The Keeper of Dreams

by Ronald Reng

John Hendrie, Barnsley's ex-manager, on Lars 'Lars Leese is a shambles. He's a loser who never achieved anything.'Dave Hill, in the Guardian, on The Keeper of 'Leese's outsider story takes us - to the true heartbeat of our national game'At the age of 28, German goalkeeper Lars Leese was catapulted from a minor league football field somewhere near Cologne to a small industrial town in the north of England. Something of a culture shock, certainly, but nothing compared to finding himself in goal for Barnsley playing the mighty Liverpool at Anfield in front of over 45,000 spectators. Plucked from obscurity and playing in one of the most important leagues in the world, Leese experienced in real life what thousands of boys - and men - can only dream stepping out of the crowd and onto a Premiership pitch. Lars Leese's foray into the wild world of professional football lasted only three years, but his journey from computer software salesman to Premiership goalie is a remarkable story. Here, Ronald Reng traces his stratospheric rise and equally alarming the resulting narrative is an indispensable antidote to the traditional footballing briography and a unique - and at times shocking - outsider's view of English life. Not since you last read the back pages of the News of the World will you have seen such an accurate picture of life as a Premiership footballer.'Remarkable- Provides an extraordinary snap-shot of English behaviour in a professional football dressing-room and in a Yorkshire town.' Henry Winter, Daily Telegraph (20031017)

Genres: Football, Sports, Nonfiction, Biography, History, Germany, German Literature

276 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Ronald Reng is a German sports journalist and author. Of his books, two have been translated to English and both of them have been honored with book awards in the UK.

The Keeper of Dreams, the story of the German non-league goalkeeper Lars Leese who ended up playing for Barnsley Football Club in the Premier League, won the Sports Book of the Year Award in 2004. It was the first foreign book to achieve such praise. Reng's biography of the late German national goalkeeper Robert Enke, A Life too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke was voted William Hill Sports Book of the Year in 2011. Reng was the first non-English speaking author in 23 years to win the award.

In Germany, Reng was distinguished seven times in nine years, between 2001 and 2010, with the award for the best sports story of the year by the Association of German Sports Writers. In 2010 he was awarded the Dietrich Oppenberg Media Award "for outstanding journalistic contributions to promote the culture of reading."

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of Lars Leese, but even from the translated text it's Reng's account of his professional career that really makes this a worthwhile read.

Ultimately, this is a biography about a footballer who comes from non-league to become a professional. Reng had clearly been covering Leese's career when he moved to the Premiership in England, and played his first ever professional game, in his mid-to-late twenties. Rather than a rags to riches story, this is more like that of a gambler who strikes lucky but only experiences wealth for a short time, but this prevents it becoming too much of a fairytale in the manner of Jamie Vardy. This is not necessarily a slight on Leese, as it is not destructive behaviour that lets him down, more that he was an average keeper, but no more.

There is a considerable amount of the book devoted to his non-league career, and perhaps this would mean more to a German reader, or one more aware of mid-90s football. I certainly didn't recognise the idea of a non-league club paying 'stars' better-than-expected sums of money to play for village clubs, and while Reng does outline the German league structure at the start, the ridiculousness of a player leaving the city to go and play for a team in the middle of nowhere didn't resonate with me - but neither did Leese really explain his decision in much more than matter-of-fact tones. Though Leese is portrayed sympathetically, he seemed to be quite distant and selfish after having a casual fling with a girl and getting her pregnant (later, his wife). He wasn't that supportive during pregnancy or early childhood, and this is too readily dismissed as something that 'wasn't going to happen really' without much questioning from Reng.

What really makes this book stand out however is that Leese manages to appear both an outsider and an insider in equal measure. He is a third choice goalkeeper at Leverkusen and a distrusted foreigner when he moves to Barnsley, so is never truly one of the lads at the clubs that feature most prominently here. Leese loved the camaraderie of the team so it may be that bond at his other clubs that prevents him speaking more candidly about those, aside from the clubs being less well-known. But the air of the outsider allows him to speak freely about Premiership life, particularly the boorish antics of his teammates and the willingness of women to bed footballers, not for the lifestyle but just the sex. The incredulity of the club's biggest joker becoming the next manager was clear, as was the respect for Danny Wilson, who 20 years later has had a respectable management career.

