Good evening. And good news from the East. Specifically Holland. Rotterdam’s finest, Dick van Toorn a highly esteemed physio who Arjen Robben to name but the only other player I know he’s worked wonders on has fixed up Rafael way ahead of schedule. “Rafael is dealt four days in a row. A total of six times together we went to work. Friday I tested it fully. Turn and turn went flawlessly, a full sprint was not a problem. The muscle showed a length of thirteen inches cloth. That, Dr. Niek van Dijk, a pure craftsman, noted. But for me he…
Author: Harry Hotspur
The Smell of Football Candid reflections on 35 years as a player, manager and Premier League physio. When Mick Rathbone signed for Birmingham City as a 16 year-old apprentice he was living every schoolboy’s dream. But when he discovered he was so nervous he was unable to speak, let alone pass the ball, in the presence of his boyhood hero and City star Trevor Francis, he realised that a career in football might not be everything he had imagined. The Smell of Football is the brutally honest and utterly compelling story of how ‘Baz’ conquered his personal demons to build…
“Steed trusts that the rumours will now cease immediately Steed has read with concern the recent stories currently circulating about him and his family. “He would like to reassure all of his friends in England and throughout world football that these stories are wholly without foundation. “Steed does not have a son and his immediate family are all in good health. Steed does not know the origin of these stories but would like to stress that they are without merit.”
When Argentinian World Cup winners Ricky Villa and Ossie Ardiles were unveiled as Tottenham Hotspur’s new signings in the summer of 1978 it was one of the most sensational transfer coups English football had ever seen. The pair made an instant impression. Ossie claimed the limelight with his wonderful control and endearing accent, but when Ricky dribbled his way round half the Manchester City team to score the greatest ever Wembley goal in 1981 he swerved his way into the hearts of the nation and a permanent place in English football folklore. For so long uncomfortable speaking in English, in…
Martin Chivers was born to score goals. In his heyday with Tottenham Hotspur and England in the late sixties and early seventies he was considered by many to be the finest striker in Europe. This is his story. In Big Chiv (the affectionate nickname he earned from the Spurs fans who idolised him), Chivers tells the story of a life driven by his abiding passion, the need to score goals. For Southampton as a teenage striking sensation, for Spurs, for England and later for Servette in Switzerland, Norwich, Brighton and Vard FC in Norway. It is a candid and revealing…
The book that every Tottenham fan must have is back with a revised edition packed with a wealth of new features. This updated edition of last year’s best-selling The Pocket Book of Spurs features a brand new cover design and is bursting with the colourful history of the mighty Tottinghams. Learn about Spurs’ glorious history, from the very first team back in 1882, to the 1961 Double winners, to the first side to win an FA Cup Final replay in 1981. Take a trip down memory lane with classic matches such as the 1963 5-1 rout of Atletico Madrid in…
The word lavish is bandied about a lot in the book business. Usually it relates to a book that has lots of pictures. Or one that has production values superior to your average pizza menu. Harsh, but you tell me I’m wrong. This book is lavish to degree whereby you might need to bite a pretty unpleasant bullet and decide if your coffee table is cool enough to handle it. 1537 grammes, 216 pages, 290mm by 230mm of hardback loveliness encased in a cloth covered slipcase. The content is courtesy of Doug Cheeseman, Martin Cloake & Adam Powley. The editorial…
Guten Ahbend. I tell you this much, the natives are friendly. I walked passed a couple in the street both tucking into something I wanted. As this was in one of Harrogate’s many nice side streets and not a nudist beach, I fearlessly approached. ‘Hello, I’m Lee Marvin. Now, where did you get those beauties?” “Straight in there, my friend!” replied a righteous man in a fleece mopping his meated sweat brow whilst pointing at a nearby doorway. Barely a few minutes after noon this was and within less than a minute I was the proud owner of a roasted…
Good morning. Your roving reporter finds himself in the deepest depths of Yorkshire with more opportunity for broad beans than broadband, but on an upbeat note the bakeries are tip top. ‘Fat Rascal?’ Have a care madam, I’m an easy going chap but… oh I see, yes. I’ll take two. Thank you. So the window then. Hopefully there were lessons learned, but I doubt it. Our Arry was as deflated as his jowls leaving the Lodge. It wasn’t just Chelsea that met the immovable object in Levy & Co. His big opportunity to buy big and push on was blocked…