| Title | : | I Am The Secret Footballer: Lifting the Lid on the Beautiful Game |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0852653085 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780852653081 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 230 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2012 |
Now, for the first time, he reveals everything you need to know about the hidden world of professional football - the extraordinary highs, the desperate lows....and what it's really like to do a job most of us can only dream of.
I Am The Secret Footballer: Lifting the Lid on the Beautiful Game Reviews
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I couldn't get myself to finish this one. I like insider books on virtually any subject but this did not grab me. I had never read the newspaper column which led to the book so I cannot say that influenced me. The writing in the book is almost completely colourless. It is all grammatically correct and precise but it feels like a machine wrote it. This may support the theory that the writer is actually a journalist combining information he has received from a number of sources. It is fine as copy for a newspaper but not very involving in a longer format.
The insights are not that earth shattering and made infuriating by the potentially bogus excuse of having to make them anonymous. Thus you get a lot of "A friend of mine playing a major premiership team with a famously irascible manager ..." I guess there is some entertainment to be had in guessing the references but it wears thin very quickly. The whole chapter about soccer agents felt like it had been sponsored by a lobby group.
My main problem is that I did not like the person/persona of the Secret Footballer. The impression given is of a typically self-absorbed "star" with the usual delusions of entitlement. Again this may be due to the fact that this is not a real person but a creation. Even so, this is pretty telling if it represents the key features of a premiership footballer. -
One of those rare occasions when the sequel is better and more informative. This is padded out with a chapter written by an agent and a lot of uninteresting and quite dull opinions.
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I have given this 2 stars, 1 for the book and 1 for the genius in printing Match IF the Day... Only in a footballer's autobiography could this happen!!!.... Utter rubbish having expected something of interest.
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The stories in this book were probably once revelatory but now that 10 years have passed since it’s publication they just seem ordinary I probably waited too long to read it.
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I gave this book a 5 initially but after thinking about it I think 4.5 or somewhere around that is more fitting.
I have enjoyed this book very much. It was very truthful and it really was an eye opener. I mean I know football is much more than just a game in our current time, it's a damn business, and almost everyone involved in it is just in for personal benifits or greed. All thos agencies, sponsors, multi billionaire owners, advertisers etc etc. It really isn't what it once was. It's true that it might not do justice to those who are more deservant sometimes due to *wait for it* money issues, which is damn frustrating. I won't get into more detail about it, I do have my own theories but for now let's talk about this book.
but despite all it still is the beautiful game, all the arising talents and the legendary players and the historical records and trophies and competitions and rivalry, all all of it is just beautiful.
Back to the book . . .
It has dissected each aspect of a player's career. explaining agents, money issues, boyish maneuvers on and off pitch and even the psychology of a player, and I don't know to what extent all of that is true but I know for a fact that it delivered a very clear image about a player's life.
You could feel through the writing of the author as to how a player really feels like during a game, when he scores, when ehe celebrates, all that; if us as fans feel all that thrill how do they feel and they are the ones living it ?!
I'm very glad I picked this up now, it was a very delightful experience. and actually thanks to scribd for providing it for free. It was an exellent read and I recommend to all football fans.
lastly yes I am as curious as the next person is about the identity of the author, but I believe I'd rather not no because then it would get too personal; not to me but to the industry as a whole.
did I jus call it industry? oh yes, that might as well be the best word to describe the situation of this sport at the time being. -
Like a waterlogged pitch, this book has been abandoned - no replay is planned.
The book claims to lift the lid on the beautiful game. The writing of some inconsequential stories or events without any context (ie. which clubs, which players, etc.) is hardly 'lifting the lid' - maybe that's why he's a footballer first and foremost, and a writer much further down the list. Liken it to (the as yet unwritten opus) 'I Am The Secret Supermarket Checkout Assistant' who fails to tell you which supermarket they work for, in which town, or any of the people they work with. It's completely meaningless without context.
There a a few isolated anecdotes here and there that prove interesting, but hardly anything that is likely to change the footballing world or your view of it. Ironically, the author advises the reader to dismiss anything that they read or hear in the media (as they 'know nothing about the football industry'), yet peddles some of the same sensationalistic crap himself. What's worse, most of the stories are a bit like the Best Man at a wedding telling the guests a story about the Groom that nobody finds funny because they don't 'get it'; a case of having to be there and being a part of it. Nothing worse.
The only saving grace was I bought it as a 99p Kindle Daily Deal and haven't lined his pockets anymore than needed to. I dare say there are probably much better reads by footballers/ex-footballers who give a greater insight into the beautiful game.
