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Who Ate All the Squid?: Football Adventures in South Korea
When a struggling Korean football club wants to transform its fortunes, who does it turn to? A former Chelsea manager and a trio of players with Premier League experience, of course. Who Ate All the Squid?: Football Adventures in South Korea charts the year Ian Porterfield managed faltering K League giant Busan IPark. The Sunderland FA Cup legend lured three players from English football out to Korea: striker Jamie Cureton, an ex-England youth international who turned down Manchester United; Andy Cooke, a former Burnley and Stoke City forward who started his career building cowsheds; and Jon Olav Hjelde, who bolstered Nottingham Forest after achieving UEFA Champions League heroics with Rosenborg. How will the players cope with South Korea's unfamiliar culture and language? Can the Brits overcome personal demons, including car crashes, divorces and alcoholism? And does a British football revolution really stand a chance of succeeding in Northeast Asia? The book also casts a humorous glimpse at the world's game inside South Korea.
320 pages, Paperback
Published September 28, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 7, 2022
An enjoyable read but not an easy one; amateur authors need more editing than a niche press can provide
September 28, 2020
Who Ate all the Squid?, an account of a struggling Korean football team’s unremarkable 2003 season, may not seem like the most obvious choice for the topic of a book. Somehow, though, the tale of Busan I’cons is incredibly immersive and enjoyable.
Devon Rowcliffe, who followed the club across the country in a quest to soak up as much Korean football as possible over the course of the season, paints a wonderfully nostalgic picture of the K League of 17 years ago. Anyone familiar with the league will smile fondly at the mentions of cup ramen and silkworm larvae snacks, revelations of bribery and scandals, the frustrated curses of supporters echoing through gigantic, near-empty stadiums. Dodgy tactics, drunken brawls, cultural faux pas – it’s all here, written with affection and wit.
Rowcliffe packs his tale with interesting anecdotes, not only from the Busan I’cons team and supporters, but from all over the K League and beyond. There are jokes from the dressing room of the Korean national team, tales of typhoons and collapsing stadiums, accounts of translators and awkward fan meetings. The interspersing of these tidbits and subplots between match reports keeps things fresh, and the reader only becomes more involved and attached to the club’s fortunes as the season goes on.
Perhaps the real heart of this book lies in the stories of the British football staff who joined the club in 2003. English forwards Jamie Cureton and Andy Cooke get a lot of coverage, and their contrasting fortunes on and off the field make for intriguing reading, not only for the psychological challenges involved in the sport, but also in adapting to a new culture on the other side of the world.
The real star, however, is Busan’s coach for the season, Ian Porterfield. The late Scottish manager is a divisive figure and the central character in Rowcliffe’s book. He is portrayed as open and extremely passionate, but also insecure and flawed as he navigates a thankless job for a club way past its glory days. It’s an intriguing character study, with Rowcliffe’s interactions with the man himself, along with accounts of his career before moving to Korea, painting a fascinating picture.
If I had one minor gripe with the book, it’s that certain anecdotes and tidbits turn up more than once. The book features a large cast of footballers and characters, so the recycling of information is presumably to keep less familiar readers on the same page. Although I felt this was sometimes unnecessary, it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book.
Who Ate all the Squid? could have easily been a forgettable account of a mediocre team in an unremarkable moment. As it is, you’ll finish it yearning to hit the road on a supporters’ bus in monsoon season, only for the pleasure of watching your team get beaten again while you tend to a one dollar beer. Highly recommended for all fans of the sport.
*I received an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Pitch Publishing for the copy.
Devon Rowcliffe, who followed the club across the country in a quest to soak up as much Korean football as possible over the course of the season, paints a wonderfully nostalgic picture of the K League of 17 years ago. Anyone familiar with the league will smile fondly at the mentions of cup ramen and silkworm larvae snacks, revelations of bribery and scandals, the frustrated curses of supporters echoing through gigantic, near-empty stadiums. Dodgy tactics, drunken brawls, cultural faux pas – it’s all here, written with affection and wit.
