It's 5.45am on Saturday 14th March 2009. Tim Webber sits alone in front of a television in Las Vegas watching his team, Manchester United, slip to a crushing defeat to arch rivals Liverpool. As soon as the humiliation finishes he returns to bed for two hours sleep, waking his girlfriend (Clare), again, before he rises for a five hour drive to San Diego. We all know that football fans will do anything for their team, but does that sound worth it? But this is not a one-off. For seven months, Tim is giving up his season ticket to travel through 14 countries attempting to follow United across 11 time-zones, all whilst trying not to destroy his and Clare's trip of a lifetime. Why? Because he's a Red. Would you keep it up, seriously? At least Tim has a reason to do it - he's fascinated by a number of questions: why do people who live thousands of miles away choose to support a team that they have no connection to? Is the globalisation of United as a brand really reaching places such as Tokyo, Moscow, Phnom Penh, Cape Town and Ulan Bator? Do the natives of Cochin give a toss about Edwin van der Sar's shutout record? Whilst trying to quench his own United thirst Tim tries to unearth this worldwide fan base that the club insists exists. He seeks to question the very people who have made it obligatory for complete strangers to sneer at people just because they find out they are United fans. This is the story of a very different season.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
This is not just a very very funny book about being a Manchester United supporter and travelling around the world, it's about how football allows people to communicate and exist in the same universe when really they seem worlds apart - Andy Mitten, author of "Mad For It".
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Maße
Höhe: 210 mm
Breite: 148 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-84818-405-3 (9781848184053)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Since graduating in English from the University of Leeds, Tim Webber has written extensively for various websites, primarily for Goal.com, and controlled Fantasy League Ltd's football output as Head of Football Game Management at the country's premier provider of fantasy games. As a "United expert" Tim's regular column has been syndicated throughout Asia, including China, South Korea, Japan and India. He will promote the book by appearing on BBC Radio 5Live, talkSPORT, across the BBC local radio network, in newspapers and on TV. The book will also be promoted in football magazines and websites such as FourFourTwo, football365 and United We Stand.