Final Score: Disappointed Reader 1 - Nil Enjoyment -
Solitamente è difficile leggere un libro che ha un protagonista per cui non riesci a provare empatia, soprattutto se si tratta di (presumibilmente) un personaggio realmente esistente. Invece la lettura si è rivelata molto piacevole e mi ha dato alcuni spunti di riflessione calcistica. Credo che tra Inghilterra e Italia il divario sia ampio e ciò che viene descritto nel libro non sia del tutto sovrapponibile al nostro sistema calcio, ma ugualmente mi è stato utile per capire certe dinamiche di spogliatoio.
Va menzionata la parte relativa alla chiacchierata con l'agente che illumina un'area molto oscura. -
I Am the Secret Footballer is a book based on the columns printed in the sports section of the Guardian most Saturdays. The chapters are divided up along themes, such as money, agents, bad behaviour, etc. They are written from the perspective of an anonymous premier league footballer and are refreshingly honest in their assessment of modern football.
The identity of the secret footballer is unknown, but there is a blog devoted to trying to find this out. There is enough information about the career of the secret footballer to narrow it down to a fairly small pool of players but nothing has ever been publically confirmed. I have have heard a rumour somewhere that the secrect footballer might actually be a few different players who reveal their secrets to a journalist at the Guardian who shapes the stories into one narrative.
The book is made up mainly of the newspaper columns, with some additional material added in around the already published bits. Organising everything around themes works pretty well through most of the books but there are a few sections where the linking between one column and another is a little bit clumsy and makes you realise that you are reading something that was not originally meant to be in book form. This doesn't really spoil the enjoyment of the book too much, but means the book leaps from one topic to another in places.
Premier League footballers are subject to an awful lot of scrutiny from the press but it is rare to hear them speak honestly about their jobs and the lifestyle that comes with it. I really enjoyed the behind the scenes stories that rarely make it into the press. While the secret footballer often argues that footballers are cast in a bad light, he also reveals some pretty appalling behaviour that he has witness or been involved in. While I would not have liked to have been involved in some of the debauchery described, there are some very interesting stories in here which lead to the occasional snort of laughter.
There is a serious side to this book too. The author admits to currently taking medication for depression and describes how the pressure of professional sports can lead to, or at least trigger off, mental health issues. The description of these issues was honest and made me feel genuinely sorry for him. What's the point of earning tens of thousand pounds a week if you feel so bad you can't enjoy it?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the lives of professional sportmen. Some might find it hard to have sympathy for these overpaid millionaires but they will at least enjoy being able to peek into a world that is closed off to the majority of us. -
I am The Secret Footballer (2012) by Anonymous is a book based on the Guardian column that is allegedly by a Premier League Footballer. Whether or not the book is a by a player, or a group of players or a journalist or a journalist and a footballer is a matter of considerable speculation.
The book is fairly interesting, it covers the players lives, the money involved, fans, tactics, team mates, footballers behaviour and various other aspects of being a modern footballer.
In the book the author indicates that a lot of what outsiders write and say about football is nonsense.
The chapter on agents is fascinating. The agent points out that they actually raise wages for players and justifies why this is the case. The picture presented of how players, managers and others behave seems to be realistic. Players are intensely competitive and are pretty harsh on each other. They live increible lives, spending huge sums on trips around Europe and to Las Vegas.
Books by anonymous insiders can be fascinating, the book Primary Colors was a highly amusing book that provided a look inside the 1992 Democratic campaign for the president. I am The Secret Football is similar. For anyone interested in football the book is worth the short time it requires to read. -
Interesting book for any football fan, but the more into the behind-the-scenes stuff you are, the better. There's the odd scandal-type thing, but for me the insights into what the day to day life of a top class footballer is and what it feels playing in front to tens of thousands of people feels like when half of them are calling you all sorts were the most interesting parts.
This is an honest insight into the mind of someone who if not for his talent would have ended up living in a council flat and quite possibly eventually killing himself. He just had the money and chance to get help for his depression unlike many. He has long since lost his love for the game but he is honest enough to admit how much it has given him.
Easy to read and lets us punters into the secretive world we only see glimpses of so I can recommend this to anyone who follows football. Maybe even other team sports because I can't imagine being a top player in any major team sports is much different. Be warned, though, if you have any romantic notions left that the players gives a **** about your club. -
The much hyped Guardian columnist's book. In my opinion, it is pretty average fare and most of the 'lifting the lid' on football, is nothing really new or surprising. I still read it all the way though. 6 out of 12.
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Because of the anonymous writer the book becomes very superficial. Exciting at sometimes but nothing spectacular.
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I am not into sport but did enjoy the book and found it an insight into the money making machine of premiership football
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I was a bit wary about reading this. I have been a football fan since I was around ten years old, at times obsessed by everything surrounding it. I read a few annuals, which were fun, plus a few biographies, which were rather dull. As an adult though, I really don't like gossip, just the football, and I was worried in case this confessional book was nothing more than slander and sleaze. But hey, I decided to give it a go anyway.
