The involvement of Jews as players, administrators, and owners in English football is a story that deserves to be told, a story that needs more attention. Does Your Rabbi Know You’re Here? by Anthony Clavane does exactly that, shining a spotlight on the subject.
This title features incredibly interesting content and is well-written in every regard. Incredible one-of-a-kind photographs are a perfect complement to a plethora of great stories. Clavane keeps things organized, splitting the story into three distinct parts that reflect periods in footballing history: the First Age, the Golden Age, and the New Age.
The First Age included visionaries like Louis Bookman, Leslie Goldberg, and Willy Meisl. The Golden Age featured the likes of Morris Keston, Harry Zussman, Mark Lazarus, and David Pleat. The New Age is an obviously a modern one that included Avi Cohen, David Dein, Roman Abramovich, and David Bernstein.
These 11 individuals and a number of others are profiled in great detail, providing an opportunity to give them the recognition they truly deserved. They are, after all, pioneers of football, people that made a difference at the highest levels of sport. For example, Lazarus scored arguably the most important goal in QPR’s history, one that brought them a League Cup in 1967. Abramovich made Chelsea a global brand and helped the club to a Premiership title less than 50 years later.
Football is not supposed to be about race, religion, or color, but we still see the ills of society flowing into the game. Crude stereotypes about Jews, seen early in the game, and horrible anti-Jewish propaganda, including a Nazi flag flown at White Hart Lane in 1936 for a England/Germany friendly, left some serious stains on what we know as the beautiful game.
These individuals transcended all kinds of difficulty to become leaders in English football. They found great success on the pitch and on the touchline, in the front office, and even in the media. Clavane brought their stories to life once again and it’s a great experience for all involved, most notably the reader.
