The men who made Scotland: The definitive Who's Who of Scottish Football Internationalists 1872-1939

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Un libro che meriterebbe un posto speciale in ogni biblioteca sportiva

Just in time to celebrate Scotland's entry into the first major tournament in years, The Men Who Made Scotland is a marvellous large-format volume full of statistics, stories and player portraits that deserves a place in any library or bookshelf.Perhaps the foremost authority on the history of Scottish Football, Andy Mitchell has produced a marvellous, long overdue volume that replaces the now outdated and sometimes flawed series of football Who's Who books written by Douglas Lamming in the 1980s and 1990s.This outstanding volume is a fascinating collection of mini-biographies of the 615 players who pulled on the Scotland shirt between 1872 and 1939. Understanding that Scotland was the cornerstone in the development of the modern game, this book shares the lives and achievements of many forgotten players who helped influence the evolution of the game that spread throughout the world.An overriding characteristic of the author's work is the painstaking and scrupulous research undertaken to verify facts and figures. This book does not fall short, and if Mitchell says this is the 'definitive Who's Who', we can be sure this is an accurate description of its contents.Highly recommended to anyone interested in football history and essential to anyone curious to know more about the origins of the beautiful game.

To simply call it an ‘upgrade’ of Douglas Lamming’s earlier "Who's Who" does not do it justice. Andy has corrected the inaccuracies and misidentifications in that earlier work.The 600 odd players have had their full biographical details traced:Date and Place of BirthDate and Place of DeathHistory of clubs played forScotland matches played and goals scored.If it were just ‘those facts’ it would be invaluable as an investigation resource. What makes it a ‘great read’ however are the ‘pen portraits’ of each player that brings the individual to life.Dipping in at random you find marvellous snippets here are a couple:Matt Dickie running a tobacconist shop with a snooker hall upstairs.Tommy Walker donating a set of his strips to the SFA during WWII as they were short of clothing coupons.I have now bought 3 copies. The first one I have covered in copious notes.One will go in the Heart of Midlothian Museum Library to enable us to talk about Hearts pre WWII Internationalists.

Whatever Andy Mitchell has done in books and blogs has always been to the highest standard and without prejudice or favour. And this book is no exception. It is comprehensive, crisply factual and thorough yet at the same time a series of fascinating individual tales within the larger story of a period when for large parts Scotland was the World's top team, many of its players the best worldwide, pioneers of the game and not just chronologically. Would that we would see that again!