Rowcliffe packs his tale with interesting anecdotes, not only from the Busan I’cons team and supporters, but from all over the K League and beyond. There are jokes from the dressing room of the Korean national team, tales of typhoons and collapsing stadiums, accounts of translators and awkward fan meetings. The interspersing of these tidbits and subplots between match reports keeps things fresh, and the reader only becomes more involved and attached to the club’s fortunes as the season goes on.
Perhaps the real heart of this book lies in the stories of the British football staff who joined the club in 2003. English forwards Jamie Cureton and Andy Cooke get a lot of coverage, and their contrasting fortunes on and off the field make for intriguing reading, not only for the psychological challenges involved in the sport, but also in adapting to a new culture on the other side of the world.
The real star, however, is Busan’s coach for the season, Ian Porterfield. The late Scottish manager is a divisive figure and the central character in Rowcliffe’s book. He is portrayed as open and extremely passionate, but also insecure and flawed as he navigates a thankless job for a club way past its glory days. It’s an intriguing character study, with Rowcliffe’s interactions with the man himself, along with accounts of his career before moving to Korea, painting a fascinating picture.
If I had one minor gripe with the book, it’s that certain anecdotes and tidbits turn up more than once. The book features a large cast of footballers and characters, so the recycling of information is presumably to keep less familiar readers on the same page. Although I felt this was sometimes unnecessary, it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book.
Who Ate all the Squid? could have easily been a forgettable account of a mediocre team in an unremarkable moment. As it is, you’ll finish it yearning to hit the road on a supporters’ bus in monsoon season, only for the pleasure of watching your team get beaten again while you tend to a one dollar beer. Highly recommended for all fans of the sport.
*I received an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Pitch Publishing for the copy.
October 18, 2022
An entertaining enough read detailing the ups and downs of supporting a struggling football team in a foreign league which is treated with apathy by its own citizens who are more consumed with the 'glitz and glamour' of the major European leagues.
My main criticisms are repetition - the author tends to make the same points on multiple occasions which suggests the editing could have been tighter (it is quite a long read in itself) - and an over-reliance on questions to move the narrative forward. For me, this became quite tedious after a while (will this happen? will that happen? what's around the corner? is a lazy way to push you on to the next chapter).
So, could have been a better piece of work, but one that I still generally enjoyed and would recommend to anybody interested in the subject matter.
My main criticisms are repetition - the author tends to make the same points on multiple occasions which suggests the editing could have been tighter (it is quite a long read in itself) - and an over-reliance on questions to move the narrative forward. For me, this became quite tedious after a while (will this happen? will that happen? what's around the corner? is a lazy way to push you on to the next chapter).
So, could have been a better piece of work, but one that I still generally enjoyed and would recommend to anybody interested in the subject matter.
November 8, 2020
This is very much a book about Korean football and it’s kind of fascinating despite being about a team I have never heard of in a country I know little about. I wanted the team to do well, for everyone involved to get some redemption. I would have liked to know more about the fans, why were they travelling those massive distances in that horrid bus?
June 6, 2022
As much as I enjoyed the premise, the execution here was spotty at best. The author acknowledges in the foreword that this manuscript largely sat on the shelf for 17 years, and that leads to too many asides where he takes us out of the flow of the season to let us know how (for example) Jamie Cureton reflected much later on his time with Busan I'Cons, or to point out where 2020 technology would have fixed a problem or a certain practice rang oddly in a post-COVID world. Readers can figure those last few out on their own, and reminiscences would have been better saved for a few critical points. As is, I'm reading with 75% of my brain in 2003, but 25% in 2020 because the author keeps reminding me that's where he is now, and it's not a good experience.
