Danny Blanchflower

The biography of Danny Blanchflower

In these days of player' agents, corporate hospitality, share options and television bonuses, it's often the football, the glory and the romance of the game, that gets overlooked.

Back in the 1950s and 1960s there was no footballer in love with his trade than Danny Blanchflower. An elegant and inspirational midfield force, he captained the Spurs 1961 Double-winning side and led Northern Ireland, against the odds, to the quarter-finals of the 1958 World Cup. Equally eloquent off the field, he was no stranger to controversy, writing about the game with a great clarity and passion, and working tirelessly as an innovator, forever trying to transform football as a spectacle for player and fan alike.

Drawing on extensive interviews with family, friends and colleagues (including Jackie Blanchflower, Sir Stanley Matthews, Johnny Haynes, Geoff Hurst, Pat Jennings and Derek Dougan), Dave Bowler skilfully recounts the story of one of football's greatest thinkers and iconoclasts.