Jonathan Wilson must be one of the very few authors whose major works I bought almost all at once before I had ever read any book of his. I simply trusted his reputation as a very sharp, witty and extremely knowledgeable sports commentator and columnist (for The Guardian and The Independent amongst others).

Without giving any thought to his bibliography, I coincidentally started with his first ever published work (2006). This 300-page book covers his travels (sometimes even perilous and risky) behind the former Iron Curtain and inside all Eastern Bloc countries at the dawn of the new millenium. It takes him to derelict stadiums, others not even fit for oratory football, amateur pitches, cities which still carry the Soviet aura, others which either were modernised or left behind (development-wise); face-to-face with widespread corruption, hooliganism, disorganised competitions, the immense influence of Communism over the development of football, and the consequences of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the introduction of powerful oligarchs in the ex-countries of the Soviet Republic.

But Wilson doesn’t explore just football on his travels. He goes deep inside the root of the current (early noughties) situation: historical, geopolitical, social or economic as it may be. Thus it is a lesson in the history of Eastern Europe from the perspective of a person with a huge respect for the area. On the other hand being a huge football lover myself it served as a comparative analysis between the state of soccer in these countries in 2004-05 and today. In some of them, luckily, current state is not as bleak anymore.

“This book has largely been a tale of disappointment and decline …” (page 127)

I love books about football which are basically the writers’ own experiences on the road. Jonathan Wilson delivers a great account of his travels inside the Eastern Bloc to discover the state of football (and its historical root) in each country. He starts with Ukraine and Poland and ends in Mother Russia. It’s a book full of beautifully-narrated anecdotes (especially those regarding Eduard Streltsov and the Balkan War), historical events, gossips, political commentary and Wilson’s British quirkiness.

A definite must-read for football aficionados. Next on my football-reading list: his Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics and Brian Clough: Nobody Ever Says Thank You.