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Far Foreign Land Pride and Passion the Liverpool Way
144 pages, Paperback
First published June 14, 2006
40 people want to read
About the author
Tony Evans
3 books2 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Tony Evans has been football editor of the Times for five years and was born a Liverpool fan. He writes a weekly column for The Game, The Times' weekly football supplement. He came to journalism at the age of 29 and spent his 20s following Liverpool and playing in bands, including a stint in The Farm. In 1983-84, he saw all 42 league games and most of the matches in other competitions.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Tony Evans has been football editor of the Times for five years and was born a Liverpool fan. He writes a weekly column for The Game, The Times' weekly football supplement. He came to journalism at the age of 29 and spent his 20s following Liverpool and playing in bands, including a stint in The Farm. In 1983-84, he saw all 42 league games and most of the matches in other competitions.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 14, 2013
This is a must read for Liverpool fans. It is not a big book but covers a lot including some very sobering accounts of trips to Rome in 84, Heysel and Turin in 05 as well as a terrifying account of the author's experience of the Hillsborough disaster. Despite these serious topics, there is humor & interesting comment on how football fans are viewed & treated. An excellent read.
December 21, 2023
This short (ish) book about Liverpool football is brilliant. Tony Evans writes with passion and love about his team and the people who follow them week-in week-out. Using the reds’ incredible European Cup Final victory in Istanbul in 2005, Evans details here what it is to be a football fan and pours scorn on those who run the game today. He writes beautifully about Hillsborough and Heysel and honours the memory of all those who have yet to see justice. Evans is a man and a writer you want on your side. I can’t recommend this book too highly.
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June 23, 2025Nice slice of life from a Liverpool fan (mostly) before my time. A lot of time on the tragedies, but liked his perspectives, esp re Juve 2005
January 10, 2013
Far foreign land
The book, “Far, Foreign Land”, by Tony Evans, is the story of one Liverpool fans 5 day trip from Liverpool, Uk, to Istanbul,Turkey, to see Liverpool fc play in the 2005 UEFA champions league final. However the book goes much deeper than just one mans journey across the continent to witness possibly the greatest game of all time. The book touches on Liverpool’s history, the good and the bad. From the 96 fans that died at Hillsborough and are yet to receive justice, to the last time we had one the cub, back in 1984. The book talks about what it means to be a Liverpool fan, and why the victory in Istanbul meant so much to the fans and why it showed exactly what Liverpool football club stands for. The book talks about the game itself, the emotions throughout the 90 minutes- Maldini scoring for Milan in just he 50th second of the match to being down 3-0 at half time. As the fans sung ‘You’ll never walk alone’ even when it seemed the game was over for Liverpool. When Steven Gerrard netted the first in the 52nd minute to make it 3-1 and finally when Xabi Alonso completed the comeback to make it 3-3. To the final penalty kick in the shoot-out where Jersey Dudek saved Shevchenko’s penalty to win the final for Liverpool. This book meant so much to me as my family, origianally from Merseyside, have been Liverpool fans all our lives, and I was lucky enough to have been one of the many thousands of Liverpool supporters at the game as just a 7 year old. The book braught back many memories and emotions from the experience. From the book I also learned a lot about liverpool’s history, which meant a lot to me as it is where my family is from, and also the game of football which so many people including myself live and breathe.
It is a fantastic read that will appeal to anyone, you don’t have to be a Liverpool fan yourself to be able to enjoy the book. You will learn a lot about the history of Liverpool fc from reading the book, as well as a knowledge of how the game of football has changed over the past few decades. The book however is not all only about this journey, it has elements of creative non fiction writing which will cater for people who like to read novels and stories- although I wouldn’t say it is ‘action packed’ it should interest readers who like any form of sport or team based activity and also for those who enjoy inspiring, exciting or enlivening books. I would not recommend this book for people who are not interested in these subjects as they will probably find it hard to really get into the books. For those who are interested in these areas, you will find yourselves completely immersed in the book, and you will forget that this is actually a true story. I found it so interesting that the author had written this book about his own journey and that he had experienced all of these things himself, and I found it very easy to relate to his emotions and feelings that he touched on throughout his journey.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, from the sporting elements to the story, to learning about the history and culture of Liverpool, the place where my family is from. the book was very inspiring for me as I felt I re-lived all my emotions of my journey as a footballer and a supporter and also learned alot about the game and the changes it has gone through in the past few decades. As someone who doesn’t read too many books, I was very surprised to find that this one was so hard to put down and had me immersed right from the start. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone I have listed above or anyone who is interested in trying something different and looking into a different genre, I am sure you wont be disappointed. I have no complaints at all about the book and enjoyed every page. I could not recommend this book enough!
