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"I
have always loved reading about the football greats. The
matches and players, Puskas, di Stefano, Eusebio, Pele,
Maradona. In my possession I probably have God knows how
many football books! But I have never seen one that took
the reader on a footballing journey through the decades,
taking in the matches and the events surrounding them. So
I thought 'why not give it a go?' After endless scribblings
at work, bus stops, weekends. I sent the finished article
off to Harper Collins, Sadly they declined to take it, But
after sending it elsewhere Mainstream's managing director,
Bill Campbell, rang me at work one day. And said they were
prepared to publish it. To say I was ecstatic would be an
understatement! Many a Red Stripe was downed in the Ludden
household that evening in celebration."
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"Weird to be quite
honest, I took the day off work and dragged my wife Christine
round Manchester, checking out all the bookshops and seeing
it on the shelves. Sad or What? In The
Printworks Christine told them I was the author
and they insisted I signed a few copies. That was nice.
As for the reviews, It's great when people say they have
enjoyed the book. It is not an ego thing, its just that
I desperately wanted others to read about the games and
the characters. And enjoy the stories as much as I enjoyed
writing them. Not all the reviews have been favourable.
The criticism stemmed wholly from the choice of matches.
My original title was "Fields of Fire: A Blazing
Journey Through World Football". Mainstream changed
that to ''The Greatest Matches Ever.'' thus loading
the bullets that flew in my direction. But what helped me
was I placed my web site at the beginning of the book. Thus
those who risked buying it could write their comments on
the Amazon review section, or sign my guest book. Happily
99 percent have been really positive and indeed beyond my
expectations. Up until now. [see
John's website]
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"There was originally
36 matches in the finished manuscript. Unfortunately, for
me anyway this had to be cut down to 18, and 90,000 words.
Therefore literally cutting it in half. That was hard to
do, as I had lived and breathed these games for two years.
The final choice had to be one which stretched the chapters
through the decades. Starting with Kiev in 1942, and finishing
with United
in Barcelona on a glorious May evening three years ago.
However it had to be done, as I was very politely informed
by my publishers, ''This is not bloody Harry Potter or War
and Peace, it is only a bloody football book ! ….Fair point."
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"France v West
Germany: the 1982 World Cup Semi Final. It finished 3-3
after extra time and is probably the best game I have ever
seen. I remember feeling so sorry for the French, as throughout
the match they had played the Germans off the park. But
as ever they hung on and finally went through on penalties.
I had actually written a chapter on this entitled ''Duel
in Seville.'' Sadly for me I simply could not fit it
in. Another game was the 1968 European Cup Final between
United
and Benfica. Entitled
'Beyond Munich' this was another put on the back
burner. As was the Republic
of Ireland v Italy in the 1994 World Cup, called
'Fairytale in New York'.' Both written but left on
the sidelines. A bit like Dwight Yorke!"
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"Next
question! Seriously Liverpool v Borrussia in 1977 was under
consideration, but instead I went with Argentina v Peru
in the 1978 World Cup. Next question..."
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"Not really, the
three games featured, 'Snowflakes in the Sun': United
v Real Madrid 1957, 'A Solid Gold Watch', United
v Red Star Belgrade,
and 'Dancing With Tears in Red Eyes', United
v Bayern, 99, all were
integral in the thread which I hoped would link all the
games together through the decades. United
against Real Madrid
introduces Alfredo di Stefano, whereas the match against
Red Star is basically the story of the Munich air crash.
If told slightly from a different angle. And finally what
better way to end than United
v Bayern in 1999! Unless
of course you happen to be German. Or indeed a scouser.
I was never under pressure to leave any games out, actually
the last 18 was totally my choice. I am the culprit"
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[click
here to read the rest of our interview with John Ludden]
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