In ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants’, Soren Frank has created an unorthodox, but undeniably fascinating, history of Manchester United. Frank is a Professor in Comparative Literature at the University of Southern Denmark, and his academic credentials shine through via some of the references which appear throughout the book, not to mention the remarkable vocabulary which he cannot resist exhibiting from time to time. Nonetheless, this is not a dry product of the type of research that can be carried out in a university library: it is a labour of love written by a man who has supported United since he was seven years old.
Frank’s book is superficially straightforward, in that it follows the history of Manchester United from the very beginning until the date of writing, 2013. The chapters are in chronological order, and, as Frank explains, each combines a ‘cultural-historical track’, an ‘aesthetic’ track and a ‘cataloging’ track. What he means by this is that he tries to put the story of the club in its historical context, whilst describing the most significant events in the way a fan might see them and adding some statistics. This works pretty well overall, as long as he resists the temptation to go overboard with his flights of fancy. On occasions, however, Frank slightly loses touch with reality, as exemplified by an extensive passage analogizing George Best’s football skills to Jackson Pollock’s abstract artwork.
The best way to read ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants’ is to focus on it completely. If you try to read it while keeping one eye on ‘Soccer Saturday’, you will find it difficult to follow, and will certainly not get the most from it. One reason for this is the fact that the chapters themselves are not as chronologically-ordered as it may appear. Frank often begins a chapter by telling what he presumably believes to be the most interesting or significant story from the era being considered, following this up by jumping back a few years, weaving this story into its context, and then moving further forward. It might have made the book easier to read if he had stuck to a strict chronological order, but the result is that the reader learns to let the information cascade over them until it all makes sense. The vast number of historical facts and stirring tales of great performances make the effort more than worthwhile.
A constant theme throughout the book is Frank’s belief that United’s football philosophy is a mixture of ‘agon’ (rivalry) and ‘arete’ (excellence), concepts which originated in Ancient Greece. He uses these terms to signify a constant striving for improvement allied to a determination to defeat opponents. This type of analogy is common in Frank’s writing, as it is with that of many other academics. It seems to be aimed at linking his analysis of something contemporary, which some non-football fans might consider trivial, to an idea from a different field or civilisation which has been around for many years. As a result of doing this, he appears to feel that his work gains credibility. This may be true in certain circles, but in fact, the quality of his general writing, and the stories he has unearthed offer enough to any reader to ensure that such affectations are unnecessary.
‘Standing on the Shoulders of Giants’ is a book that will challenge and entrance in equal measure. Nonetheless, aside from its stylistic eccentricities, there are a few issues for the English reader which probably result from the fact that the book appears to have been translated from the original Danish by Danish people. Odd words pop up here and there- does Frank realise how obscure terms like ‘negentropy’ are to the English reader, and, if so, why does he use them? There are minor errors throughout which can be confusing, bearing in mind the deliberate chronological jumps of which Frank is so fond. For example, the formation of the Football League is stated as taking place in 1888, and on the same page Newton Heath are described as joining the top division in 1892, ‘fourteen years after the founding of the Football League’. A good book could have been made even better by employing a native English-speaking proofreader to eliminate mistakes and ensure readability.
In terms of football-related content, Frank’s book starts with the decision by employees of Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) to form a football club, Newton Heath LYR FC, in 1878. In the beginning, they played other teams from Manchester on a strictly amateur basis but began to dominate as a result of their ability to recruit the best players by offering them a job with LYR. Professionalism became legal in 1885, and this led to the formation of the Football League in 1888. By 1892, Newton Heath were making their debut in the top division. There were, nonetheless, problems ahead. Their playing facilities were poor, and in 1894 they were relegated. In early 1902, Newton Heath were declared bankrupt, and the club became homeless.
The story of the club’s rebirth allows Frank to recount a rather unlikely tale of how they were saved by a St. Bernard dog called Major, belonging to their captain Harry Stafford. Allegedly, in 1901, the club held a bazaar to raise money. Major was given the task of carrying the collection box, but at the end of the day he ran off with the money and ended up at a pub run by John Davies, a Director of a local brewery. Stafford eventually found Major, and this brought him into contact with Davies. After the bankruptcy in 1902, Davies led a small group of investors who agreed to take over the club. Instead of the yellow and green strip of Newton Heath, the club would now play in red and white and be called Manchester United.
Within 18 months of being reformed, United appointed the man Frank describes as their ‘first great manager’, Ernest Mangnall. By 1906, they had risen to the first division once more, but Mangnall knew that better players would be needed to succeed at this level. At this time, Manchester City had become embroiled in an illegal payments scandal, and several of their players had been suspended. Mangnall managed to engineer a deal Frank describes as ‘shady’ to sign four of their biggest stars, including the legendary winger Billy Meredith. It would be a few months before they could play again, but by 1907 Mangnall had assembled a squad that was ready to challenge for the title. In 1908, United duly won the league with a record 52 points. Meredith was regarded by many as their biggest star, and Frank describes him as United’s first ‘Giant’, waxing lyrical about his skill and arrogant demeanour. In 1909, the FA Cup was brought home to Manchester for the first time, and Davies committed to funding the construction of a new stadium at Trafford Park. Old Trafford was completed in 1910, and offered an impressive capacity of 80,000. United regained the league title in 1911, and the future looked rosy.
