"I love the sense of satisfaction that I get when I’ve done a swimming workout or race, and know that I gave my whole being and heart to God in every moment of the swim. It’s the best worship I can offer him."
Not for me Clive
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Clive Tyldesley, London: Headline, 2021. ISBN: 978147228128 9
The book is subtitled: “stories from the voice of football”, which is a strange given that the author states explicitly that there is no single “voice of football” because of the plethora of TV channels covering the sport in the modern age. One could add to that, if there were to be one it would certainly not be an ITV commentator given that they currently have no Premier league or European club football coverage.
The book is a gentle meander through the commentator’s career. The 15 chapters are named after people in the football world who were significant in the author’s life: Cloughie, Motty, Shanks, Glenn, Fergie etc. In truth that chapters are more about the author that the person named.
I found myself agreeing with his statement on commentators that “Motty did it better than anyone has done before him”.
This website is always interested in the interaction of faith and sport. The author tells us that he has “an inmate suspicion of people with their religious certainty that their way is the only way”.
People sometimes talk about being unable to put a book down. To be honest I struggled at times to pick this one up again. Not one of the more significant books of the year.