Own Goal!

Own Goal! will send a blast through British Football which will strip the game bare and expose the corruption, egotism and greed which is destroying our national game at every level. Own Goal! will be a rallying call and a manifesto to the fans to save the game they love. Written by Simon Freeman, former deputy editor of The Sunday Times Insight team, British Press Awards, 1994. Feature Writer of the Year and rabid football fan, this book will be part personal, based on nearly half a century of watching the game at all levels, from Brighton and Hove Albion Reserves versus Doncaster Reserves on a November night to World Cup Finals in Spain and Italy. It will describe how the sport has evolved - from being grimy and bankrupt to super-rich and ultra-fashionable. It will ask the question: 'what is the state of football today?' It will argue that the fans are being conned: the sport has formed an immoral alliance with the media, especially television, and big business and that sooner or later the fans will realise that the game they love is being stolen from them.
The book will be a cocktail of personal reminiscences and polemic, supported by interviews with fans, managers, players, directors, agents, authors and the many others, some who have grown rich through football and truly believe the only way forward is the 'Baseball Model', and some who believe that money is the root of all football's troubles.