The 'Secret Footballer' claims that he played in the English Premier League and wrote anonymous articles for the Guardian newspaper. He was a player at the time when players were becoming more like celebrities and their wives and girlfriends became known as WAGS and were just as famous as their husbands and boyfriends for being, well, famous. This is most evident on the chapter that deals with the media, where he shows how news was manipulated by scheming agents and football staff for their own purposes. As for the player himself, he states that he always had a 'huge problem with anyone in authority'. So it's going to be like that. Tacky stuff.
The book is structured in chapters with the focus being a topic such as fans, managers, tactics, agents, money and bad behaviour. Here is the confessions and tall stories of young men being too rich for their own good so slide into degradation. It is an interesting read for the football fan though. He talks of tactics and decision-making, planning, strategy and gives examples of good management and quite often names names. Written in an easy-going style with some witty scathing in places, this is a quick read, entertaining in places, informative in others
The biggest feature of this book is obviously the unknown author. There are clues everywhere of course: he didn't come from one of the many academies but started out a non-League player, played for a couple of Premier League clubs so it will be easy to track, plus he is open about who many of his friends and acquaintances were. If this is all true, obviously. But this is still a personal story, and the Secret Footballer talks about depression and the sad demise of his career. If we knew who the author was this would be a totally different book. We could empathise more but in the end it would slide into the reduced-price bargain book basket with all the other biographies. As it is, the mystery makes this book something to talk about.
I'm glad I read this book despite not learning much about the Beautiful Game. Also I can practise my detective skills trying to work out who the Secret Footballer is. Maybe one day if I can find the time. -
Good book - I was hoping for a bit more dirt to be honest but I suppose then people would know who he was i.e. if he told a specific story the person involved would know it had come from him.
I also found it really sweet the way he was the only one in the whole group who was not getting involved with the strippers, pole dancers and prostitutes ......... YEAH RIGHT!!! -
Decent read, but feel I have heard bits before. Would like more insight on individuals involved in the game. Appreciated TSF candidness however.
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The backside of the book sounds promising but there are no secrets in this book. Nothing you don’t already know. And what is revealed is of a more personal sort. But the book is written by an anonymous footballer, so what should I do with that kind of information?
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This wasn't a bad read, some interesting insights to the modern professional game. Well worth a read for football fans.
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"It is often said that 95% of what happens in football takes place behind closed doors. Many of these stories I shouldn't be telling you about. But I will."
So reads the blurb on the back cover.
If only the book actually lived up to it....
I went into this book thinking that it might actually 'lift the lid' and expose secrets and stories that people hadn't already heard many times over already. Instead. far too much of the book is filled with the kind of stories that you hear regularly touted as 'shattering' on various TV shows by pundits or former players.
About the only 'new' thing was the 'player agent' answering questions from fans via Twitter - something that the Secret Footballer actually lifted directly from his column in 'The Guardian' newspaper... It's not new, and it's not even remotely 'shattering'.
I did so desperately want to like this book. It is well written. You can see, as a reader, that the player (whomever he may be) is writing from the heart.
But too much of it is simply a rehash of his regular columns and fails to meet the expectations that the blurb envisions.
It is only because GR doesn't have a half star feature that enables this book to score the full 2-stars that I give it...
..and in some respects I wonder if even that is too generous. -
I don't really know what I was expecting with this book.
It would have been great to read some real shocking expose dishing the dirt on the beautiful game.
On the other hand I was also expecting a banal trudge through cliched stories of drink and drug fuelled orgies and turning up late to training.
The reality was rather thin on the former and heavy on the latter.
The style in which the book is written is appealing enough, however I find the constant references to the author's love of classic literature, high art and fine wine to be more than a tad grating.
The shocking inside information never really materialises. Yes there are a few anecdotes which are amusing but nothing that you haven't heard before from any after dinner speaker or chatty ex pro.
One section of the book which did touch a chord was the final chapter where he mentions his descent into depression. Not only was it genuine and heartfelt but it was the only point in this book that you felt you were actually reading anything unique.
Maybe his columns are fantastic but the book is rather a damp squib. -
Anon has always had a fairly wide-ranging output and this lid-lifter really serves to confirm much of what we suspect anyway: managers add some value, tactical decisions mix with luck to produce the outcomes, people at high levels within the game are onto a I-win-even-if-I-lose scenario. More, that footballers are disgustingly overpaid and fail to appreciate the value of their so-called earnings.
There are insights here, particularly about some of the play that goes on and the dressing room reality. But despite this being a secret expose, it offers little more than the average sensationalist autobiography which a given player would choose to give their name to. Surprises are over-played as are the literary credentials paraded by the writer.
