Product Description

After fifteen years in his job, disillusioned prize-winning American sports journalist Chuck Culpepper decided it was time for a change. He moved to the UK where he discovered football and began to visit stadiums and sit among big crowds, learning about a league chock-a-bloc with facts he didn't know, legacies that hadn't grown tired, and astounding fan noise he couldn't wait to comprehend. Most important, he discovered the Fear of Relegation which wreaks fear, envy, anxiety, desperation and humiliation - in other words, so many of the things still great about sport. Chuck decided to start his second sports childhood by following one club through the 10-month 2006-07 season: Harry Redknapp's Portsmouth. UP POMPEY - a journey from snide, abject cynicism to the freshest of goosebumps - describes Chuck's dramatic year spent burrowed in England's Premiership.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74566 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 296 pages

Jon Wise, DAILY SPORT
This one is for all lovers of the Beautiful Game...fun, eye-opening and emotional.

Review
"Up Pompey testifies to underdog victories and wonder goals witnessed" (Michael Caines TLS )

Simon Hills, TIMES MAGAZINE
'An affectionate, Brysonesque look at football...offers insights that only a foreigner can divine.'

Customer Reviews

What a riot!
This book is a kick in the seat of the pants. I'm chuckling with every chapter.

The writing is so wonderful that even readers who aren't football or sports fans will enjoy reading about Chuck's experience.

I can't wait to see what he writes next!

Good fun
Chuck Culpepper is an American sportswriter who grew bored with his home-grown sports - too much money, spoilt brats playing and whiners managing, too much TV, etc, etc. In fact, ironically enough, all of the things that have completely put me off the "English" (come on ...) Premier League.

However, Culpepper comes to England and for the first time in decades - almost ever - watches as a fan, and a green one at that.

His adventures following Pompey as his adopted side for a season are very entertaining. He's good with a gag, has a sharp eye for the curios of English fandom, yet is never shy of weighing in with a strong opinion once in a while.

His writing style is pure Americana, laced with fluent US journo, which to my British taste comes across as somewhat un-literary, but that doesn't spoil the fun.

In summary, a light but highly entertaining read. I'm not sure there are any really deep insights into football or Englishness here, but you can't help warming to the kind of people prepared to dress up as a blue bear every fortnight to watch overpaid blokes kick a ball about. Sadly, the currently greed and tantrum infested game doesn't really deserve the fans it has.

Enticing plot is complimented with excellent writing
It's something every football fan will wonder at one point: "What would Americans think of the beautiful game?" Chuck Culpepper answers that riddle with this delightfully well written tale of demise and surprise.

The basic idea is that Chuck, an American sports journalist, has fallen out of love with American sports, and looks for revived passion. He decides to sample the wierd and wonderful world of English football. I won't spoil the rest.

It really is worth a read. The book brings your interest in football back to it's very foundations, and gives a different outlook on the sport us British are so used to.

Despite the title, "Up Pompey" is not exclusively for Portsmouth fans (Although that is an extra treat for those who are). So I'd recommend it to anyone.