The Ball: A Philosophy on Football and Life
()
About this ebook
Malcolm 'Big Mo' McGovan, one of Scotland’s greatest players and one of the most successful managers in English Premier League history, talks about the game he loves and the one thing, above all else, that leads to greatness in football: Total and absolute focus on The Ball.
This is a book about football - the beautiful game - the only game that truly belongs to the world. To be more specific, this book is about the source of the game. The heart of the game. The only focus that matters. The single, distinguishing feature in the career of every one of the all-time greats, whether they were players, managers, referees, fans or had any other association with the game. This book is about the past, present and future of football. This book is about, The Ball.
In this book, 'Big Mo' explains the importance and the philosophy of the ball from a variety of perspectives.
"In doing this I hope to confirm the importance of the ball to those who already know it. It is also my hope that notable people, those who may have lost sight and lost their connection with the ball, may be able to find this again. My last and perhaps greatest hope is to introduce a new love of football and the beauty of this great game to people who have never understood it, and never seen the point. If one more person can see the game with fresh eyes, and see its true meaning, this book will have achieved every-thing I hoped it would and more.”
Paul G. Diamond
Paul G. Diamond is the author of 'Edict 9', ‘Journey Time’, ‘The Career Explorer’s Journal’ and 'The Ball: A Philosophy on Football and Life'. Paul describes himself as a lifelong fan of science-fiction and the genre’s ability to liberate thoughts on society and the human condition. Paul is also fascinated by careers & the very personal relationship each of us has with work. His other literary interests include football (soccer) and narrative storytelling in general. The literary influences Paul cites for his work include Albert Camus, Arthur Miller, George Orwell, Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K. Dick and John Steinbeck, among many others.Originally from East London, Paul now lives in Hertfordshire with his wife, daughter and two (generally) well-behaved dogs.
Read more from Paul G. Diamond
The Career Explorer's Journal 2014 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJourney Time Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEdict 9 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Ball
Related ebooks
What Was Football like in the 1990s? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAhead of the Game: Brentford FC's 2014/15 Season Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBarnsley Football Club's Greatest Games, 1890s–2008 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRed Wine & Arepas: How Football Is Becoming Venezuela's Religion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhen Asia Welcomed The World: The 2002 World Cup Revisited Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Greatest Comeback: From Genocide To Football Glory: The Story of Béla Guttman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alphonso Davies: A New Hope Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Acid Test: The Autobiography of Clyde Best Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sixty Years of the World Cup: Reflections on Football’s Greatest Show on Earth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Seat in the Crowd Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCity in Europe: From Allison to Guardiola: Manchester City's quest for European glory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSupport Your Local League: A South-East Asian Football Odyssey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhilosophy and Football: The PFFC Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVince: The Autobiography of Vince Hilaire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMore Than a Team: A Father, a Son, and Barça Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCoaching Abroad: How 8 Coaches Got Jobs and Succeeded Worldwide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Way Forward: Solutions to England's Football Failings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Turf Wars: A History of London Football Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sound and the Glory: How the Seattle Sounders Showed Major League Soccer How to Win Over America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPlaymaker: My Life and the Love of Football Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJimmy Adamson: The Man Who Said No to England Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWill You Manage?: The Necessary Skills to be a Great Gaffer Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Calcio's Greatest Forwards: Serie A's Finest Attackers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMad Dog Gravesen: The Last of the Modern Footballing Mavericks Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFour Histories about Early Dutch Football, 1910-1920: Constructing Discourses Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsExtra Time: 50 Further Delights of Modern Football Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRicki Herbert Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Game: Player. Pundit. Fan. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll Shook Up: Bury FC's Amazing Cup Story - FA Cup Winners 1900 & 1903 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ruud Gullit: Portrait of a Genius (Text Only) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
General Fiction For You
The Covenant of Water (Oprah's Book Club) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shantaram: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ulysses: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life of Pi: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dante's Divine Comedy: Inferno Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unhoneymooners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Candy House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jackal, Jackal: Tales of the Dark and Fantastic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5My Sister's Keeper: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations: Complete and Unabridged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Second Life of Mirielle West: A Haunting Historical Novel Perfect for Book Clubs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beartown: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Everything's Fine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Recital of the Dark Verses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It Ends with Us: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Terminal List: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Other Black Girl: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Ball
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Ball - Paul G. Diamond
Mo McGovan
The Ball:
A Philosophy on Football and Life
by
Paul G. Diamond
•
Published by Paul G. Diamond at Smashwords
Mo McGovan
The Ball:
A Philosophy on Football and Life
Copyright, 2015 Paul Diamond
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Smashwords Edition, License Notes This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
•
To Dad,
Thanks for the love of the game.
