Let’s get ready to ramble

One nat ional newspaper recently ran a feature asking readers an impossible question: Who are the top 100 British sportsmen and women ever?

The question is designed to provoke debate in pubs and clubs across the country.

Some names will come easily to mind – Andy Murray winning Wimbledon the first time, Mo Farah’s heroics in London and Rio or Sir Chris Hoy rewriting the historic books on his bike.

But that’s the trouble. The top 100 list suffers from history bias – we’re almost certain to recall a sporting performance we’ve seen live or watched on TV.

Murray’s court success is considered more significant than Fred Perry’s trio of Centre Court titles, which for many is lost in the mists of time.

a spin-off from the podcast of the same name, suffers from a similar time bias. It favours more recent events, players and managers.

It ’ s a hugely successful podcast, downloaded more than 10 million times per year.

And if you are a fan of the show this will be up your street.

But with a l it t le more imagination we could have been spared the section on Pep v Jose.

The debate has been run in the back pages of the papers every other week.

Why not Mourinho v Sir Matt Busby?

There’s not a huge lot that’s original but it’s amusing and engaging to dip in and out of – the perfect lavatory book.

The four authors save the best for last, however. Discussing grassroots football, the essays start to be thought-provoking and engaging to anyone who has laced up a pair of boots.

Many readers will have played on bumpy pitches and have f irst- hand experience of the footballers described here – ‘The Big Unit’, ‘ The Nippy Winger’ or ‘ The Prima Donna who refuses to take the kit home to wash it’. There’s much to enjoy in

but it would have been so much better if the authors focused less on features and instead on the genuinely humorous content found towards the book’s conclusion.

We’ve teamed up with www. sportsbookofthemonth. com and have a copy of

to give away. For a chance to win, visit the website and answer this question: Who did Brian Clough manage after he left Derby?

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