Does Your Rabbi Know You're Here?: The Story of English Football's Forgotten Tribe

Above all, the author has a writing style that flows and never challenges.It is not an encyclopaedic list of every Jew who has ever been involved in English football, but it covers most of them.The few omissions being some Israeli footballers, some administrative and community staff, and some members of the terrace Firms (who possibly wanted their stories to remain untold!).Too, it does not expound on every person mentioned, certainly one of the chairmen mentioned had a very colourful life prior to entering the game but I guess for libel reasons that story is not included.The book excels with anecdotes, I guess Clavane's personable writing style conveys in person and he was able to use this to draw out the quips and regales from his interview subjects.It also provides a potted history of Anglo-Jewry without getting bogged down, it has just enough for a non-Jewish reader to gain context, and just the right amount for the more familiar Jewish reader to not get bored by repeated history.I think every Anglo-Jewish football fan would be enthralled by this book.Will non-Jewish football fans?Yes, I think so, because the history and current affairs contained are so much more than just a few observations, they are revelations that portray the game as it has evolved since the 19th century...both on and off the pitch, and so will be of interest to all.A cracking good read.My only area of question would be the reasons behind why Spurs were seen as a 'Jewish" club whilst Arsenal also have many Jewish fans...I feel Clavane has got some of the answer right, but also omits to mention something that Tom Watt pointed out in his book "The End", that Finsbury Park in the 1920's was a very Jewish area and so Arsenal were on the doorstep of many Jewish fans, and Watt in his book claims Arsenal were the first club in the UK to have a significant Jewish following amongst their regular crowd.It is a subject that deserves more investigation.

'Does Your Rabbi Know You're Here?' is the logical sequel to Anthony Clavane's previous book, the wonderful 'Promised Land'. Whereas the latter focussed on the interplay between Jewishness and football in the context of a single city/club (Leeds), 'Does Your Rabbi ...' takes a broader perspective on the role played by Jewish figures in development of the English game. Using a simple three-fold periodisation and hanging the narrative around a series of key individuals, Clavane tells a compelling story that not only lifts the stone on a largely hidden side of football history, but also constitutes an impressive essay on the dilemmas confronting Judaism is Britain over the course of the past century. The book is fascinating, funny, sad and chastening in equal measure. Clavane has a special talent for bringing his characters to life. Some - players such as Louis Bookman, Leslie Goldberg/Gaunt and Mark Lazarus - are properly rehabilitated as figures whose broader social importance matches their status as outsider-pioneers in the game. Others - Roman Abramovich, David Pleat, David Dein, David Bernstein - are perhaps better known, but Clavane makes sure that the reader understands their importance to key transformations in the English game. There is also space for under-appreciated visionaries, the brilliant journalist/tactician Willy Meisl being the prime example. This absorbing tour de force confirms Anthony Clavane as one of the finest sports writers currently working.

I haven't read this book myself as I bought it for my (Jewish) nephew who is a sports journalist. I thought the title alone was hilarious. I believe it stems from questions asked of young Jewish immigrants who signed up to football teams, but it's even funnier in the context of London football teams, particularly Tottenham Hotspurs. It's well known that a lot of Jewish fans go to synagogue on a Saturday morning, then football in the afternoon! Quite an inspired gift I thought.

`Does Your Rabbi Know You're Here?' is much more than the story of Jewish engagement with professional football in the UK, fascinating and compelling though that story proves to be. It's also much more than a Jewish football history, engrossing and unexpected though that history proves to be. In writing this extraordinary account Anthony Clavane turns a powerful and accurate spotlight on the bigoted, old-fashioned and reactionary so-called values that have held back not only the development of our `national game' but the nation itself. This is a book that lays bare awkward truths that have been hidden for so long, a book in which the `English' (by whatever definition one chooses) can clearly see themselves. It is also a book about heroes, real heroes who emerged through struggle and adversity and it is also the best book I ever come across that defines and understands this obsessive passion so many us in Britain have for glorious game of association football. `Does Your Rabbi Know You're Here' is compelling, entertaining, always surprising and most importantly it is inspiring. A must read for football fans and non-football fans alike.

A very well written book on a subject which in all probability has never been researched in such depth, if at all. In the past there have been many very successful Jews in sport, Victor Barna & Richard Bergman in Table Tennis, Fanny Blankers Koen in athletics, Dick Savitt in Tennis and quite a number of great boxers like Ted Kid Lewis, Benny Leonard, Max Baer, Kid Berg, Jack Bloomfield, Al Phillips and others whose names do not immediately spring to mind. However on the football field with few exceptions Jews have failed to excel but the few that did both off and on the field are readily recalled by the author in an interesting and often amusing fashion. There is no doubt this book will greatly appeal to the Jewish reader who is "into" his sport. I polished off this book in two days and for someone as easily bored as I this,if I may, coin a phrase speaks volumes for this book.

Some parts of this book are great, in particular the sections on Mark Lazarus and Leyton Orient. Other parts seem to sag slightly.

Well he did it again.Do you like people? Do you love football?You'll love this. Anthony manages again to niche 'Jewish' experience. An experience that talks to us all.The different talk of their commonalities.It's a story of us all. Being different and yet all belonging.A sweet book about endearing subjects.Read it. Learn a bit. Enjy a lot

Though at times a bit dense, I really enjoyed this book! If you're a fan of British football, read it.

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