As an insider this provokes interest, as an apologist for the excesses of the modern game it goes some distance but, in the final analysis, is as alienating for a fan as illuminating. That footballers disdain their fans is quite a brave thing to say but quite a difficult thing to sympathise with. -
Having read The Secret Footballer's column on the Guardian website, I was chuffed to get this book and the sequel for Christmas.
Sadly, there seemed to be very little difference in terms of the stories included and the revelations they hold.
That said, it is still an interesting read with plenty of behind-the-dressing-room-door stories of how top-flight footballers behave.
Of course, this is an insight into one footballer's life and the highs and deep lows he encounters.
As good and as well put as the stories are, you get the feeling you've been here before with most other football biographies. The Secret Footballer's unique selling point is that he is still playing the game, whereas most others who put pen to paper have retired.
But the anonymity he brings and the names covered up to avoid exposing his identity or getting the lawyers called in every five minutes nullify that aspect of it.
Despite it's USP, this is just football biography with some interesting tales. Worth a read, but not as good as it could have been. -
Quand j'ai vu ce livre pour la première fois je n'ai même pas hésité je l'ai acheté, non seulement parce qu'il parle de football mais aussi parce que l'idée qu'un joueur écrive un livre de façon anonyme et nous fasse découvrir l'envers du décor dans le foot était une idée vraiment folle et super cool à mon gout (et je l'avoue j'ai aussi craqué parce que j'ai trouvé la couverture vraiment canon).
Les avis concernant ce livre sont vraiment mitigés. Pour ma part j'ai dévoré le livre du début à la fin! J'ai adoré la franchise du joueur et sa façon de voir les choses! Et quand il a parlé de Liverpool et du YNWA: j'ai fondu *_*.
Pas grand chose de plus à dire à part que c'est un gros coup de coeur.
(Même si j'ai très envie de savoir qui se cache derrière ce livre j'ai peur qu'il s'agisse d'un joueur que je n'aime pas, qu'il reste anonyme donc hahaha.) -
I am a football fan, however my support doesn't just end at the premier league "best league in the world" (TM), I love all football, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Serie A, Lega Nos, The Championship etc etc etc. I now tend to watch games by tuning in exactly on kick off, turn off at half time and turn on exactly on kick off and then turn off, mainly because pundits have me tearing my hair out, for every Gary Neville there is a Harry Redknapp, Robbie Savage, Danny Mills, Danny Murphy, Chris Sutton etc etc etc, who for some reason seem to know nothing about football at all coming out with every cliche under the sun. This book is for the fan, its unflinching, personal and searingly honest and is unquestionably the best book I have read about the game and I look forward to the rest in the series.
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Yes, this is a football book, and I suspect to fully appreciate it, you need to be a bit of a football anorak like me. It will be interesting to see what non-football fans make of it, as it's nothing like any other football book I've ever read.
"The Secret Footballer" is what it says on the tin - a footballer who has written columns for years in The Guardian newspaper, and whose main conceit is the fact that he is anonymous - and therefore can spill the beans on fellow professionals, and other characters within and on the peripheries of "the beautiful game" with impunity.
But if you're going to read this because you think it's all about some juicy bits of gossip on famous footballers, think again. Very few people are actually named, and the identities are either inferred and/ or carefully camouflaged.
More than that we get the feeling that our author is a tortured soul, who really struggles to come to terms at times with the fame and fortune that being a top footballer has bought him. He claims that he suffers from mental health issues, bought on in part by his inabilities to deal with what football has done to him.
One small thing that worries though - he says openly that he has to change "some details" to protect both his own identity, and that of many of his sources. But what exactly does "some details" mean? Does this in fact give him carte blanche to take a small truth and blow it up out of all proportion to reality?
But if this is predominantly a work of fiction, does it actually matter? It's a damned good read, looking at elements of a professional sportsman's life that even I, as a football anorak, never even imagined could have existed.
There are four more books currently published in this "series" - I am heading straight for the next one! -
I enjoyed this insider's look into Premier League football, even if it is a bit outdated now. TSF is a thoughtful man, someone who wants more out of life than just a footballer's career, and I appreciated that. It gives him a different perspective on his career (one that, judging by reviews, is not fully appreciated by fans of the Premier League), because it allows him to put football into a larger context than "the best league in the world."
TSF had what appears to be a charmed rags-to-riches rise from a council estate to the top of professional football. He's no angel - he's paid dearly in financial terms for some of the shit his agent got him into - and he doesn't pretend to be. His struggles with depression ring true, and it hurt my heart to read that his groundbreaking column on mental health in the Guardian came out the same day of the news that Gary Speed had taken his own life. Talk about ugly coincidences :(
I did skip the Q&A with the agent because that was just a bunch of BS, but the rest of it was very interesting. I'd love to read his take on football today, especially in light of the huge historical abuse scandal.
