The Beautiful Poetry of Football Commentary

Eccleshare, Charlie

£9.99

When you think of many of the most iconic moments in football, it often isn’t just the images that play in your head. Usually, they are accompanied by an ingenious line of commentary, capturing the moment with a few choice words. From the upper-class voice of yesteryear prosaically describing events on the pitch in the days before colour television, to the hyperbolic screeching of today’s broadcasts, the commentator is an intrinsic part of our football-watching experience and, in many ways, they are the poets of our time. From Peter Drury’s eloquent monologues to Robbie Savage’s savaging of the English language, the game of football has given us some poetic, and not so poetic, lines of commentary throughout the ages. This book is a glorious anthology of iconic lines, set out as poems, from the best commentators that have ever graced a microphone. Each poem is accompanied by scholarly analysis.

Available on backorder

Publish Date: 01/09/2022

Description

Roma have risen from their ruins!
Manolas, the Greek God in Rome!
The unthinkable unfolds before our eyes.
This was not meant to happen, this could not happen . . . this is happening!
Peter Drury

If football is the beautiful game, then commentators are its poets.

Whether it’s the brevity of Barry Davies, the boundless enthusiasm of Clive Tyldesley or the sheer eloquence of Peter Drury’s monologues, the canon of football commentary is replete with memorable lines that would have some of the great classical orators nodding in appreciation. Curated by football journalist Charlie Eccleshare, The Beautiful Poetry of Football Commentary is a glorious anthology of iconic lines, set out as poems, celebrating the best commentators that have ever graced a microphone. Each poem is accompanied by ‘scholarly’ analysis capturing the enduring power of language on the beautiful game.

So, drink it in, and immerse yourself in classic verse from Ali Brownlee, Andy Gray, Brian Moore, David Coleman, John Motson, Jon Champion, Jonathan Pearce, Kenneth Wolstenholme, Martin Tyler, and many more.

—–

“It is a privilege to be part of this excellent work” – Martin Tyler
“There have been some brilliant lines of commentary down the years and Charlie’s academic deconstruction of them is terrific.” – Peter Drury

Additional information

Weight 260 g
Dimensions 204 × 136 × 24 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

176

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

070.449796092 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K