Black Diamonds and the Blue Brazil

by Ron Ferguson

21 years after its publication, a new edition is being published with updated text and new chapters as well as a new Introduction, written by one of the book's many fans and the biggest name in British football, Sir Alex Ferguson.

But this is a book about much, much more than football It is loved not only by Sir Alex but also by Gordon Brown, Alistair Campbell, Ian Rankin and the Rev Kathy Galloway and it was a huge favourite of poet, George Mackay Brown.

So why have the trials and tribulations of Cowdenbeath football club - one of the most unsuccessful football clubs in Britain - excited the imagination even of those who have no interest in football and who have never been to Cowdenbeath?

Cowdenbeath's story is set against the rise and decline of the local mining industry and the life after mining. It is very funny, deeply spiritual, moving and also a little bit political. But what makes it so interesting to so many groups is the uplifting story of a real community spirit throughout all of the ups and downs of a town and a football club that is at its social heart and core.

It is also the most autobiographical book that Ron Ferguson has written, never taking himself very seriously. The book's quirkiness appeals across the religious, local, national, and footballing worlds. Long out of print, this is the new and updated 21st-anniversary edition.

Genres: Scotland

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1993

Reviews

[Phil McMenemy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Woah!
Football. Politics. Religion. History. Context. Socialism.
I follow a historically 'crap' football team, and proudly so, its not always about the football though is it......is it?
Its about life, death, context and belonging.
I didn't much appreciate the religous aspect, though, as a Christian, I feel sure the author will 'forgive' me that, but the rest was a pure joy - a joy which though tinged with sadness resonated profoundly with me.
Viva 'crap' football teams!
Cheers

[Mark Staniforth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extraordinary book on so many levels. It's a social history of the tough central Fife mining town of Cowdenbeath, framed by a single season in the life of its football team - a season which, entirely coincidentally, turns out to be spectacularly bad even by Cowdenbeath FC's traditionally dismal standards. If the author was seeking an easy metaphor for the story of the sad decline of his home town, he could not have picked a better one. But to suggest such an obvious hook would be to do this book a massive disservice. It's about so much more. It's about sweat and toil and blood and guts and passion and glory. It's about pride in belonging and the triumph of the human spirit. It's about home-made heroes from the pit to the pitch to the pulpit. It's defiant and glorious. It is - and as a sports journalist, I don't say this lightly - without question the best sports book I have ever read. Shame so few others have discovered it. They don't know what they're missing.

[Matthew Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

One f my favourite books. As a child, living in the Deep South of England, the Scottish football results always so exotic, shades of Walter Scott, Montrose, Brechin; of melancholy, Cowdenbeath nil... Then one Saturday afternoon Saint and Greavsie did a review of Cowdenbeath FC, then as often propping up the rest of the Scottish leagues. I determined to go there one day, but then came BD&TBB. I read it, and vowed anew to attend a match there, an ambition I fulfilled in March 2000. An absolute delight for the 99+% of football fans who do support Man City, PSG, Bayern M or the two Spanish behomeths

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting skim through Fife/ Cowdenbeath/ mining history/ football history and good on the petty football politics. The broad brush I found less satisfying on the social history

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tale of following the legendary Fife team: Cowdenbeath.