The Names Heard Long Ago
Jonathan Wilson
05 March 2020
9781788702997400 pages
Synopsis
SHORTLISTED FOR FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR, SPORTS BOOK AWARDS
'Beautifully written and immaculately researched. Jonathan Wilson is the finest sports writer of his generation' Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads
In 1953, the Mighty Magyars beat England 6-3 at Wembley, a result that echoes through the history of football. A year earlier, this Hungarian team had won Olympic gold. A year later, they lost agonisingly in the final of a World Cup that they dominated. This is the beginning, middle and end of Hungarian football in the popular imagination.
Only, how come the ideas from this team spread around the world? Why do Hungarian managers spring up in Italy, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, across Europe and the Americas, bringing their secrets with them? And what are the incredible stories they have to tell, of escaping the Nazis and the Soviet communists?
How did the history of modern football come to be born in the Budapest coffeehouses of the early twentieth century?
Fifteen years in the making, this new book from bestselling football historian Jonathan Wilson is the missing piece of the jigsaw; the forgotten story in football's history, lost in war, in revolution, in death and tragedy.
'Beautifully written and immaculately researched. Jonathan Wilson is the finest sports writer of his generation' Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads
In 1953, the Mighty Magyars beat England 6-3 at Wembley, a result that echoes through the history of football. A year earlier, this Hungarian team had won Olympic gold. A year later, they lost agonisingly in the final of a World Cup that they dominated. This is the beginning, middle and end of Hungarian football in the popular imagination.
Only, how come the ideas from this team spread around the world? Why do Hungarian managers spring up in Italy, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, across Europe and the Americas, bringing their secrets with them? And what are the incredible stories they have to tell, of escaping the Nazis and the Soviet communists?
How did the history of modern football come to be born in the Budapest coffeehouses of the early twentieth century?
Fifteen years in the making, this new book from bestselling football historian Jonathan Wilson is the missing piece of the jigsaw; the forgotten story in football's history, lost in war, in revolution, in death and tragedy.
One hell of a story, with a teller to matchWhen Saturday Comes
Chaos, tragedy and doomed romance. A fascinating bookDominic Sandbrook, History Today
Beautifully written and immaculately researched, this brilliant and often moving book restores Hungary and Hungarian football to the heart of the story of modern game. The Names Heard Long Ago is not just a good football book; it's a wonderful history too of triumph and tragedy in Central Europe in the 20th century - set on a global stage. Jonathan Wilson is the finest sports writer of his generation.Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads
