The
Greatest Game You’ve Never Heard Of
Who was the
best Brazilian footballer of all time? Easy – Pelé. Argentina? Maradona or
Messi. Portugal? Ronaldo. England? Bobby Charlton.
But who was
the greatest Jewish footballer ever? That’s a question to send even the most
historically literate football nerds into an uncharacteristic silence.
And yet,
before the Holocaust, Jewish talent was at the very heart of European football.
Jews were among the superstar players who drew tens of thousands to stadiums –
as well as the visionary coaches revolutionising tactics, the administrators
professionalising the modern game, and even the elite referees, not to mention
the hordes of passionate fans.
Digging
Deep excavates a
destroyed civilisation to reveal the untold stories of men who were icons one
minute and marked for extermination the next. Setting exhilarating sporting
triumphs against the harrowing backdrop of twentieth-century history, it
restores eleven forgotten greats to their rightful place in the football
pantheon.
More than a
sports book, this is a journey through the prism of the magnificent game to
find the human stories within the savage reality of the Holocaust.
About the Author :
David
Bolchover is an author
and commentator. His most recent book, The Greatest Comeback: From Genocide
to Football Glory, a biography of the football coach Béla Guttmann, was
shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year.
He has also
written three business books, including the bestselling 90-Minute Manager,
which explored the various management styles of the great football coaches.
David has written
for number of leading newspapers, including The Times, the Telegraph
and the Financial Times, and has frequently appeared on the BBC, Sky and
other broadcast outlets.
He has an MBA
(Finance) from Cass Business School and a Master’s degree from the London
School of Economics.