And I think the reason the manuscript languished for so many years is that the author simply couldn't find a reason for us to care. The results on the pitch are awful; Ian Porterfield's managerial style is best described as self-harm; Jamie Cureton's half-season becomes a footnote in an incredible itinerant career up and down the English football pyramid; the team barely escapes being moved after a season of attendance even worse than the football. Rowcliffe wants to share Korean football and Busan's fan culture rather than making it about himself, and that's laudable, but we never get to know any of the Korean fans or players as more than names on a sheet. I'm left to guess that he didn't have the language skills to engage past a superficial level -- he doesn't want to be the story, but he doesn't seem to have access to the story he's trying to tell. The result is that the whole narrative feels curiously distanced, save a few rants from Porterfield. And that alienation is the expat experience, but Rowcliffe won't let me care about him to share that feeling.
And I think the reason the manuscript languished for so many years is that the author simply couldn't find a reason for us to care. The results on the pitch are awful; Ian Porterfield's managerial style is best described as self-harm; Jamie Cureton's half-season becomes a footnote in an incredible itinerant career up and down the English football pyramid; the team barely escapes being moved after a season of attendance even worse than the football. Rowcliffe wants to share Korean football and Busan's fan culture rather than making it about himself, and that's laudable, but we never get to know any of the Korean fans or players as more than names on a sheet. I'm left to guess that he didn't have the language skills to engage past a superficial level -- he doesn't want to be the story, but he doesn't seem to have access to the story he's trying to tell. The result is that the whole narrative feels curiously distanced, save a few rants from Porterfield. And that alienation is the expat experience, but Rowcliffe won't let me care about him to share that feeling.
January 7, 2021
Familiar clubs, but with stories I've never heard of. The 'Introduction' chapter was nothing like I expected, and I had to look at the book cover to make sure I was reading a sports book. From that moment, I was hooked. Sports, culture, history, and drama. This is the type of book I can read for excitement during the day, as well as to wind down at the end of the night. Now it is time for a re-read and research to follow up on that 2003 season. Awesome awesome read!
영어 못 하면 이해를 어려울것같아도 축구 좋아하신분이 꼭 읽어보세요. 한국인보다 K리그와 한국 축구 문화를 잘 아는 작가 Devon Rowcliffe가 재밋는 이야기를 썼습니다!!
영어 못 하면 이해를 어려울것같아도 축구 좋아하신분이 꼭 읽어보세요. 한국인보다 K리그와 한국 축구 문화를 잘 아는 작가 Devon Rowcliffe가 재밋는 이야기를 썼습니다!!
March 21, 2024
3 stars. This book really needs an editor. Lots of repetition.
February 22, 2021
Great book that tells a lot about a club that has been great before but struggled both on and off the pitch as the Asian financial crisis in 1999 was the end for former club owners Daewoo. Going through it the reader can feel the struggle of the Busan fans as the team hasn't been great at all as manager Ian Porterfield looked for a direction for the club to move on.
I love that the book also gives historical and cultural background of how it was like living in Korea in 2003 as well aa showing how much money has been going down the drain by building these giant white elephant stadiums in a sport that hasn't caught much attention locally even after the domestic world cup.
I love that the book also gives historical and cultural background of how it was like living in Korea in 2003 as well aa showing how much money has been going down the drain by building these giant white elephant stadiums in a sport that hasn't caught much attention locally even after the domestic world cup.
January 1, 2024
A must read for football lovers.
This book takes you on a season long journey of a football club in Busan - from the highs to the (very) low lows, it provides in depth knowledge of the squad, coaches, fans of Busan Icons as well as all the teams they encounter throughout the season.
5 stars - an insightful read on Korean culture as well as how it has impacted football in the country and vice versa.
This book takes you on a season long journey of a football club in Busan - from the highs to the (very) low lows, it provides in depth knowledge of the squad, coaches, fans of Busan Icons as well as all the teams they encounter throughout the season.
5 stars - an insightful read on Korean culture as well as how it has impacted football in the country and vice versa.
December 31, 2020
A very interesting book if do you want to know about Korean football. I recommend it without a doubt.
March 4, 2021
Written in a beautiful way which helps you feel as though you are in the stands, watching the games. It's clear the author did a lot of research and synthesised lots of external sources; where the book is let down is in a few moments of repetition, that should have been picked up at the edit stage.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews