The Outsider: A History of the Goalkeeper. by Jonathan Wilson

"My greatest sporting moment? That’s easy. It was the final minute of a school hockey match against Whickham, the only side in the North East who could touch us. It was 0–0 and they had a short corner. The ball was pushed out, two defenders charged and the ball was stopped for their centre-half, who was called Robson and was in the England youth squad. He shaped to strike the ball but in the end decided to flick it. As he did so, the thought went through my mind that he was outside the D. I remember thinking, as the ball rose to my right, that I ought at least to dive for it even if he were outside the D. Everything seemed to be happening very slowly. I even remember wondering what the rule was if he had shot from outside the D and the ball glanced in off my stick. Looking through the grille of the helmet, I could see the red airtex sleeve of my shirt, my fat white glove, and the black and blue of my stick. I could also see the ball, its trajectory taking it a little above the stick. Apparently having all the time in the world, I moved my wrist, angling the stick to intercept the ball. The intersection of post and bar came abruptly into view and, about six inches in front of the top corner of the net, the ball slapped into the meat of the stick. I glanced down – and again I remember the mental process clearly – and was shocked at how high up I was, and immediately concerned by how much it was going to hurt when I hit the ground." 'The ever-readable Wilson explores the psychological pressures of being cast in the role of the scapegoat ... Thought-provoking and full of interesting detail ... this book scores on every level' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY Aloof, solitary, impassive, the crack goalie is followed in the streets by entranced small boys. He vies with the matador and the flying aces, an object of thrilled adulation. He is the lone eagle, the man of mystery, the last defender' Vladimir Nabokov Albert Camus, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Pope John Paul II, Julian Barnes and not forgetting Nabokov himself ... it's safe to say the position of goalkeeper has over the years attracted a different sort of character than your average footballer. In this first-ever cultural history of the 'loner' between the posts, Jonathan Wilson traces the sometimes dangerous intellectual and literary preoccupations of the keeper, and looks at how the position has secured a certain existential cool. He travels to the Bassa region of Cameroon, which has produced two of Africa's greatest keepers, and also to Romania to talk to Helmuth Duckadam, who saved four penalties for Steaua Bucharest in the 1986 European Cup final. His absorbing tactical and technical insights into football history even take us back to the days when matches were contested without a man between the sticks. THE OUTSIDER is the definitive account of that most mysterious of footballing personalities - the goalkeeper. “Kaleci yalnız bir kartal, esrarengiz bir adam, son kurtarıcıdır.” –Vladimir Nabokov Albert Camus, Arthur Conan Doyle, Yevgeny Yevtuşenko, Julian Barnes ve Nabokov... yolu kalecilik pozisyonundan geçen sıradışı karakterlerden bazıları. Jonathan Wilson, futbolun “yalnız” adamlarının kültürel tarihini ve futbol sahasındaki evrimini kendine has üslubuyla, edebiyat dünyasından isimlerin de hikâyeleriyle birlikte anlatıyor. Yazar, Afrika’nın en büyük iki kalecisinin yetiştiği Kamerun’un Bassa bölgesine ve 1986 Şampiyon Kulüpler Kupası finalinde dört penaltı kurtararak tarih yazan Steaua Bükreş kalecisi Helmuth Duckadam’la konuşmak için Romanya’ya yolculuk ediyor. Wilson şahane taktik ve teknik bilgileriyle, kaleciliğin diğer on pozisyondan nasıl farklı bir yerde olduğunu en ince ayrıntısına kadar aktarıyor. Yabancı, futbolun en gizemli şahsiyetleri olan kalecilerin kusursuz hikâyesi.