Once Upon a Time in Naples

by John Ludden

Genres: Football

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Mario · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about Napoli's golden years in the late 80's thanks to the genius of Diego Maradona, the behind the scenes stuff at the club and city, as well as chapters about Maradona's impact at the 1986 and 1990 World Cups.

Napoli had never won the league title or major European trophy before Maradona's arrival, nor any since his departure, and were always looked down upon by Northerners, as a club and as a people. Diego gave them pride and glory, but that came at a price. Maradona's lifestyle was the stuff of local legend, the drugs and the women and partying, and he became difficult to handle as he spiralled out of control. He was protected by the Camorra when things were going well but they were just as quick to turn against him when he wasn't needed anymore.

The book goes through key games and performances (although reading multiple match reports can feel a bit repetitive) and how Napoli finally won the big prizes, as well as the season where Napoli threw the title away and whether there were dark forces at play to prevent them from winning it. Once Upon a Time in Naples is the basis for the fantastic Diego Maradona film directed by Asif Kapadia in 2019.

3.5*

[Itch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any El Diego or Calcio fan would enjoy this book. It was good to youtube the matches described in the book when a Diego inspired Napoli duelled with Platini's Juve, Saachi's Milan team featuring Gullit, MVB and Riijkaard or the Inter team featuring the main men from Germany's 1990 WC winning team. Most of the matches took place before Ch4 started showing Serie A in the uk so it was good to watch some players that otherwise Id only seen in international/continental tournaments. The politics between Diego himself and his representation between the Camorra or the Napoli hierarchy where intriguing as well as was Naples relationship with the rest of the Italian Peninsula and Diegos relationship to the people of Naples.

[Trevor Clissold · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely detailed and interesting insight in to the behind-the-scenes issues that dragged Maradona in to the gutter. I felt the book was too personal, too opinionated and at times quite repetitive but still an eye-opener.