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The Crazy Gang
The real story of football's greatest ever rags to riches rise, from non-league football to winning the FA Cup. 'If we can sell Newcastle Brown to Japan, and if Wimbledon can make it to the First Division, there is surely no achievement beyond our reach.' Margaret Thatcher
The Crazy Gang is the story of a football miracle. Promoted to the Football League in 1977, Wimbledon FC was a small team from south London that against the odds went all the way to the top of the First Division, then to win the FA Cup, in only just over a decade. With no money, scant resources and a blend of youth players and offcuts from other clubs, they were christened 'Rag-Arse Rovers'. They played hard on the pitch and partied hard off it.
Dave 'Harry' Bassett was the manager who drilled a fierce fighting spirit into his players, an unbreakable team ethos, but he was also an underrated master tactician and pioneer of innovative training methods. Wally Downes was the midfield fulcrum of the Dons, but also the ringleader for the various acts of debauchery and general silliness that earned the club their reputation.
In The Crazy Gang , Harry and Wally are joined by a host of former Wimbledon players and staff, both famous names like Vinnie Jones, Lawrie Sanchez and Dave Beasant, but also unsung heroes in the club's history, to tell it as it really was. This is real football, the way fans remember it, and a world away from multimillionaire Premier League primadonnas.
The Crazy Gang is the story of a football miracle. Promoted to the Football League in 1977, Wimbledon FC was a small team from south London that against the odds went all the way to the top of the First Division, then to win the FA Cup, in only just over a decade. With no money, scant resources and a blend of youth players and offcuts from other clubs, they were christened 'Rag-Arse Rovers'. They played hard on the pitch and partied hard off it.
Dave 'Harry' Bassett was the manager who drilled a fierce fighting spirit into his players, an unbreakable team ethos, but he was also an underrated master tactician and pioneer of innovative training methods. Wally Downes was the midfield fulcrum of the Dons, but also the ringleader for the various acts of debauchery and general silliness that earned the club their reputation.
In The Crazy Gang , Harry and Wally are joined by a host of former Wimbledon players and staff, both famous names like Vinnie Jones, Lawrie Sanchez and Dave Beasant, but also unsung heroes in the club's history, to tell it as it really was. This is real football, the way fans remember it, and a world away from multimillionaire Premier League primadonnas.
- GenresFootball
336 pages, Paperback
First published September 24, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 30, 2024
The true story of the origins and reality of Wimbledon's Crazy Gang, as told by the manager and players that created it.
David v Goliath, the minnow v the big fish stories are always fascinating. Who were the characters that were involved? How did they do it? Why did it happen?
Wimbledon's rise from non-league football to the top 10 in England two years in a row is a gob-smacking story in itself, but winning the FA Cup against Liverpool elevates it to something else entirely.
Dave Bassett, affectionately known as Harry, and a lot of the Crazy Gang had left by the time of the cup triumph in 1988, but their part in the greatest day in the club's history is undeniable.
What this book gets across is that Wimbledon's success as a football club was built on organisation, strategy and hard work. It wasn't the hit and hope, rough n'tumble that many people in the football establishment scorned them for.
David v Goliath, the minnow v the big fish stories are always fascinating. Who were the characters that were involved? How did they do it? Why did it happen?
Wimbledon's rise from non-league football to the top 10 in England two years in a row is a gob-smacking story in itself, but winning the FA Cup against Liverpool elevates it to something else entirely.
Dave Bassett, affectionately known as Harry, and a lot of the Crazy Gang had left by the time of the cup triumph in 1988, but their part in the greatest day in the club's history is undeniable.
What this book gets across is that Wimbledon's success as a football club was built on organisation, strategy and hard work. It wasn't the hit and hope, rough n'tumble that many people in the football establishment scorned them for.
September 25, 2019
Good but too many stats and not enough crazy gang stories...... ok
August 7, 2025
Best football team in the world
November 3, 2016
A thoroughly fascinating read regarding the rags to riches rise of Wimbledon football club.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews