Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football

This is a romantic book about life as a football reporter in Eastern Europe, a place where the beautiful game is played a little bit differently, where the line between sports and politics is a little less clear, but with passion for the game unmistakably resonates the universal love like in any other parts of the world.The book tells the tales of local heroes and legends, the larger than life characters, the rise and fall of the local teams, and the memorable moments in their respective national team’s history. It tells the anecdotes such as why so many supporters eat sunflower seeds in Georgia, or which club’s vice president have pictures of Britney Spears in his leather-bound notebook. And of course it tells about all the iconic football matches - the Dynamo Kyiv, the Spartak Moscow, the Red Star Belgrade, the Steaua Bucharest, the CSKA Sofia, the Hajduk Split -, including the ones that the author, Jonathan Wilson, attended himself, from the big name derbies to an invigorated match in the 3rd division pitch in the Bulgarian FA Cup.The book also tells about the many stories outside the football field that define the environment of the region. Such as the hatred among the former Yugoslavian countries that are reflected in the matches, the deep mistrust of everyday people in Romania, the hooliganism problem in Hungary, the chilling atmosphere during the dictatorship of Stalin, and the many incredible personal stories such as what happened when French player Youri Djorkaeff went to his ancestral home Armenia, or the story of the last plane leaving Bosnia before the war broke in 1992 that was carrying a future football superstar Hasan Salihamidžić.Meanwhile, as in other many walks of life in Eastern Europe, corruption and bribery are rampant, while match fixing is not uncommon. And while the countries from Baltic to Balkan to Caucasus have transitioned from a communist subject into independent countries, plenty of the embedded old structures are still pretty much in place in their societies, with Soviet/Yugoslav control replaced by local dictators or oligarchs or gangs of mafia that have vested interests in the football matches.Thus, reporting about football in this part of the world becomes an intricate job, as it often deals more with the likes of prostitutes, kidnappings and even assassinations than just another injury update or a transfer rumor. This, in short, is what makes this book mighty interesting.

Viewed as a collection of unrelated stories on the same topic (triumph and tragedy in the football cultures of former Soviet republics), this book succeeds. It is not a tight continuous narrative, though. This makes for good airplane or beach reading. Take a country's chapter, read it on a short flight, and you can pick up a few weeks later with another country if you like.It is also a vivid depiction of these places and the people who inhabit them, which is a nice bonus in a football book. There have been some real personalities over the years.I recommend Behind the Curtain if you enjoy learning about this part of the world and if you like reading stories about football or sports in general.

Jonathan Wilson is a great author who investigated these stories so well! I've always been in love with Eastern European football, and it was great to learn about it in such entertaining and detailed fashion.This covers the Balkans thoroughly, Hungary, the Caucasian states, of course Ukraine + Russia, Poland and more. Weaving history and culture with football, the big picture issues with money after the fall of communism are painted brilliantly. The politics of historically politically significant Eastern European clubs are depicted wonderfully.I wish there was more to go from here and more Wilson books available on Kindle!Only thing is that the landscape in Russia has changed so dramatically over the past few years (see Zenit, Rubin, Terek, Anzhi), it could perhaps use a bit of an addition to the Russian section. Other than that, an amazing book!

Extremely well-researched and educational, yet fun at the same time. Less about formations & tactics than I originally antiicipated, but still an absolute page turner with the stories and gems you will find nowhere else. The fact that this book deals with Eastern Europe, even more credit to Mr. Wilson. (Much more information avaiable on Western European football History). I had to re-read a few pages early on due to relative unfamiliarity of the subjects and names mentioned, but that is to no discredit of this excellent author.You want boxscores and game recaps? Look elsewhere. You want to know how Football REALLY evolved in this part of the world? Buy this book.

Because I'm a novice to soccer (football), I wanted to know more about soccer than just in the well-publicized country and this book does that. I've read one of other books "Inverting the Pyramid" and thoroughly enjoyed it. And I feel the same way about this book.

This is my favorite soccer book I've read. Part travelogue, part history and politics, and part sport, in 'Behind the Curtain' Jonathan Wilson travels through Eastern Europe and explores the people, the cultures, and the problems via the lens of football. Whether he is sharing a drink with former guerrillas in Belgrade, or traveling the back roads of Armenia, Wilson's book is enthralling and I couldn't put it down.

I started reading for the football, but was fascinated by the rich history of all the nations. Great read as is, but I do wonder if any leagues are better off now. I hope so.

this is a great read if you are interested in the history of football and the stories behind the spread and growth of the game. You dont need to be that interested in Eastern Europe to find this a fascinatng book, altho the politics and economics of that region inevitably influence the stories significantly.

Amazingly book!

どうしてある一部の人々は東欧に魅惑されるのでしょうか？この著者もこの種族の一人です。そしてその対象は東欧のサッカーです。著者は、それぞれの東欧の国々がもつ輝かしいサッカーの歴史をたどります。ハンガリーのマジック・マジャール、イングランドのワールドカップ出場をストップした１９７３年のポーランド代表、ソヴィエトのチームとして初めてヨーロッパカップ（cup winners cup)を取ったディナモ・キエフ、ヨーロッパチャンピオンに輝いたユーゴのレッド・スター、ルーマニアのステアウア・ブカレストそして９８年のワールドカップ３位のクロアチアなどの過去の栄光が非共産化の後のそれぞれおぞましい現状と比較される形で紹介されます。読者がここに見出すのは、グローバリゼーションの中で最底辺に沈む旧共産圏のクラブレベルでのサッカーです。昔から、試合や審判の買収そして腐敗自体はこれらの国では決して珍しいことではありませんでした。しかしながら国からの補助金がなくなる中で経済や財政に余裕のないこれらの国のクラブは一部の例外を除いてチャンピオンズリーグに代表される西側の資本主義の仕組みの中に末端として組み込まれたようです。著者は、その構図の中でサッカーは限りなく同質化していくと結論付けています。と同時に”何か定義できない何かが”失われたというのです。でも本当にそうなのでしょうか。新しいパーソナリティはこれからもその土壌の中から生まれてくるというのはロマンティックな幻想なのでしょうか。

Jornalistas e historiadores sociais ingleses normalmente tem um texto fácil de ler, além de reunirem com rigor depoimentos de personagens-chave e uma extensa documentação sobre os fatos narrados. Vale a pena. Recomendo!

The author has clearly spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe and writes in a honest fashion throughout. Despite an obvious fondness of Eastern Europe he does not sugar-coat events that have gone on there and I love the way he mixes the sport and politics in concise fashion.I grew up as a teenager in the 1980s and I always found it that bit more exciting when a British team was playing in the unknown of Eastern Europe. It had a special mystery about it for obvious reasons.If I was to be critical, the author sometimes throws individual's names in from nowhere and it can sometimes be hard to follow particularly as many of the names sound the same and I would have liked to have read about Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania but these are minor issues.I would love to see an updated version over the past ten years but for the time being I can highly recommend this book.

This is a brilliant book for me, as I am a footbal enthusiast and have a keen interest in everything related to the Iron Curtain. It is a fascinating read for both reader categories and I absolutely recommend it. Chapters include discussion of extraordinary circumstances and current conditions in Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, the former Yugoslavlic Republics of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia-Montenegro, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia. Surprisingly, Chech Republic and Slovakia are missing, and that is the only problem I can find in this very informative and entertaining publication.