Passovotchka

Possibly the most bizarre football story ever. Football, social history and politics - a superlative evocation of Britain in the months immediately following World War II. 'As much about post-war Britain as about football, this intriguing book brilliantly captures that mood of austerity and the official paranoia and xenophobia which paralysed British football' INDEPENDENT 'It sounds like a bad spy novel,' Downing observes at one point. What he does, so well, is turn it into a really good one' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

On 4 November 1945, a party from Moscow Dynamo Football Club travelled to Britain to play four matches against top British teams. They departed thirty-three days later, leaving a trail of controversy in their unbeaten wake. This book presents the details of this eventful and historic tour.On 4 November 1945 a party from Moscow Dynamo Football Club travelled to Britain to play four matches against top British teams. They departed thirty-three days later, leaving a trail of controversy in their unbeaten wake. With the Cold War not yet begun, Russia was still Britain's ally and everyone claimed to want to keep politics out of sport. But the Soviet authorities were clearly anxious that Dynamo's performance should reflect well on the State; and there were many in the British press eager to make political capital out of the controversy surrounding the tour. David Downing has researched the details of this eventful and historic tour meticulously. The result is both a vivid portrait of club football's early forays into the international arena and a fascinating picture of two cultures helplessly colliding.