Finally a decent book about French football – GAME OF THE PEOPLE

WE should know more about the French and their football. After all, they were some of the best officials in the game and great innovators. They actually gave us the European Cup, the World Cup and the Euros. They also gave us great players like Raymond Kopa, Just Fontaine, Michel Platini, Zinedine Zidane and Kylian Mbappé. And then there is Arsene Wenger, who changed the face of English football. Tom Williams has written a compelling book on the modern history of French football that should find its way into the best football libraries. It is called Va-Va-Voom and is published by Bloomsbury.

A country with such a football tradition and such a population should be more successful than France and its clubs have been so far. This is said given that the country has won two World Cups (1998, 2018) and two European Championships (1984, 2000). French clubs have been far less successful; only Marseille won the Champions League in 1993.

We thought that Saint-Étienne would win the competition as early as 1976. This club really introduced French football to millions of television viewers. And then Platini’s national team, which won the European Championship in 1984, captured the hearts of those who loved beautiful, flowing football.

As Williams points out, France has had its share of scandals and personalities who like to test boundaries. But there is a sense that lessons have ultimately been learned, particularly in the way France suddenly became a footballing hotbed for the rest of Europe. France is one of the continent’s biggest producers of talent and most of the top clubs on the continent have a Frenchman in their ranks. And yet Ligue 1 remains the weakest and least celebrated of Europe’s big five leagues and only Paris Saint-Germain can be considered a serious contender for European club football’s top prizes.

Of course, PSG is a story with many twists and turns. They have signed high-quality players and coaches, won loads of trophies and adapted to the image of one of the world’s greatest cities, but they are still looking for credibility and praise. What they really need is, of course, strong domestic competition, but that would probably only be achieved by making similar investments in other big French clubs.

This is the book football students have been waiting for. It’s a great story and at least it reminds us of France’s place in the world’s most popular pastime. France has two stars on its national jersey, this book deserves nine.

Va-Va-Voom by Tom Williams. Published by Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-3994-0395-5

Published by Neil Fredrik Jensen

Game of the People was founded in 2012 and is ranked among the top 100 football websites by various sources. The site regularly wins awards for its work across a wide range of topics. View all posts by Neil Fredrik Jensen