Forever Boys

The Days of Citizens and Heroes

James Lawton

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Paperback

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English

Wisden
22 June 2016

Sports teams & clubs; Football (Soccer, Association football)

Series: Wisden Sports Writing

Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year 2015

Sometimes you love a football team not only for their strengths, the splendour of their play and the appealing thrust of their character, but also the haunting possibility that their best hopes may never be fulfilled. This has rarely been demonstrated so vividly as by the Manchester City team who briefly, but unforgettably, illuminated the late sixties. And no one was more caught up in their struggles and their triumphs than James Lawton, a young sportswriter starting out on a career that would take him to all the great events of world sport. Yet still, 50 years after Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison began to shape the brilliant team, he counts watching their rise to glory as one of the most exciting times of his professional life.

Francis Lee, Colin Bell, Mike Summerbee - these players loomed large over the game as they charged at the peaks of English football, and today evoke a period of the sport's history that seems distant and unknowable, hard to see except through the rose-tinted gloss of nostalgia.

Lawton goes back to those heroes, interviewing all the main players and characters who are still alive, and vividly brings to life the story of that City team which with such wonderful panache, and freedom, won the first division title, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the European Cup Winners Cup between 1967 and 1970.

This, though, is not just the story of one team, but a broader one of how sport can sometimes so perfectly mirror the exaltation and the despair of the real world, how it carries those who do it, and sometimes even those who merely see it, to moments that will claim a permanent place in their hearts.

By: James Lawton
Imprint: Wisden
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 129mm,
Weight: 286g
ISBN: 9781472912428
ISBN 10: 147291242X
Series: Wisden Sports Writing
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 22 June 2016
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

James Lawton first started covering top-flight football as a 19-year-old for the Daily Telegraph in 1963 and after a seven-year stint in North America, went on to become chief sports writer of the Daily Express and the Independent, with whom he was three times voted sportswriter of the year and was also awarded the sports columnist and sports feature writer of the year titles. He has written 12 books, including an award-winning collaboration with Sir Bobby Charlton on his two volumes of autobiography.

Reviews for Forever Boys: The Days of Citizens and Heroes

Excellent... Forever Boys is necessary reading for City fans The (Glasgow) Herald This golden era is beautifully captured in James Lawton's Forever Boys Choice Magazine It is a bitter-sweet account of life then and now, a beautifully-crafted and evocative recollection of the original City 'Super Team' The Sun This is a great book for a lot of reasons. Simply put, it is some of the finest sportswriting to be seen in 2015. It is an obvious choice for Man City fans or anyone that loves the English game or the city of Manchester. It's also a great piece of nostalgia, a great opportunity to hear living legends talk about their journey in the beautiful game. It's a magical and unique experience, one that is an enjoyable from cover to cover. International Soccer Network It's a beautiful story lovingly told by a great writer who still holds City close to his heart. I can't recommend it highly enough. -- Kevin Cummins Manchester City programme Football romantics, particularly those with ties in Manchester and Nottingham, will lap up the nostalgia of Forever Boys The Independent on Sunday