Given that this book was written such a long time ago, it's impressive that it managed to predict so many of the headaches that afflict modern football. It even predicted the millionaire footballing playboy with a David Beckham-style character. Initially the footballing action takes second place to the inter-relationships between the players, some of whom are well fleshed-out, others take some remembering. There is an extended match sequence at the end, by which time you need to care about the characters and who wins, as it does go on a bit. A rather predictable weepie moment (if you're a girlie) at the end concludes a reasonably good story. ( )