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Match Fixer
Match Fixer takes place inside the murky underbelly of Asian football. 'Squeaky-clean' Singapore plays host to betting syndicates, which have for decades fed off the insatiable illegal gambling habits of the local population and made a select few bookies very rich and far too powerful. Corruption is destroying The Beautiful Game in Asia and has spread its tentacles into the UK via spread betting cartels. Floodlights have been knocked out. Players jailed. Questions asked.
Against such a backdrop, former West Ham apprentice striker Chris Osborne arrives in Singapore for a final roll of the dice to get his once promising career back on track. However, not even a boyhood spent growing up in London's East End prepares him for the crooked shenanigans, bloated former British footballing jetsam and the underground party drugs scene that welcome him to life in paradise.
Against such a backdrop, former West Ham apprentice striker Chris Osborne arrives in Singapore for a final roll of the dice to get his once promising career back on track. However, not even a boyhood spent growing up in London's East End prepares him for the crooked shenanigans, bloated former British footballing jetsam and the underground party drugs scene that welcome him to life in paradise.
286 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
2 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Neil Humphreys
29 books38 followersNeil Humphreys is a British humour columnist and author of three best-selling books about Singapore - Notes From an Even Smaller Island (2001), Scribbles from the Same Island (2003) and Final Notes from a Great Island (2006). The last of these was on Singapore's bestsellers list for several consecutive weeks, proving the popularity of his writings among Singaporeans. His latest book in this series - Return to a Sexy Island - was released in June 2012.
Brought up in Dagenham, London, England, Humphreys arrived in Singapore in 1996 and had initially planned on staying in Singapore for only 3 months. However, he instantly fell in love with the island-state and decided to settle there. Humphreys has always lived in Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats in Toa Payoh, a public housing estate in central Singapore, despite moving twice. Although he is a foreigner, he has chosen to assimilate himself into the Singapore culture through living in HDB flats, eating at local kopitiams and trying out many things that the locals do. He often pokes fun at Western expatriates working in Singapore by comparing their living habits with his own, criticising them for their aloofness from the local society and their extravagant lifestyles.
Brought up in Dagenham, London, England, Humphreys arrived in Singapore in 1996 and had initially planned on staying in Singapore for only 3 months. However, he instantly fell in love with the island-state and decided to settle there. Humphreys has always lived in Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats in Toa Payoh, a public housing estate in central Singapore, despite moving twice. Although he is a foreigner, he has chosen to assimilate himself into the Singapore culture through living in HDB flats, eating at local kopitiams and trying out many things that the locals do. He often pokes fun at Western expatriates working in Singapore by comparing their living habits with his own, criticising them for their aloofness from the local society and their extravagant lifestyles.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 27, 2017
Half of this book left me, a reader with neither idea what football is about nor the interest, clueless. I liked the colloquialism, gangs, and the surprising plot twist at the end (not quite a surprise for those who have started on the Inspector Low series, but it was fun to see how everything in the novel led to that, and what happened then). The main characters seemed at time too stereotypical (do SPGs really exist?), and too flat to have their counterparts in reality. Their motivations were plausible, perhaps, given the circumstances drawn out for them, but not interesting enough to mean something to this reader and leave an imprint in memory, to be something to wonder about long after the last page.
February 19, 2010
Neil Humphreys and I have quite a lot in common. We're both writers, we're both ang mohs who've lived in Singapore (though he now lives in Australia), we're both new dads of daughters. He and I have spoken briefly on Twitter and Facebook, and I've enjoyed his writing. His nonfiction is funny and self-deprecating, much like Dave Barry. Also like Dave Barry, Humphreys' first foray into fiction is a crime novel, and when it was released, I snapped it up.
Match Fixer takes place within the S-League world of football, something that I know virtually nothing about, and, up until now, have not cared to. Yet despite not giving a jot for local Singaporean soccer, I was riveted by this book. It's less about the sport itself than the massive gambling, both within the country and outside its borders, associated with the game. It's indeed true that Singaporeans love to gamble; the reports from the limited opening of the new casino here reveal a subculture rife with addiction and debt. And Humphreys probes that world with a deft touch, bringing to the page a cast of characters including football stars from England, reporters, magazine publishers, senior narcotics officers, team owners, gangsters, and undercover police.
The result is a crime novel that sings like Elmore Leonard's best. The plot is twisty enough to invite surprises, but thick enough with ambition and betrayal that the characters live in the mind separate from the page. Humphreys' ear for Singlish (the local staccato patois that includes Malay and Chinese dialects, as well as its own lexical logic) makes the dialogue feel snappy and very authentic.
Match Fixer is a thoroughly enjoyable read, and Humphreys has set himself up as a worthy successor to Leonard himself.
Match Fixer takes place within the S-League world of football, something that I know virtually nothing about, and, up until now, have not cared to. Yet despite not giving a jot for local Singaporean soccer, I was riveted by this book. It's less about the sport itself than the massive gambling, both within the country and outside its borders, associated with the game. It's indeed true that Singaporeans love to gamble; the reports from the limited opening of the new casino here reveal a subculture rife with addiction and debt. And Humphreys probes that world with a deft touch, bringing to the page a cast of characters including football stars from England, reporters, magazine publishers, senior narcotics officers, team owners, gangsters, and undercover police.
The result is a crime novel that sings like Elmore Leonard's best. The plot is twisty enough to invite surprises, but thick enough with ambition and betrayal that the characters live in the mind separate from the page. Humphreys' ear for Singlish (the local staccato patois that includes Malay and Chinese dialects, as well as its own lexical logic) makes the dialogue feel snappy and very authentic.
Match Fixer is a thoroughly enjoyable read, and Humphreys has set himself up as a worthy successor to Leonard himself.
January 25, 2022
An interesting take on the underworld of football and match fixing in some of the lesser known leagues. Having lived in Singapore it was fascinating to read about a fictional dark side of such a lovely place.
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April 20, 2012Match Fixer – Book Review:
This book by Neil Humphrey’s is a book about the Singapore S- League soccer matches being fixed. Neil Humphrey’s was a boy who was raised in Dagenham, England. He was raised on mostly soccer because Dagenham is the birthplace of West Ham United so that why the story was about soccer. The book was an ok book even though it did not have what I was looking for as of learning about what actually goes on during that effect and how the S- League games are actually fixed but I still enjoyed the book a bit. I really did not know what the story was really about but Neil Humphrey’s made the book easier for me as a 13 year old to read.
My first favorite part was quite far in the book. It was when the Singapore Police Force were going to break into the house were Simon Jones was giving out free drugs, this operation was going on until someone called it off over the Forces radio. This was a main part of the book because at that party and when the Force were coming in Tiger the main drug, betting and all things illegal in Singapore guy was talking to Chris Osborne a former West Ham United player about fixing the final match of the season. This part of the book really effected me as in I found that people like Tiger can actually frighten you by just saying if you do not I will do this to you. But like it said in the beginning of the book Chris Osborne was smashed and had his legs broken because he did not do what Tiger asked him to do during the match.
My second favorite part of the book was when Chris Osborne went on the field to do what Tiger asked him to do. But he refused to take the penalty until his teammate told him to do it now. As Chris went up for the penalty Neil Humphrey’s really described the meaning of the feeling of anxiety and fear of if you don't do this that will happen to you. I really related to that because I am a soccer player myself and I am always asked to take penalties. So I related to what Chris was feeling as I think if I miss this penalty my team will yell at me up actually even if I miss my team still liked me and did not get mad at me for what I did.
Overall the book was ok; it had a lot of swearing and a lot of drug references to it. This was because it was actually a younger adult book so it was not very directed to my 13-year-old age. Even though it had a lot of the swearing and drugs it used those parts quite right it did not just swear for the heck to make the reader laugh it made the explanation that Neil was trying to get by much more effective. I would only let 15 teenagers read this book because there were a lot of adult parts to the book and there were a lot of swearing to it too.
This book by Neil Humphrey’s is a book about the Singapore S- League soccer matches being fixed. Neil Humphrey’s was a boy who was raised in Dagenham, England. He was raised on mostly soccer because Dagenham is the birthplace of West Ham United so that why the story was about soccer. The book was an ok book even though it did not have what I was looking for as of learning about what actually goes on during that effect and how the S- League games are actually fixed but I still enjoyed the book a bit. I really did not know what the story was really about but Neil Humphrey’s made the book easier for me as a 13 year old to read.
My first favorite part was quite far in the book. It was when the Singapore Police Force were going to break into the house were Simon Jones was giving out free drugs, this operation was going on until someone called it off over the Forces radio. This was a main part of the book because at that party and when the Force were coming in Tiger the main drug, betting and all things illegal in Singapore guy was talking to Chris Osborne a former West Ham United player about fixing the final match of the season. This part of the book really effected me as in I found that people like Tiger can actually frighten you by just saying if you do not I will do this to you. But like it said in the beginning of the book Chris Osborne was smashed and had his legs broken because he did not do what Tiger asked him to do during the match.
My second favorite part of the book was when Chris Osborne went on the field to do what Tiger asked him to do. But he refused to take the penalty until his teammate told him to do it now. As Chris went up for the penalty Neil Humphrey’s really described the meaning of the feeling of anxiety and fear of if you don't do this that will happen to you. I really related to that because I am a soccer player myself and I am always asked to take penalties. So I related to what Chris was feeling as I think if I miss this penalty my team will yell at me up actually even if I miss my team still liked me and did not get mad at me for what I did.
Overall the book was ok; it had a lot of swearing and a lot of drug references to it. This was because it was actually a younger adult book so it was not very directed to my 13-year-old age. Even though it had a lot of the swearing and drugs it used those parts quite right it did not just swear for the heck to make the reader laugh it made the explanation that Neil was trying to get by much more effective. I would only let 15 teenagers read this book because there were a lot of adult parts to the book and there were a lot of swearing to it too.
March 18, 2012
I'm not a football fan, don't even know what's happening in the S league now. Last I watched the local team playing was back when we were still in Piala Malaysia and we won the cup back in 1994. So for a non-football fan to like this book is saying something.
I was confused initially with the jumping timeline but soon got hooked on it. I really like the way it ends, with two ministers at the SCC.
Finding that typo towards the end 'Ggambling' kinda shocked me, is the spelling check not on? (This is me nit-picking.)
Overall it's a good read even though you have no knowledge of S-League, A-League or EUFA.
I was confused initially with the jumping timeline but soon got hooked on it. I really like the way it ends, with two ministers at the SCC.
Finding that typo towards the end 'Ggambling' kinda shocked me, is the spelling check not on? (This is me nit-picking.)
Overall it's a good read even though you have no knowledge of S-League, A-League or EUFA.
January 29, 2012
Match Fixer by Neil Humphreys, is to put in a light way atrociously bad book. It leaves you bored, it really doesn't give you that much of an insight into how corrupt the S-League, and he spends half of his time talking about absurd and rude topics and also spends half the time swearing, which I think was him trying to amuse the reader and simply made me snort. He drags everything and I just really didn't enjoy this book. Don't waste your time reading this book, I can assure you.
January 16, 2011
Enjoyably funny, especially if you are a football fan. If you're not, you might get a bit lost when it mentions some footballer's names, clubs, football tactics etc. You might also get lost when some Singlish terms start popping up. Having said that, it isn't terribly difficult to read. A good book for some light weekend reading.
June 16, 2010
This book will not win any awards even if the award is for best book with the title "Match Fixer". However it still is a good read. A very good insist into the world of football in South-East Asia and the pull of gambling in a world not that interested in football.
April 18, 2010
Good solid read. Loved the opening.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews