TITLE = 90 Jahre deutscher Ligafußball AUTHOR = Hardy Grüne PRICE = 16 Euros, (DM 32) SIZE = 293 pages YEAR = 2000 SOURCE = www.amazon.de RATING = 3 stars
90 Years of German League Soccer (In German)
Actually, this is more of a series of essays chronicling different eras of
German soccer up to the mid 1990s. While it contains interesting
information, some of the chapters miss their mark. To be fair, this is
considered somewhat of a text companion to some of the more statistical
works by Grüne.
Many of the articles are overly politicized. The author recognizes this
trend, but feels it is necessary. At times, it therefore seems overly
preachy. For example, There is plenty of criticism of how the soccer
establishment fell in line with the Nazi reorganization. While certainly
justified in pointing this out, there is no alternative proposed. I wonder
what the soccer clubs were supposed to do? Perhaps tell the Nazis to "go
stuff it"; I'm sure that would have worked. The fact that bureaucrats are
weasels is a well known fact that is not limited to soccer federations.
Overall, worth a read, but not necessarily a "keeper".