The Great Game — Sydney Horler

Did you know the first cup final at England's new national stadium built in the 1920s was between Downside FC and Wildwood Town in front of 100,000 spectators ? No ? Then read on.Sadness hung about him like a foggy halo. It pervaded and permeated the man, seeming to exude from his clothes and mingle with the rain that dripped from the almost unbelievable hat he carried his hand. He had come out of the black night like a visitant from another world.'My name, gentlemen, ' he said in an accent strongly Scottish, 'is McPhee - Angus McPhee.' So opens the novel. The directors of Downside F.C. - the worst team in the country - are taken aback by this strange character presenting himself for the post of trainer. Having no alternative they give him a try, but the dastardly manager, Horace Ovens, hates him, and bankruptcy threatens the club. But is there more to this eccentric ex-Tommy than meets the eye. He sets out to lick the team into shape and turn its fortunes around.Stanley Horler was the father of the football novel, The Great Game/McPhee is probably his best work.