Raich Carter the Biography: The Story of One of England’s Greatest Footballers
Raich Carter the Biography: The Story of One of England’s Greatest Footballers
Author: Frank Garrick (Usually dispatched within 24 hours)
Football Superstar of an earlier ageFrank Garrick is to be congratulated on producing an excellent biography of one of the greatest English footballers of all time. A narrative, drawn almost entirely from contemporary sources, it gives a fascinating insight into the career of a player who was very successful in each of the clubs he played for (Sunderland, Derby County, Hull City and Cork Athletic) as well as for England, though he was of the unlucky generation that lost 7 years of his career to the Second World War. He was an inside-forward to which the closest equivalent today would be a very attack-minded midfield player. The book also covers his managerial career (slightly less successful, but only when compared with the dazzling standards of his playing career). Raich is long overdue a proper biography and modern football fans who may never have heard of him will get a fascinating insight into football as it used to be.
It was a challenging task as most of Raich’s contemporaries would have passed on (Raich himself would have been 90 in 2003) and the author has succeeded brilliantly in what was clearly a labour of love. Only one very minor criticism - the references to political events occurring at the same time are slightly over-numerous. Maybe this context could have been given in a more general way.