The Crazy Gang

Book excerpt: The real story of soccer's greatest ever rags to riches rise, from non-league soccer to winning the FA Cup The Crazy Gang is the story of a soccer miracle. Promoted to the Football League in 1977, Wimbledon FC was a small team from south London that against the odds went all the way to the top of the pyramid, then to win the FA Cup, in only just over a decade. With no money, scant resources and a blend of youth players and offcuts from other clubs, they were christened "Rag-Arse Rovers." They played hard on the pitch and partied hard off it. They were a real piece of work. Dave "Harry" Bassett was the manager who drilled a fierce fighting spirit into his players, an unbreakable team ethos, but he was also an underrated master tactician and pioneer of innovative training methods. The results speak for themselves. Wally Downes was the midfield fulcrum of the Dons, but also the ringleader for the various acts of debauchery, vandalism and general silliness that earned the club their reputation. There are no Premier League primadonnas in The Crazy Gang. This is how soccer really was, and how fans want to remember it.