A Season With Verona

Tim Parks matkusti vuoden jalkapallojoukkue Chievo Veronan kannattajien mukana pitkin Italiaa. Parks ja muut kannattajat kävivät jokaisessa koti- ja vieraspelissä. Kirjassa kuvataan hyvin italialaisten intohimoista suhtautumista jalkapalloon, sillä se täyttää niin lehdet, tv:t, radiot kuin myös kahvipöytäkeskustelut. Myös kannattajakulttuurin negatiiviset piirteet tuodaan kirjassa esiin.

Even though this Parks is writing about the 2000-01 season, this is a thrilling read. He writes so well about the games, the players, supporters, football and politics in Italy.

Your typical story of an expat englishman who settles in a small Italian town, starts following the local team, becomes obsessed and has to write a book about it. Luckily Parks can write very well and you are soon drawn into the world of fanatical football supporters. Its not a big team either so there is plenty of pain as you watch the side struggle to avoid the drop. You keep thinking "there must be a better way" but in the end you end up empathizing with the supporters - who are the bad boys of Italian football. Think Millwall.

I'm not a football fan, and this book didn't make me one. But it's fascinating, tells you a lot about day to day life in Italy, and gives you a massive vocabulary of italian swearwords. Dio boia!

I only knew Tim Parks from his occasional guardian columns. He's a good and entertaining writer, and not necessarily who you'd expect to find supporting a club with a reputation for having quite a right-wing fan base. However, that's football.
This is part an account of a football season following Verona to every away game; this also makes it part travelogue (although football fans go to different places than your average tourist) and part an essay on Italian politics and society, particularly the regionalism etc.
I found it fascinating (and in hindsight, given the outcome of the match-fixing trials two years ago, even the more paranoid musings of the smaller clubs are possibly well borne out).

A tough, and non too pretty look inside the world of football fandom (and corruption in Italian football). Ultimately Parks comes to understand the motivation of the fans, if not always condoning their sexism, racism and other uglier behaviour.

Really enjoyed this, football mixed with travel what could be better ! Very enjoyable