About the book Mister by Rory Smith

- I've been successfully working abroad for many years. I was the best in my field, doing my job better than my colleagues. I have a lot of reference letters from my former employers. And at last, I love my job and want to be usefull to my fatherland. Do you have any work for me?

- No, there is no any job for you!

- But why?.. I see there is a shortage of skilled specialists here. Am I right?

- Yeah!

- Then why?

- Because this is England, old boy. This is England...

I guess, this kind of conversation looks weird today. But in the first half of the 20th century (in some cases, closer to our days) it was common for English football. Former players became coaches and wanted to share their knowledge. And... it was impossible. Initially, the Football Association thought that there is no need for club coaches. "Tactics? What the hell is this? It is good enough to run and fight on the field!" Coaches began to look for a job in foreign clubs, where they usually achieved great success. But "great football brains" from the FA asserted that these were not achievements at all: foreign football is underdeveloped, anyone can win the championship! And so on and so forth... Obstacles, disregard, misunderstanding.

As a result, this has cost English football dearly. Teachers have become students. And today, the most famous English clubs hire mostly foreign managers: Germans, Spaniards, Dutch, Italians. All this is the result of that short-sighted and conservative approach of the federation.

Rory Smith's book Mister is about such English football pilgrims who wanted to teach the game and were forced to leave their native lands. They worked all over the world, built teams and won, won, won... But they were never appreciated and in demand in England. Most often, these purposeful people were not even known among players, journalists and fans there. For the FA, they were outcasts.