The Man Who Was King Review – LFChistory

Anthony Quinn’s Keegan: The Man Who Was King isn’t your customary soccer biography. It’s half life story, half love letter to Seventies and ’80s soccer, and half journey down reminiscence lane for anybody who remembers when gamers have been nonetheless human-sized and perms dominated the terraces.

The guide takes you from Keegan’s scrappy beginnings in Doncaster, via his glory years at Liverpool, the daring leap to Hamburg that left thirteen-year-old Anthony in bits, the highs and lows with England, and his swansong at Southampton and Newcastle (plus the odd single that proved footballers ought to follow soccer).

Keegan performs his hit single, Head over Heels

Liverpool fan Quinn clearly loves the sport and has a mushy spot for Keegan, however he’s not afraid to poke enjoyable when Kev’s mood, stubbornness, or showmanship bought the higher of him. The tone is chatty, with loads of detours into 70s popular culture (evaluating Keegan to Cliff Richard versus George Greatest’s Elvis picture), adverts, and TV moments, which makes it really feel such as you’re within the pub with a mate who is aware of his soccer inside out.

Quinn makes use of Keegan’s profession to replicate on the shifting enterprise of soccer, from the times of restrictive contracts to the emergence of gamers as manufacturers. Alongside match accounts, we get portraits of figures like Invoice Shankly, Bob Paisley, and Don Revie, all seen via the prism of Keegan’s profession.

The guide displays the power Keegan dropped at the pitch, the way in which he labored each ounce out of his expertise, and the way he helped change the way in which footballers dealt with their careers. If you would like a energetic, humorous, and nostalgic examine one of many sport’s greatest – but fun-sized – colossal characters, this guide delivers.

You should buy The Man Who Was King right here.