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Tears for England: Obsession, Hope and Heartbreak with the England Football Team
The roller-coaster story of the last 50 years of England’s football team, seen through the eyes of a national press journalist and obsessive fan.
Robert Taylor is an author, journalist, broadcaster and England football obsessive who writes columns for the Telegraph, Spectator and Express.
Tears for England interweaves the team’s occasional triumphs and frequent woes with the author’s life story, starting with his first memories of football in the
? Journey through England’s last 50 years, from home internationals in the 1970s to the era of Thomas Tuchel, steered by a writer who has a journalist’s eye for a story, yet is at heart a fan who never stops dreaming
? The humorous and insightful narrative guides readers through a four- or six-year period, bookended by a European Championship or World Cup
? Eighteen themed chapters cover a diverse range of subjects, including the Lionesses, a league table of England managers and a countdown of the author’s least-favourite types of England fan
? Relive Keegan’s miss in 1982, Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal in 1986, that miss by Gazza in 1996, the 2018 penalty shoot-out triumph, through to Kane’s ballooned penalty against France in 2022 and Ollie Watkins’s semi-final winner in Euro 2024
Tears for England is a glorious page-turner for football fans, young and old. It’s a must-read for all those keen to understand why England football matters so much.
Robert Taylor is an author, journalist, broadcaster and England football obsessive who writes columns for the Telegraph, Spectator and Express.
Tears for England interweaves the team’s occasional triumphs and frequent woes with the author’s life story, starting with his first memories of football in the
? Journey through England’s last 50 years, from home internationals in the 1970s to the era of Thomas Tuchel, steered by a writer who has a journalist’s eye for a story, yet is at heart a fan who never stops dreaming
? The humorous and insightful narrative guides readers through a four- or six-year period, bookended by a European Championship or World Cup
? Eighteen themed chapters cover a diverse range of subjects, including the Lionesses, a league table of England managers and a countdown of the author’s least-favourite types of England fan
? Relive Keegan’s miss in 1982, Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal in 1986, that miss by Gazza in 1996, the 2018 penalty shoot-out triumph, through to Kane’s ballooned penalty against France in 2022 and Ollie Watkins’s semi-final winner in Euro 2024
Tears for England is a glorious page-turner for football fans, young and old. It’s a must-read for all those keen to understand why England football matters so much.
272 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 6, 2026
About the author
Robert Taylor
435 books6 followersLibrarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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April 27, 2026
A good read indeed. A really quite intimate story of excitement, hope, despair but most of all devotion to the England football team which maps their often chaotic fortune against the unshakeable expectations of a super fan. It covers the detail of matches, players, managers and the transient mood of a country whilst at the same time chronicling the author’s rollercoaster journey, watching from the stands and on the telly, from boyhood through adulthood and on to being a father of a son himself. It is warm, laugh-out-loud funny and a step up in insight from most football books. It’s an easy page-turner, perfect for other super fans as much as those who have to put up with them, and perfectly timed as a great warm up for the forthcoming World Cup. Highly recommended for plane, beach, pool or just for a really good read.
Displaying 1 of 1 review