Product Description

Since England's famous 1966 World Cup victory, Alf Ramsey has been regarded as the greatest of all British football managers. By placing Ramsey in an historical context, award-winning author Leo McKinstry provides a thought-provoking insight into the world of professional football and the fabric of British society over the span of his life. Ramsey's life is a romantic story of heroism. Often derided by lesser men, he overcame the prejudice against his social background to reach the summit of world football. The son of a council dustman from Essex, Ramsey had been through a tough upbringing. After army service during the war, he became a professional footballer, enjoying a successful career with Southampton and Tottenham and winning 32 England caps. But it was as manager of Ipswich Town, and then the architect for England's 1966 World Cup triumph, that Ramsey will be most remembered. The tragedy was that his battles with the FA would ultimately lead to his downfall. He was sacked after England failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup and was subsequently ostracised by the football establishment. He died a broken man in 1999 in the same modest Ipswich semi he'd lived in for most of his life. Drawing on extensive interviews with his closest friends and colleagues in the game, author Leo McKinstry will help unravel the true character of this fascinating and often complex football legend.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #349290 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

Review
'McKinstry's book is a near masterpiece of biographical investigation' Daily Mail 'Delivers the goods!McKinstry's great merit is his ability to debunk some of the myths surrounding Ramsey' Spectator 'An outstanding biography' The Sunday Times 'Magnificent!an eloquent and empathetic book' Glasgow Herald 'The first truly comprehensive biography of England's greatest manager' Irish News 'For those interested in just how much our national game has changed and just how shabbily Ramsey was treated by the establishment, it is truly enlightening.' Derby Evening Telegraph 'McKinstry never shies away from Ramsay's nastier side, and his mistakes. Without passing judgement, he manages to paint a very well-rounded picture of a man who evoked strong feelings from those who knew him.' Cambrian News 'This summer, football enthusiasts should not dare pack a bucket and spade without taking Leo McKinstry's commanding biography of England's first, best and by far most interesting manager.' The Oldie

Sunday Telegraph
A superb biography....a masterly and highly affectionate work.

Sunday Times
Exhaustively researched...an outstanding biography

Customer Reviews

An excellent examination of a complex man
Despite his central role in English football history, Sir Alf Ramsey, has had few detailed books written about him. Only one book has had a serious examination of his career - a book written by Dave Bowler in 1999. However, Leo McKinstry has produced a epic work which fully redresses the balance. Sir Alf is an intelligent, balanced look at this most controversial of characters and draws upon a wide range of material much of which is primary testimony from those who worked with Ramsey.

Sir Alf is written in a thorough yet accessible style and looks closely at not only Ramsey's tenure as England Football Manager but also his time as a footballer with Southampton and Spurs. In particular, his time at Ipswich is covered in detail and full of interesting anecdotes. The book is a balanced portrayal of Ramsey and effectively makes the poignant point that Ramsey is yet another example of England neglecting its heroes until it is too late. Indeed, Ramey is rightly feted as one of the great footballing managers yet was left to struggle with an uncomfortable retirement.

This book has much to recommend as it offers an alternative angle on an often written about subject - the 1966 World Cup - as well as covering the life of an England football legend. An excellent book!

A story of a life that is worth telling
Despite leading England to their only World Cup victory, Sir Alf Ramsey's part in this as been too long overlooked. In fact, rather than being looked upon as a national hero Sir Alf is remembered as being a cold individual whose tactics that helped England win on that day back in 1966 hampered the development of the English game for years afterwards. Its very telling that when the new Wembley is completed the white horse that controlled the crowd during the 1923 Cup Final will be commemorated but not Sir Alf. Hopefully this brilliant book should help redress the balance.
It's a big book, but nearly every one of its 500+ pages contains a fastinating anecode that gives you an insight into this most private of men. Don't read it expecting to learn of any scandals or hidden secrets because there wasn't any. We learn that the only things that mattered to Sir Alf were football and his wife, Victoria, who he was deeply devoted to. We are told that he had many faults; he had little interest for anything outside football and his attitude towards the media and the 'men in suits' at the FA was so bad that it cost him is job in the end, but perhaps the two people who come out worst are the FA's Sir Harold Thompson and 'golden boy' Bobby Moore, who comes across as being a rather arrogant character.
There can be no doubt that Leo McKinstry has produced a book that sets the standard that all sporting biographies should aspire to.

Superb - and long overdue
I just wish this book had come out 25 years earlier - that's when it really SHOULD have been written - for in that period between Ramsey's sacking in 1974 and his death in 1999, the man had either been savaged by the media, or just plain forgotten by the public. This book shows Sir Alf for what he really was - a fabulous manager and a WINNER. So to me this book is certainly long overdue but very welcome.

In deciding to cover Ramsey's lifespan - as opposed to just his time in football - the author has taken on quite a task. But in doing so he has done a great job by unearthing plenty of anecdotes and by reaching some of the man's long-forgotten contemporaries. The result is 500 pages of superb reading.

Quite clearly, Leo McKinstry has aimed to set the record straight, and to redress the imbalance created by a negative, media-led campaign which dogged Ramsey's time in management and beyond. And I think he achieves this aim. I just hope that some of Ramsey's severest critics read this book and have a serious rethink about what they said and wrote about him.

Although the book covers Sir Alf's life, the book really centres on his two finest achievements - that of turning a struggling, unfashionable second division outfit into First Division Champions, and taking his country to the top of world football. Needless to say, that extraordinary double-feat has never been, and probably never will be, emulated.

So, given those fabulous achievements, just why was he so unpopular with the media? Because he was a quite, modest man? Because he appeared cold and reticent at press conferences? If he was snappy on those occasions, who can blame him? Surely it was an entirely justified mistrust of the tabloid press.

Finally, when I read of the FA's decision to commemorate a horse for the new Wembley rather than their finest-ever manager, I was just incredulous. Once again the FA did not exactly cover themselves in glory. This was the final kick in the teeth.

There's just one small criticism I have about his book. The author, I feel, makes too much use of quotes from people who knew Sir Alf. Throughout the book, long after a broad concensus about Sir Alf is reached, McKinstry continues to take quotes - almost exhaustively.

But depite that mere foible, I have no hesitation in giving this book five stars. It's an excellent read - albeit long, long overdue.