Leese comes across as likeable but is not without fault. When another goalkeeper takes his place in his second Barnsley season he cites his lack of professional experience - true enough, but this is only about 16 games fewer than Leese at this point. He then proceeds to deliberately make him look bad in training 'more out of boredom than anything' as though bullying can be excused if exposed to earlier tedium. It is hard not to sympathise when Leese struggles to get a job afterwards, however, and he gives a good account of what it is to be a goalkeeper, and that stretching saves should not be the yardstick to judge ability by.

Perhaps more fellow professionals would have given this book a more balanced outlook, as I can only recall Danny Wilson and the Barnsley number 1 giving their opinion, though Ian McMillan was an entertaining interviewee, and Reng's own accounts of provincial life were illuminating, even if more used to it as a native. And despite his imperfections, I still couldn't help willing Leese to find another club.

[Brendan Crowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ronald Reng will be best known to English readers for ‘A Life Too Short’ his excellent and heart-breaking biography of the late Robert Enke.

Keeper of Dreams is his much lesser known first book (first translated into English at least) about the brief professional career of Lars Leese, a German goalkeeper who was catapulted from lower league German football to become a Premier League goalkeeper during Barnsley’s one season in the top flight.

Lesse looked like he had missed his chance to be a professional before, at the age of 26, getting taken on as Leverkuson’s third choice goalkeeper. A bit of luck and the right connection resulted in a surprise transfer to Barnsely where Lesse briefly became a starting Premier League goalie in only his second year as a pro.

Barnsley’s year in the top flight was in 1997/1998 – when I was 13 and utterly obsessed with football and Championship Manager. That obsession can only explain why I have vivid memories of that Barnsely team and of Lars Lesse when I can barely remember matches I watched last week.

Leese was something of a celebrity in Barnsley as the town went football crazy. In the book he is very candid with his opinions on British life and Reng captures the bemusement of a foreigner in a British town as Lesse and his wife come to really enjoy their lives there.

Keeper of Dreams is ultimately the story of a dream temporarily lived and the frustration of coming to terms with the reality that the dream ended all too soon. After eventually securing a starting spot and playing fanstically to secure a famous win at Anfield, Lesse lost his place due to illness and couldn’t get back into the team due to David Wagner’s great form. As Barnsley dropped to Division 1, John Hendrie took over from Danny Wilson and Lesse found his face no longer fit with Hendrie’s plans for the club. Released after his second year, Lesse struggled in vain to find a new club before eventually seeking normal work and stability back in Germany.

Reng is excellent at capturing the more difficult side of life in football – the personal struggle players experience behind closed doors. It is impossible to read this book now without seeing the writing of this story as part of Reng’s development as a writer and his experiences with Reng can only have helped him to so brilliantly capture the tragic story of Robert Enke in his universally admired A Life Too Short – a book I thought was just superb but am hesitating to reread and review given the sad subject matter.

Keeper of Dreams is a pretty quick and easy read that captures a fairly unique football journey and an interesting and honest character in Lars Lesse. Well worth picking up.

You can read all of my sports book reviews at http://allsportsbooks.reviews/reviews...

[Giuliano · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of a little-known German goalkeeper who finds himself being catapulted into the professional game at a relatively mature age for a footballer. I don't think there is anything really 'controversial' about his story as the title might suggest. However, some of the events which transpired before he turned pro are pretty remarkable and his story is a dream come true for many football fans who would give an arm to have similar experiences to Lars.

[Johnny Lyne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just didn't have an interesting enough hook. I enjoyed the depiction of 90s Britain and 90s British football but the central character seemed a nice but slightly bland subject. Some of the anecdotes were slightly shocking but I kinda felt naive for my surprise.

[bookreader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like its subject, Reng's book is a middling warm-up to his subsequent superb biography of Robert Enke.

[Anika · Rating 3 out of 5]

The career of Lars Leese, a goalkepper coming from the third German division who, through some twists and turns of fate, suddenly played in the Premier League. Nicely told by Ronald Reng and Lars himself. A good, entertaining read and interesting glimpse at what's going on in the world of professional footbal.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

This middling exposé of a mining town gone star-struck for its third-rate soccer team flops when it flips the narrative to its German backup goalie

[Steve Candy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witty, revealing and engrossing. As a fan of football but as someone who dislikes what the game has become I found this easy read to be nigh on perfect.