Customer Reviews
Doubt if Robin Friday was the greatest but - By: noggy1810, 15 Feb 2008 
still not a bad way to pass an evening. Obviously a talented bloke but dispersing the book with clippings of Best & Bowles to try & elevate him into their company is a cheap trick. Surely the whole argument is underminedin the first chapter when his twin brother gets picked on teams & he can't. Maybe the twin was the greatest? What I did enjoy about this book was the trip back to when footballers were ordinary blokes & livedin the community, when football matches still had a raw edge to them on & off the pitch & when getting up off your arse & going to the game was the only way to see it.
Over rated - By: Mark Swindell, 03 Feb 2008 
I was really looking forward to this book with the full story of the enigmatic Friday. I found it to be very disappointing. Its writtenin a diary style that doesnt work & features lots of comments & quotes that add nothing to the general story. Its riddled with factual errors - scores, fixtures & results - that suggests a lack of proper research.
The worst part for me was Fridays life after he finished playing football. In a page & a half you are taken from 1977 to his untimely deathin 1990. What went on his lifein this period, the reader can only guess at. If he was as good a player as is suggested, then he surely deserves a better biography than this.
- - By: Acw Schipper, 19 Jan 2008 Good football book to read, although it starts rather slow. Personally I would have liked to have read a bit more anecdotes about his off field antics than all those copy & paste match reports from newspapers. Allin all an interesting read though.
THE MAN , THE LEGEND. - By: R. Hollis, 17 Jan 2008 
where do you start? i met the guy several times,usuallyin the pub on a saturday lunchtime! he was a very aproachable guy & would have a drink & a chat with you. could you do that with any footballers now ?.a more skilfull & inventive player i have yet to see, & thats saying something. the book will paint a pretty good picture of the man for all you poor unfortunates who never had the chance to see him play.! when i think back to seeing him play it still sends a chill down my spine ! enjoy the read .
Genius - By: Mr. A. Pickering, 18 Oct 2007 I have been a Reading supporter since the age of 4, when my Dad used to take me to see every home game from around 1970 through to the day Neil Webb left the club to join Portsmouth for 88,000 pounds. Often I used to think it was punishment for not doing my homework, so low was the standard of many of the games, players & (especially) referees.
The likes of the Wagstaff Brothers, Bobby Hunt, Wayne Wanklyn, Roger Joslyn hardly made it worthwhile getting out of bed for. However Robin Friday was. Signed from (if I remember correctly) non-league Hayes for about 5 grand, he was so far ahead of the rest of the playersin the division it wasn't funny. Tall, gangly, no shin-pads, bow legs he didn't look like a footballer but the skill he had would have taken anyone's breath away.
I was hoping someone would have some footage of the goal he got against Tranmere. It was 5-0 (to put the record straight) - I think John Murray got a hat-trick & Friday got 2in the top of the table clash (we were third & they were fourth); I remember before the game (I was only 10 at the time), talking with my Dad & Uncle about what the score might be ("2-1, 1-0, 3-1") but nothing could prepare us for the game we were about to see.
Reading were awesome. What I remember most about the game (it was an evening match) was the way the people (us included)in the stands got behind the team. The roar of "READING, READING, READING" from EVERYONEin the ground was amazing, especially when we had got used to 4 thousand a game crowds with only the South Bank crew making any organised noise at all.
Now the goal. I remember Friday a long way out getting the ball - I remember him connecting almost with his back to goal, & I remember the ball hitting the back of the net with the goalkeeper nowhere. There was a picturein the Reading Evening Post the following day of Clive Thomas who was reffing the game, his headin his hands, not able to believe what he had just witnessed. I am sure you can still probably find a copy of the picture somewherein the archives. Thomas said it was the best goal he had ever seen.
I went to see Friday's last game for Reading, away to Oxford. By that time he had agreed terms with Cardiff for something like 33 grand. He was rubbishin that game. I never saw him play for Cardiff so the book helps enormouslyin this sense as it describes the brilliance he still used to show every week.
Years later after his death I was talking to a guy that used to bein the Drugs Squad. He said he was chasing after some druggiein the Central London one day, finally managing to catch up with himin Trafalgar Square. He spun the druggie round & saw a face he recognised. "Wait a minute, it's Friday isn't it? Robin Friday?" whereupon he took the bag of heroin from Friday's hand, went to the nearest drain & dropped it down between the gapsin the grating. "On your way. That's for the goal you scored against Tranmere", & he let Friday go. Whether it's true or not I don't know but it makes for a good, albeit sad, story.
When I heard he had died alonein some squat of an overdose I was really sad. I was really disapointed to see that the Evening Post only had a small article on the back page about him the day after he died. A disgrace. There should have been a national holiday.
I am glad this book exists, but at the same time saddened that there is no real footage of the manin action. Now there is a camera at every gamein the land. SO for those of you that never saw him play, still buy the book because it is really a very good read. And for those that did see him play, then this book will give you goosebumps as you cast your minds back 30 years & realise how lucky you were.