Contents
Career Honours
Introduction
I - The Game
Juniors
Amateurs
Professionals
Internationals
II - The Players
Goalkeepers
Defenders
Midfielders
Strikers
Substitutes & Squads
III - The Football World
Boot Rooms & Back Rooms
Referees
Fans & Communities
Money, Media & Owners
Managers
Associations
IV - The Ball
Acknowledgements
About the Authors
•
Career Honours
Mo McGovan
as a player:
Scottish Football League Winner
Scottish FA Cup Winner
English Football League Winner
FA Cup Winner
La Liga Winner
European Cup Winner
UEFA Cup Winner
European Super Cup Winner
European Championship Winner
FIFA World Cup, Group Stage (1978)
as a manager:
Scottish Football League Winner
Scottish FA Cup Winner
English Football League Winner
English Premier League Winner
FA Cup Winner
La Liga Winner
European Cup Winner
UEFA Cup Winner
European Super Cup Winner
FIFA World Club Champions Cup Winner
FIFA World Cup, Semi-Finalist (2010)
•
Introduction
My name is Mo McGovan, ‘Big Mo’ or ‘Motherwell Mo’ if you’re old enough to remember me as a player. This is a book for lovers of football, full stop. It’s not an autobiography, nor is it a kiss-and-tell history of my life. Within these pages you won’t find stories about the players, the cups, the leagues, the deals or any of the other public or private events that I’ve been part of over the years. This isn’t a book about my childhood or my home-life either, so if you’re looking for shock, scandal or exposé, all I can say is put this book back in it’s packaging and post it back to Amazon because there’s nothing of that nature to be found here.
This is a book about football - the beautiful game, la jogo bonito - the only game that truly belongs to the world. To be more specific, this book is about the source of the game. The heart of the game. The only focus that matters. The single, distinguishing feature in the career of every one of the all-time greats, whether they were players, managers, referees, fans or had any other association with the game. This book is about the past, present and future of football. This book is about, The Ball.
The ball is the only thing you need to know about, and the only thing you need to focus on if you truly love football. The ball is everything. It’s the only thing that matters. All of the money, all of the adulation, all of the attention means nothing if you lose sight of the ball. The ball is the ‘be all and end all’ in football. Where you put it. What you do with it. How many times it ends up in the back of the net. There’s nothing more to it than that.
In this book, I will explain the importance and the philosophy of the ball from a variety of perspectives. In doing this I hope to confirm the importance of the ball to those who already know it. It is also my hope that notable people, those who may have lost sight and lost their connection with the ball, may be able to find this again. My last and perhaps greatest hope is to introduce a new love of football and the beauty of this great game to people who have never understood it, and never seen the point. If one more person can see the game with fresh eyes, and see its true meaning, this book will have achieved everything I hoped it would and more.
To those of you still unsure about my motivations or still undecided about the game of football itself, instead of asking you to read on, put this book down and take a few quiet moments to watch any of the world’s greatest players at the peak of their powers and the height of their art. Go to YouTube and watch Maradona’s magician-like skills and lightning-fast brain. Watch Pelé’s speed, power and grace. See Cruyff’s innovation and mastery. Zidane’s balletic poise and pinpoint accuracy. George Best’s audacity, Lionel Messi’s focus, Ronaldo’s genius, Gordon Banks’ unwillingness to accept a lost cause. When they are at their best, all these players thought about was the ball. How to control it, flick it, pass it, keep it, share it, trap it, hammer it, bend it, feel it, think about it, talk about it. Every great player knows the game of football is only about the