Frank contends that things began to fall apart for the Reds after Mangnall departed for Manchester City in 1912. The costs associated with the new stadium left them short of funds, recruiting players became difficult, and they started to struggle. On Good Friday 1915 they took part in a controversial match with Liverpool which led to several players being suspended for match-fixing. When the league resumed following World War I, things did not improve. Meredith finally left in 1921, and by 1922 they were back in the second division. A modest resurgence under manager John Chapman saw them return to the top flight in 1925, and during the following season, they competed well. Unfortunately, in 1926 Chapman was suspended by the League for ‘Improper Conduct’, which Frank implies was a charge of dubious merit. With benefactor Davies dying in 1927, lack of finance became an issue once more, and supporters became disillusioned. Relegation followed in 1931, along with supporter unrest and talk of boycotts. James W. Gibson, a man Frank describes as driven by ‘bourgeois pride and local patriotism’, saved the club by gradually agreeing to take it over from late 1931 onwards. Gibson only agreed to stay involved if the fans demonstrated their support by turning out in large numbers, which they did, leading to his being appointed chairman and president in 1932. Despite this, it was not until 1938 that the club regained its place in the first division.
World War II put a stop to league football for several years, and German bombs caused serious damage to Old Trafford, destroying the main stand. The good news for United was that they managed to recruit a young Scottish manager named Matt Busby to take over the team in 1945. Despite this, they were significantly in debt and their stadium was in ruins, so the post-War years were never going to be easy. Frank emphasises the importance of Busby’s revolutionary footballing philosophy during this era. He favoured a passing game and encouraged players to express themselves. He achieved success by focusing on ways of getting the best out of his own players, rather than trying to negate the opposition. Despite the club’s financial issues, Busby’s early years saw United regularly challenging for the title but just missing out. Their next big success came with victory in the 1948 Cup Final against Blackpool, an occasion Frank describes with some relish. Finally, in August 1949, they were able to return to Old Trafford. Gibson sadly died in 1951, but, restored to their true home, United clinched the championship in 1952 in front of nearly 54,000 fans against rivals Arsenal.
Frank describes the history and development of the Busby Babes of the 1950s at some length, suggesting that they reflected the emerging youth culture of that decade. As many commentators do, he gives particular prominence to the story of a young man from Dudley called Duncan Edwards, noting that some consider him England’s finest ever footballer. The detail contained within Frank’s summary of the development and recruitment of this exceptional group of young players is fascinating to read, despite the familiarity of the broader story. He particularly emphasises the importance of the role played by chief scout and GPO worker Joe Armstrong. Armstrong’s charming manner and thoroughness brought many young players to United who may otherwise have gone elsewhere, not least Bobby Charlton. Edwards, on the other hand, had simply been impressed by United and Busby and did not want to play for anyone else. Frank recounts stories of his short career with the customary reverence, noting that he made his England debut at 18, and was thought by Busby to be the best player in the world. United’s youngsters captured the imagination of the country, and when Busby’s team regained the championship in 1956, the team had an average age of 22 years. Eight of their usual starting 11 were products of the club’s academy. The following season saw them retain the title, and was also notable for featuring Bobby Charlton’s debut.
Busby’s dream was for his young team to conquer Europe, and Frank clearly enjoys recounting the tales of some of their early European nights. In their first European Cup foray in 1956/7, they were eventually defeated 5-3 in the semi-final by the great Real Madrid team of that era who, as well as possessing some legendary players, were a little more streetwise than United’s youngsters. The following season, they reached the quarter-final, winning the home leg 2-1 against a strong Red Star Belgrade. This set up an intriguing second leg, in which United took an early lead and hung on for a 3-3 draw and overall victory. The day after the game, the squad were flying home in a privately chartered plane when it stopped off in snowy conditions in Munich to refuel. Frank describes the details of what happened, but essentially the pilots attempted to abort a take-off when they realised that the acceleration was inadequate. The plane skidded beyond the confines of the airport, striking a house and tree. 11 of the 21 people from United on board lost their lives, including Tommy Taylor and Duncan Edwards. Two others never played again. Edwards, displaying his trademark strength, actually survived for 15 days after the crash, but eventually succumbed to his injuries. Busby was seriously injured, spending 71 days in a German hospital, but eventually recovered. Frank analyses the impact of this tragedy both at the time and later, noting the sympathy that it engendered along with the suspicion from supporters of other clubs that United have distastefully exploited it for commercial purposes. Readers will form their own opinions as to where the truth lies, but in any event, this would be a very difficult time for everyone associated with the club.
Following the Munich disaster, Jimmy Murphy cobbled together a team which, remarkably, went on to reach the 1958 FA Cup final. In retrospect, a more important development at that time, as Frank points out, was the ascent to the board of slaughterhouse-owner Louis Edwards. He explains the intriguing story of how Edwards came to take over the club in some depth in a chapter devoted to the financial development of the club during the reign of Edwards and his son Martin, noting how they eventually made a very large sum of money from it.
