Quite splendid... just delicious – and brilliantly researched.
The Times
A lovely read, the kind in which you constantly annoy people by reading the funny bits out loud
Irish Post
A great book
Henry Winter
If you enjoyed <i>The Damned United </i>you will savour Rob Steen's <i>The Mavericks</i>, an evocative look at football when the game was enhanced by genuinely edgy entertainers rather than overpaid characterless robots.
Waterstones.com
<i>The Mavericks </i>is irresistible, artfully combining sports journalism with social history and sharp pop-culture references.
Impact
In an era of PR-bleaching and PC-niceties, <i>The Mavericks</i> is an oasis of flair, hair and devil-may-care attitude. Yet beneath Rob Steen also highlights with real poignancy the sometimes grim and earthy reality behind the curtain. This brilliant book remains essential reading for anyone who likes social history with a nice backheel.
- Rick Broadbent, The Times
An evocative work which is given its cutting edge by the author’s success in uncovering the idiosyncrasies that set the fancy dans apart from each other as their mutual non-conformism.
The Independent
Great to see <i>The Mavericks</i> back in print. Wonderful evocation of the early 70s, an era when players weren't afraid to express themselves - on the pitch or in the bar.
- Kevin Mitchell, The Guardian
One of the conundrums of football in the Seventies, now perceived as a golden age by a certain generation, is why did England fail to qualify for the 1974 and 1978 World Cup when a decade before they had been world champions? One of the main reasons is that managers Ramsey then Revie shunned a group of hugely gifted 'Rock and Roll' players - Marsh, Currie, Bowles, Osgood, George, Hudson and Worthington. Rob Steen's book brilliantly gets under the skin of the era both on and off the pitch when the game was more about passion than pound notes.
- Rob Shepherd, talkSPORT
An irreverent and unflinching look back at football in the Seventies
Choice Magazine
For that missing element in a decent football book, the confessional Rob Steen has this down to his customary fine writer's art with <i>The Mavericks</i>.
- Mark Perryman, Philosophy Football