The book, “Far, Foreign Land”, by Tony Evans, is the story of one Liverpool fans 5 day trip from Liverpool, Uk, to Istanbul,Turkey, to see Liverpool fc play in the 2005 UEFA champions league final. However the book goes much deeper than just one mans journey across the continent to witness possibly the greatest game of all time. The book touches on Liverpool’s history, the good and the bad. From the 96 fans that died at Hillsborough and are yet to receive justice, to the last time we had one the cub, back in 1984. The book talks about what it means to be a Liverpool fan, and why the victory in Istanbul meant so much to the fans and why it showed exactly what Liverpool football club stands for. The book talks about the game itself, the emotions throughout the 90 minutes- Maldini scoring for Milan in just he 50th second of the match to being down 3-0 at half time. As the fans sung ‘You’ll never walk alone’ even when it seemed the game was over for Liverpool. When Steven Gerrard netted the first in the 52nd minute to make it 3-1 and finally when Xabi Alonso completed the comeback to make it 3-3. To the final penalty kick in the shoot-out where Jersey Dudek saved Shevchenko’s penalty to win the final for Liverpool. This book meant so much to me as my family, origianally from Merseyside, have been Liverpool fans all our lives, and I was lucky enough to have been one of the many thousands of Liverpool supporters at the game as just a 7 year old. The book braught back many memories and emotions from the experience. From the book I also learned a lot about liverpool’s history, which meant a lot to me as it is where my family is from, and also the game of football which so many people including myself live and breathe.
It is a fantastic read that will appeal to anyone, you don’t have to be a Liverpool fan yourself to be able to enjoy the book. You will learn a lot about the history of Liverpool fc from reading the book, as well as a knowledge of how the game of football has changed over the past few decades. The book however is not all only about this journey, it has elements of creative non fiction writing which will cater for people who like to read novels and stories- although I wouldn’t say it is ‘action packed’ it should interest readers who like any form of sport or team based activity and also for those who enjoy inspiring, exciting or enlivening books. I would not recommend this book for people who are not interested in these subjects as they will probably find it hard to really get into the books. For those who are interested in these areas, you will find yourselves completely immersed in the book, and you will forget that this is actually a true story. I found it so interesting that the author had written this book about his own journey and that he had experienced all of these things himself, and I found it very easy to relate to his emotions and feelings that he touched on throughout his journey.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, from the sporting elements to the story, to learning about the history and culture of Liverpool, the place where my family is from. the book was very inspiring for me as I felt I re-lived all my emotions of my journey as a footballer and a supporter and also learned alot about the game and the changes it has gone through in the past few decades. As someone who doesn’t read too many books, I was very surprised to find that this one was so hard to put down and had me immersed right from the start. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone I have listed above or anyone who is interested in trying something different and looking into a different genre, I am sure you wont be disappointed. I have no complaints at all about the book and enjoyed every page. I could not recommend this book enough!
December 28, 2020
An excellent book sculpted around the lyrics to the famed Liverpool FC song 'I am a Liverpudlian', this book charts Liverpool's road to Istanbul in the 2004/05 UEFA Champions League.
The book is written in a manner that intersperses between the matches during this campaign and the author's past forays across the continent following his beloved Liverpool. It was really interesting to read the book fifteen years on and to reflect on how many of the points Evans makes around the increasingly globalised nature of the game ring true. It captures a point in Liverpool's history perfectly and is a hugely enjoyable read.
The book is written in a manner that intersperses between the matches during this campaign and the author's past forays across the continent following his beloved Liverpool. It was really interesting to read the book fifteen years on and to reflect on how many of the points Evans makes around the increasingly globalised nature of the game ring true. It captures a point in Liverpool's history perfectly and is a hugely enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews