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Passovotchka : Moscow Dynamo - David Downing

Passovotchka

Moscow Dynamo

By: David Downing

Paperback | 1 August 2000 | Edition Number 1

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Nothing went smoothly on this tour, from the party's three-times delayed arrival and their seemingly endless agonizing over the date of their departure; one match was played in dense fog and a British manager followed the team across the country in a vain attempt to retrieve six borrowed footballs. And throughout, the Russians were involved in disputes with the FA, the British clubs, the match referees and the press. On the pitch, the Russians played exciting football displaying their technically superior strikers. Off the pitch, a catalogue of misunderstandings and suspicions marked the team's progress around the country. With the Cold War not yet begun, Russia was still Britain's ally and everyone claimed to want to keep politics out of sport. But the Soviet authorities were clearly anxious that Dynamo's performance should reflect well on the State; and there were many in the British press eager to make political capital out of the controversy surrounding the tour. The book contains a blow-by-blow account of the tour itself; a history of the Moscow Dynamo club and a discussion of the state of British football at the end of the war, including those aspects of the game - style of play, training methods, the issue of professionalism - which the Dynamo tour brought into question.
Industry Reviews
This little documented episode in footballing history is in turns humorous and intriguing. Upon their arrival for a tour of Britain, and for the 33 days that followed, Moscow Dynamo - Russia's premier football team - courted controversy on and off the pitch. Downing has really done his homework, and manages to paint a fascinating portrait of post-war Britain; the result is an eye-opening account of national paranoia and 'diplomacy' that precludes the Cold War era. (Kirkus UK)

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