The Telegraph Sport Books Of 2010

For the year’s most successful marriage of social history and sporting drama, turn to Promised Land (Yellow Jersey, £16.99), Anthony Clavane’s enchanting evocation of his four decades as a Leeds United supporter.

Promised Land is nothing if not ambitious. Clavane knits together three different narratives: Leeds’s painful transformation from grimy manufacturing base to strong financial centre; the gradual integration of his own Jewish orthodox community; and the crazy, zigzagging trajectory of the football club itself.

It would be easy, in a book like this, to overplay the parallels. But Clavane writes translucent, simple prose, full of vivid details. Leeds United becomes a prism for the city: the “New Jerusalem” that could never quite escape the stain of its industrial past. Both insightful and humane, this is sportswriting at its very best.

Simon Briggs

  • Daily Telegraph sports books of the year (2010)

    "For the year’s most successful marriage of social history and sporting drama, turn to Promised Land. Anthony Clavane’s enchanting evocation of his four decades as a Leeds United supporter. Clavane writes translucent, simple prose, full of vivid details. Leeds United becomes a prism for the city: the “New Jerusalem” that could never quite escape the stain of its industrial past. Both insightful and humane, this is sportswriting at its very best."

  • James Lawton, The Independent

    "Brilliantly sculpted. Absorbing and superbly wide-ranging. Most impressive is that, when you put down the book, you feel you know not just the story of a football team but the city it represents."

  • Henry Winter, Daily Telegraph

    "A well-written, emotional and thoughtful chronicle."

  • Praise for Promised Land

    "Clavane, erudite, educated, an adopted southerner, hardly ascribes to the Elland Road stereotype, yet there is an emotional intravenous drip connecting him to Yorkshire’s West Riding. A wordsmith’s ability, coupled with a history teacher’s instinct, and framed by a deep passion for all things from the city of Leeds, has resulted in an extraordinary book."

    Janine Self, SJA website

  • "Even if you're not a Leeds fan, read Promised Land by Anthony Clavane - wonderfully written."

    Patrick Barclay, The Times

  • "One of the best football books I've read for a long time."

    Brian Glanville

  • "A compelling read."

    Henry Winter, Daily Telegraph

  • "A riveting, and ultimately very moving book."

    Caryl Phillips

  • "Fascinating beyond mere football."

    Ben East, Metro

  • "Superbly written and a great read."

    Robert Endeacott, Leeds Leeds Leeds magazine

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