Publisher's Synopsis
Rochdale FC are England's worst performing professional football club. They have spent the last 27 seasons in the basement division - a longer spell than any other club. Mark Hodkinson has supported Rochdale FC throughout this period. As a boy, he lived in the town, and the club has formed a touchstone of his life since he first saw them play on a cold, misty night in 1974. He has missed just a handful of home matches since then. At the start of the 2000/2001 season he was commissioned by The Times to write a weekly bulletin from Spotland. Over the course of the season, these articles provided a compelling insight into the fanaticism engendered for the country's lower league sides. As one of Britain's most respected sports writers, Hodkinson - through these humorous, informed, and passionate pieces - was able to turn his hand to the subject closest to his heart, Rochdale FC. He had undertaken similar commissions at Barnsley and Manchester City and these were also compiled as books, Life at the Top and Blue Moon, which are widely regarded as football classics. Blue Moon was Sportspages' best-selling book of 1999 and has already been reprinted several times.;Life Sentence developed cult status as Hodkinson's wry prose touched a chord with fellow supporters, especially during an era when many felt the sport had lost its soul to rampant commercialism. He writes of hope and heartache; anguish and agony; pie and peas on a tray with gravy, please. He also interweaves the life of his football club with the life of his family - a father who is similarly addicted to Rochdale FC and two young sons whom he is hesitant to introduce to the pleasure and pain of Spotland. The columns are included here, with an additional 40,000 words of comment, insight and afterthought. Life Sentence is a benchmark work by which other books about football support will be measured.