The late 1950s and early 1960s were a time of rebuilding for Busby and United. 1962 saw the big-money signings of Denis Law and Pat Crerand, eventually leading to success in the 1963 FA Cup. Later that year, a young Irishman named George Best made his debut at Old Trafford. A strong challenge in 1963/4 was followed up by a championship triumph the following season. This earned United a place in the 1965/6 European Cup. A glorious evisceration of Benfica in the quarter-final was sadly followed by a limp defeat against Partizan Belgrade in the semi-final. Nonetheless, the league title was once again clinched in some style in 1967, leading to another assault on the European Cup in 1967/8.
This time, a second leg fightback against Real Madrid in the semi-final earned them a place in their first final, which was to be played at Wembley, against Benfica. Of course, all United fans have heard about this game, but Frank’s description reminds the reader of just how close United came to losing it, emphasising the importance of Stepney’s save from Eusebio towards the end of normal time, and noting that it was only in extra time that United finally achieved dominance. Nonetheless, a 4-1 triumph represented the culmination of everything that Busby had worked towards.
Busby stepped down in 1969, and Frank goes on to describe the difficult years which followed, culminating in relegation in 1974, with the coup de grace ironically provided by former United favourite Denis Law. Relatively short-lived managerial careers were also commonplace at Old Trafford during that era. McGuinness, O’Farrell, Docherty, and Sexton all came and went in a 12-year period. Nonetheless, their different styles and personalities are expertly analysed by Frank, making this section a particularly compelling one. Frank then explains that his own interest in United arose after watching their classic encounter with Ron Atkinson’s WBA in 1978, so he inevitably gives more weight to the flashy Atkinson’s time at Old Trafford. He recounts their triumph in the 1985 FA Cup fondly, but a poor following season led to Big Ron being replaced by someone who would stay in the job a lot longer: Alex Ferguson.
The remainder of the book focuses on the Ferguson era, which is likely to be much more familiar to most readers, so there is no need to summarise the facts and statistics here. All of the most famous incidents are discussed, and Frank attempts to put them into context in his own inimitable fashion. Mark Robins’ crucial goal at Nottingham Forest in 1990, when Fergie’s job was under threat, is given due attention, as is the arrival and impact of the legendary Cantona. Interestingly, his analysis of the kung-fu kick incident at Selhurst Park is uncharacteristically light. He simply describes Cantona as ‘demonic’ and moves on- yet some might say that there was more to the incident than that, given that the Frenchman was already distraught at being sent-off, and the spectator in question was hurling all kinds of abuse at him and his family. One might have expected a deeper analysis of why our society normalises behaviour like that of the spectator in this case.
Frank particularly enjoys reminiscing about the events of the treble year of 1999, lovingly recounting Giggs‘ FA Cup semi-final goal, and describing in minute detail the events in added time at the Champions League final. He goes on to make an interesting comment to the effect that players like Tom Cleverley and Owen Hargreaves are technically superior to the legendary Roy Keane, although this paragraph also seems to accuse Keane of being English, which I suspect he would be far more inclined to take issue with! The advent of Ronaldo and Rooney is covered in some depth, as is the dramatic triumph in the Champions League Final of 2008 against Chelsea.
The last chapter of the book is especially interesting, looking back from 2019, as Frank speculates about the future. He is optimistic about the future of United’s promising young players (few of whom are still there), and mentions several candidates to succeed Ferguson, including Moyes, Mourinho (whom he believes not to be right for the job due to his pragmatic style), and Solskjaer. He believes Guardiola to be the best man for the job, but that does not seem too likely now. I’m not certain what he would make of United’s struggles in 2019, but it seems clear that he would rely on one of the great themes of his book: United always bounce back.
Overall, if you are interested in the history of Manchester United, this is a book you really should read. It is not perfect, but it is both interesting and unusual.
Similar Books To Read
- Sir Matt Busby: The Father of Manchester United.
- Roy Keane: The Autobiography
- Growing Up With the Trinity: An Englishman, a Scotsman, and an Irishman Walked Onto a Football Pitch…by Brendon Mcguire (Out Sept 2019).
- My Manchester United Years by Bobby Charlton.
- Gentleman John: The biography of Johnny Carey. Manchester United and Ireland Legend by Cavanagh MBE, Mr Roy and Mr Carl Abbott.
- Denis Law: My Life in Football (MUFC) by Denis Law and Ivan Ponting.
- From the Goal line to Touchline Kindle Edition by Jack Crompton.
- Harry Stafford: Manchester United’s First Captain Marvel by Ean Gardiner and Mark Wylie
- The Man Who Kept The Red Flag Flying: Jimmy Murphy – The Family Authorised Life Story by Wayne Barton.
- Class of 92 (MUFC) by Ian Marshall.
- Cantona: The Rebel Who Would Be King Philippe Auclair.
- Giggs: The Autobiography Joe Lovejoy.
- Duncan Edwards: The Greatest (MUFC) by James Leighton.
- Robbo – My Autobiography: An extraordinary career by Bryan Robson.
- Red, White & Blackmore by Clayton Blackmore, Wayne Barton, et al.
