Criticism > Contemporary Literary Criticism > Hamilton, Ian - Martin Fletcher (review date 21 February 1992)

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Martin Fletcher (review date 21 February 1992)

SOURCE: Fletcher, Martin. “Set Pieces.” New Statesman and Society 5, no. 190 (21 February 1992): 41.

[In the following review of The Faber Book of Soccer, edited by Hamilton, Fletcher praises the collection as classy and full of heart.]

It was when “Vlad” Nabokov made a brief appearance in the first half that I realised this was no Second Division line-up. Mind you, by his own account, he made a hash of keeping goal. Too much navel-gazing to keep an eye on the ball. And Albert Camus? Great thinker, terrible goalie: the ball never came to him where he expected it. A bit like life. Goalkeepers have a tough time of it; even Peter Bonetti gets a pasting for losing his touch during the 1970 World Cup. But, as Frank Keating discovered, it is “axiomatic that goalkeepers, like wicketkeepers, are a slate loose”.

There's nothing lax about the fine display by the Oldies that...

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