Jack and Bobby: A story of brothers in conflict - Rilegato

McKinstry, Leo

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0007118767 ISBN 13: 9780007118762

Casa editrice: Willow, 2002

Riassunto

The history of modern British football can largely be written through the stories of Jack and Bobby Charlton. Both were in the World Cup winning team of '66, and each has remained deeply involved in the game ever since.

The book traces the parallel lives of Jack and Bobby Charlton, following them from their schooldays through to the present day.

The brothers both played prominent roles in the finest hour of English football, the 1966 World Cup triumph. Each played for the dominant club of their era, and summed up the style of their respective teams.

Bobby was at Manchester Utd during their glory days under Sir Matt Busby. He survived the Munich air crash and went on to become a fast, graceful attacker who set grounds alight with his power, speed and athleticism in a team that played free-flowing, attacking football.

Jack came to professional football late, working in a coal mine before Leeds signed him. Don Revie's Leeds side was renowned for its uncompromising and physical style, and Jack was himself a tough, durable and aggressive defender, who once caused uproar by admitting he had a 'black book' with a list of footballing enemies who he would target on the pitch.

The two retired from football in the same year, and since, the contrast between them has been marked. Bobby's forays into management at Wigan and Preston were distinguished only by their brevity, while 'Big Jack' took the Republic of Ireland team to an unprecendented level of success, reaching the quarter finals of the World Cup in 1994. Bobby has been a key figure in the ongoing success of Manchester United over the past decade, working on recruiting players and as an FA diplomat.

But, despite their continued successes, the relationship between the two has been strained, sometimes barely even polite, and the book will investigate the reasons for this, including in-depth interviews with many of those who the two have been in contact with over the years.

Su questo libro

L'autore:

Leo McKinstry writes regularly for the Daily Mail, the Sunday Telegraph and the Spectator magazine on a wide range of subjects. He has written several previous books, including the Geoff Boycott biography Boycs: the true story, which the Telegraph described as ‘the best cricket book of the summer’.

Dalla quarta di copertina:

The history of modern football in the British Isles can be partly written through the lives of Jack and Bobby Charlton. Their careers have included glorious triumphs with England and Ireland and years of brilliant achievement at their respective clubs of Leeds and Manchester United. Since the early fifties, they have been involved in every aspect of the game as apprentices, professionals, internationals, managers, ambassadors, commentators, and, most romantically of all, as World Cup winners in 1966.

Now author Leo McKinstry has produced the very first comprehensive biography of these two pivotal figures. Based on in-depth research and a large number of interviews, this account reveals the complex, sometimes troubled, personalities behind the exploits on the football field. Every aspect of their story is covered, from their humble origins in the north-eastern coal-mining town of Ashington to their present day millionaire status.

At the heart of this book runs the theme of the profound contrast between the characters of Jack and Bobby. Jack has always been gregarious, volatile, controversial, while Bobby is reserved, diplomatic, enigmatic. As McKinstry demonstrates, these traits in Bobby were deepened by the trauma of the Munich air crash in 1958. Even as footballers they were completely different: Jack the hard, aggressive centre-half who epitomised the uncompromising values of Don Revie's Leeds; Bobby the graceful forward who set grounds alight with his explosive shooting and daring charges.

This contrast has long been reflected in the strained relationship between Jack and Bobby. Never close as children, they drifted much further apart in their adult lives until a bitter rift opened up between them in the 1990's, when Jack grew furious at Bobby's attitude to their mother.

It is precisely this conflict within parallel lives which helps to make the Charltons so fascinating. This is a tale of soaring professional success and simmering personal discord, of World Cup glory and political controversy, of club triumphs and tragedies. And the result is an intriguing and thought-provoking study of football's most famous brothers.

"Jack and Bobby have been great ambassadors for both football and for working-class England."
'John Giles'

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Willow
• Data di pubblicazione: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0007118767
• ISBN 13: 9780007118762
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero edizione: 1
• Numero di pagine: 512