced books instead of flooding the market with books where you think, "Feature idea, at best." (Not saying that about this book - there's clearly a place for it.)
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Welcome back Borracho, even if it is just for a fleeting visit.
I'm enjoying it so far - currently in 1972 envisaging Gunter Netzer making Alan Ball look like a chump.Comment
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