Book Review: Only A Game by Eamon Dunphy

Avishek Chatterjee

29th September 2017 | 3:03 PM

We dive into what is a fantastic book, which chronicles the stories of a footballer who didn’t quite make it to the top.

On the surface, Jason Kennedy and Romelu Lukaku don’t have much in common beyond both featuring in the recent transfer window. One is a midfielder playing at Carlisle, a League Two team who play their football two hours away from the ground Lukaku, a striker, calls home now. But they both have much to prove, and much to achieve. For Kennedy, it is making sure that Carlisle cross the bridge to League One, which narrowly collapsed last season. For Lukaku,the ambition is to win all competitions – domestic and continental. Jason has never played for his country at any level while Romelu is about to lead his to the World Cup next year. Most people in Kennedy’s region don’t even know his name – while Lukaku a foreign import is a growing international star. But both are important to their clubs, and while goals may be different, success is an equalizer at every level. Whether it comes at 300k or 1k a week on their contract sheet.

For every Lukaku in the Premier League, there are hundreds plying their trade in the below leagues still searching for a chance to properly get into the game. While they are no longer scavenging for a nominal payday, they are still dreamers, rejects and the epitome of ‘career men’ who shift from club to club with barely a whisper found. This is their story – the stories of the Jason Kennedys of the football world.

What drives these men and the managers in these places to strive for success? What is their measure of success? So often by just observing and recording these captivating title runs and cup victories, that the rest fall by the wayside. As Napoleon once said, what is history but a fable agreed upon?

Eamon Dunphy, our eye into this world, is neither unbiased nor omniscient. He frequently gets into hyperbole and repetitive talk, sometimes conflicting with fellow residents of the game strongly. But those poignant reflections that will one day make him one of the foremost investigative writers of his time are all there – hidden under a melodramatic bluster.

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