Geoffrey Green
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Geoffrey Green (May 12, 1911 - May 9, 1990) was the first and foremost English football writer.
Geoffrey Green started writing for The Times in the 1930s when football was not afforded much respectability among the paper's traditional readership. He is considered to be the godfather of football reporting and the world's first anointed Football Correspondent, although he remained anonymous in the paper until January 23, 1967. He also broadcast on football for BBC Radio.
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[edit] Match Of The Century
Most noteworthy of his work was covering Match Of The Century where the 'Magnificent Magyars' (Hungary) defeated England in 1953 at Wembley by 6-3 scoreline under the headline "A New Conception of Football". It was England's 1st defeat at home, and the inventors of football were described by him as "Strangers in a Strange world". New Conception referred to the middle ground between "the hard hitting, open British method" and the "more subtle, probing infiltration" of the continental game.
Many football historians in England believe that it was this defeat that made English football thinking again, and the seeds of 1966 World Cup victory were sown. "English football can be proud of its past. But it must awake to a new future". The venerable Times offers this match-report on their site as part of its dedication to the game and for fans worldwide.
[edit] Distinctive Prose
What separated Green from other football writers was his literary use of prose. For example he poignantly captures the importance of FA Cup in England through early years of football as "The influence of the Cup in all this wonderful growth ((football league)) is almost incalculable, it was the spark that set the whole bonfire of football alight... it altered the whole pattern and the whole purpose of the game."
Consider this description of Sir Stanley Matthews in his prime as "It is by the power to call souls out of the abyss into life that greatness is judged. So can Matthews be judged ... Matthews is a superb artist. He paints in watercolours and not oils. His work always has had that beautiful bloom that oils cannot give."
Or that unrivalled depiction of Sir Bobby Charlton's play "He always possessed an elemental quality;jinking, changing feet and direction, turning gracefully on the ball or accelerating through a gap surrendered by a confused enemy", which certainly brings back those moments captured by Green's purple prose into our minds and senses.
Green retired from The Times in 1976 after nearly 40 years of distinguished service.
[edit] Famous Quotes
1.On Bill Shankly "Football was his religion and Anfield his kirk."
[edit] Magnetised by Manchester United
Newspapers were printed out of Manchester until the late 1960s and coincidentally Sir Matt Busby's Manchester United revolutionised the game in the 1950s (Busby Babes) and no wonder that Green like many of his peers who frequented there were spellbound by their young and precocious team. The chief reason for being captivated was the endless line of brilliant young players who came through the Youth Academy at Manchester United - Duncan Edwards, Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir George Best. And it was the inimitable & one and only Geoffrey Green who saw these three legends in their prime.
One of a very few to have experienced the phenomenon called Duncan Edwards, to whom he devoted an entire chapter in his book "Soccer in The Fifties".
"His talent, his energy, his unselfconscious fun and enjoyment of the chase, his ability to make everything seem possible, all this added up to a volcano of excitement that gripped the crowds and the game wherever he played". Big Duncan would sadly perish in the Munich Air Disaster of 1958, so would eight other celebrated journalists. "Certain it is that Duncan Edwards, had he survived, would have captained England to the World Cup in 1966".
In yet another first, he captured the apotheosis (arrival) of George Best against Benfica in 1966 European Cup semi-final (modern day equivalent of UEFA Champions' League) in a splendid form "Night a star was born", wherein he described Best's goal as "gliding like a dark ghost past three men, to break clear and slide the ball home - a beautiful goal". Quintessential Best as The Beatle who "was the best of all, as he set a new almost unexplored beat" with his "long dark mop of hair, is known in these parts as The Beatle".
On his beloved Manchester United "As for United, they stand for something more than any other person, any player, any supporter. They are as was once written in the club programme of 1937 - the soul of a sporting organisation which goes on from year to year, making history all the time. They remain a club with a rich vein of character and faith. Because of that they have no fear of the morrow."
[edit] Books
1.There is Only One United, written in 1978 considered a definitive book on Manchester United.
2.The History of The Football Association(1953)
3.Soccer in The Fifties.
4.The Official History of the FA Cup(1949)
