Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2009.
A wonderful memoir about
the loneliest position on the football pitch. Graham Joyce looks back on his time spent in goal, from schoolboy success
to adult ignominy. It might even inspire you to set off to the park with a ball - or you could stay in and read this highly enjoyable book instead!
Simple Goalkeeping Made Spectacular: A Rioutous Footballing Memoir About the Loneliest Position on the Field Synopsis
At the age of 52, a British writer gets the sudden call-up to play for the England soccer team in the World Cup competition. The team can't find a goalkeeper and he's going to have to come out of retirement.
No it's not a nightmare. The team is the England Writers XI, a chronically-unskilled collection of scribblers who can't let go of their fantasies about being real footballers.
Simple Goalkeeping Made Spectacular is a humorous memoir about the most solitary spot the football pitch, looking back on schoolboy triumphs and adult ignominy. From the chaos of coats-down park soccer mobs to the casual violence of pub teams, from the excitement of schoolboy shield winners to knackered old World Cup squads, it's the goalie who always gets it in the neck.
Every goalkeeper - and every goalkeeper's wife or girlfriend - should read this book.
Graham Joyce is the author of 16 novels and a collection of short stories, most recently The Limits of Enchantment. He was presented with the World Fantasy Award for his novel The Facts Of Life, and he has won the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel an unprecedented four times. His work has been translated into more than 20 languages and has earned him several international awards.
