Chaos in the Box: Chronicles from Modern Football

by David Squires

Football moves so quickly these days that it can be hard to keep track of everything. But fret not, weary traveller: David Squires is here to guide you through the pandemonium.

Taking us from 2018 to the 2024 Euro, Squires tackles some of the sport's most pressing questions: Is Emo José Mourinho doing okay after his latest ride on the managerial carousel? How many more teams will be lucky enough to be bought by 'benevolent' billionaires? Will Manchester City ever let anyone else win the Premier League again? And how on earth does FIFA continue to be laughably inept in almost every way imaginable...?

Drawn from the immensely popular Guardian cartoons, Chaos in the Box captures modern football's most memorable - and ludicrous - moments.

Genres: Football

256 pages, Hardcover

First published December 3, 2024

Reviews

[Joe O'Donnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

If modern football could still be said to have something resembling a moral compass, then it is odd that it appears to reside with a Swindon Town-supporting cartoonist who has an unhealthy obsession with Roy Hodgson. But I suppose you have to take your heroes where you can find them, and for years David Squires has been doing heroic work depicting the unseemly underbelly of world football.

“Chaos in the Box” is Squires’ latest collection of Guardian cartoons, and reading it as I did alongside “States of Play” – Miguel Delaney’s account of sportswashing and the corporate takeover of global football – would frequently make you fear for future of the sport (and for your own sanity as a football fan). While ostensibly a comic writer, many of David Squires’ cartoons pack an emotional punch. Just three cases in point are his obituaries of Jack and Bobby Charlton and his chronicle of Rupchandra Rumba (a migrant worker who lost his life in horrific circumstances constructing one of Qatar’s stadiums to host the World Cup).

This could potentially sound worthy, but sanctimonious. But, thankfully, “Chaos in the Box” is hernia-inducingly hilarious, and a more-than-welcome opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with Squires’ comic constructions such as Lego Miguel Arteta, Emo Mourinho and, of course, Roy ‘Woy’ Hodgson. Tastier than a referee’s sandwich wolfed down in front of Chris Wilder.

[Piers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Squires' cartoons are pretty much the highlight of my consumption of football these days, and this collection brought back many fond memories of the dafter and heavier stories of the last few years. I'll admit that I simply didn't recall some of these incidents and the relevant memes which hampered the enjoyment somewhat, and the black and white printing makes some of the text quite hard to make out. However, I had a great old time reading it, and finishing with the astonishingly moving obituary / tribute strips really brings home just what a deft hand Squires has for dealing with the most sensitive subjects with grace, wit and charm. A fine addition to my Squires collection.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Squires just always delivers, somehow managing to frequently make you laugh and cry in the same short cartoon about the Premier League of all things. I frequently find I enjoy his introductions to each collection as much as the work themselves. If a Swindon Town supporting cartoonist who has emmigrated to Australia is my true spirit animal, then honestly I'm fine with that.

[Michael Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

After Hyde, Brooker, & Mitchell's collected works books being a disappointment when the writing is viewed out of context, will the great David Squires be the same? A bit yep... I would say that his work is best viewed on a Tuesday lunchtime just after publication.

[Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always get a chuckle out of his comics on the Guardian. Another set of fun ones.

[Kristian Tempelmans]

Really good, clever and witty, but I skipped some sections of this book that was gifted to me, as I'm not well-versed enough in Premier League lore to have understood all references, so no rating.