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Title details for Watford Forever by John Preston - Available

Watford Forever

How Graham Taylor and Elton John Saved a Football Club, a Town and Each Other

by John Preston
Elton John
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
The unforgettable story of Watford Football Club's seemingly impossible rise from the Fourth to the First Division, led by the unlikely duo of Hornet's manager Graham Taylor and rock star–turned-owner, Elton John.
Long before English soccer became an American passion, Watford Football Club—a team located in a working-class industrial town that time and prosperity had passed by—languished at the bottom of the English Football League. Despite their pitiful record, the club enthralled a local boy by the name of Reginald Dwight, who began attending games with his father, an avid fan, in 1953.
More than twenty years later, having shed his given name, Elton John had become the most successful rock star in the world. With his six-inch platforms, spangled jumpsuits, and peroxide-colored hair, Elton was glamorous, gay, and seemingly a universe away from the village where he had supported Watford FC, yet his boyhood love of Watford and its dogged players remained. When tempted to buy the sputtering team in 1976, everyone begged Elton not to invest, but they were his team, as they were his father's, and he refused to believe that Watford was beyond redemption.
Watford Forever, then, is the remarkable account of Elton John's ownership of Watford FC, and its transformational journey to the top of the First Division under iconic manager Graham Taylor, who was, in the words of award-winning journalist John Preston, "as traditional as Elton was unconventional." Inspiring, funny, and ultimately heartrending, this is a tribute to soccer's unlikeliest duo as Elton and Taylor—a straight-talking former fullback with literally no interest in rock music—both beat the odds and their personal demons to save a club and a community.
Immersed in the grit of Seventies Britain, Watford Forever tells the story of this "indissoluble bond," revealing how the power of sports and respect for the "other" brought about a reclamation whose reverberations can be felt to this day.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 27, 2024

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9798892746106
      • File size: 241490 KB
      • Duration: 08:23:05

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 27, 2024
      Elton John granted journalist Preston (Fall) access to his personal archives for this stirring chronicle of how the musician turned the Watford Football Club’s fortunes around after buying the team in 1976. Watford was languishing in the Fourth Division at the time, but John used his deep pockets to hire up-and-coming manager Graham Taylor. A buttoned-up traditionalist who didn’t care for rock music, Taylor appeared to be John’s polar opposite, but the two developed a close friendship grounded in their shared conviction that soccer should be above all entertaining. This led Taylor to favor an aggressive style of play that pushed Watford to “attack the whole time... running the opposition ragged and harrying them into making mistakes.” By 1982, the club had fought their way to the First Division, where they remained until Taylor left in 1987. Feeling that “things just weren’t the same,” John sold Watford by the end of the year. Preston skillfully spins Watford’s ascent into a rousing underdog story, and his access to John reveals a more intimate side of the pop star (John recalls envying Taylor’s domestic life, which was more stable than his turbulent upbringing or his globe-trotting adulthood). This will have readers cheering. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      In 1976, the football (soccer) club of Watford, England, was once again at the bottom of its league standings. Then something extraordinary happened: Rock-and-roll superstar Elton John bought his hometown team. Narrating with relaxed British aplomb, London stage veteran Alex Jennings delivers the feel-good story of how John's partnership and eventual friendship with tough-but-fair team manager Graham Taylor made a championship team out of a perennial loser. John's extravagant and outlandish stage presence and Taylor's traditional roots seemed like polar opposites, but together they put fans in the stands and gave pride to a working-class city. Jennings's delivery reflects the simple joy of standing up, pumping your fist, and rooting for the home team. B.P. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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