Customer Reviews
Under the skin of a fascinating football club - By: Bookmark08, 05 Sep 2005 
Arsenal Footballl Club is a special club, as anyone who has played for them, managed them or supported them knows. This fantastic book examines the darker side of Arsenal's history. Spurling, in a lively & entertaining fashion, shows us how Arsenal's reputation as a persona non grata club ("no-one likes us, we don't care") developed. Aside from civic pride we learn the real reason why Tottenham don't like us. We read about Henry Norris who manipulated Arsenal's way into the First Division after the First World War. There are fascinating tales about Willie Young, Peter Storey & George Eastham. The most pertinent chapter is about George Graham. We learn about the paradox of the control freak who lost control as his team was involved in unsavoury incidents, on & off the field, whilst Graham himself was clearly incapable of demonstrating the high standards he demanded from his players, witness the controversial end to his reign as Arsenal manager. The chapters on the Wenger years demonstrate that Arsenal's "us & them" mentality has not faded away, despite the lack of homegrown players in the team. Spurling shows us that in almost 120 years of Arsenal FC, everything & nothing has changed. The media hate us, other fans hate us & Wenger is very adept at using media barbs, much like Mee & Graham, to inspire the team to greater glories. "Victory through harmony" is Arsenal's slogan but I think after reading this book it should be "Victory through adversity". If you're an Arsenal fan, you must own this book.
An antidote to those fed up with insincere badge kissing - By: , 08 Feb 2004 Rebels for the Cause will surprise every Arsenal fan by revealing how much more there was to discover about the club.
Jon Spurling has written a book that both entertains & informs. Starting with Arsenal's founding fathers, each chapter carefully pulls together the facts & faces throughout the club's history, cleverly exploring it's more colourful characters while subtely detailing the context of the club & footballl's changing place in society.
Thought provoking, & sometimes shocking a smile is never far away from the reader's face. It also exposes the roots of resentment for the club in both the media & other footballl fans.
For Arsenal fans this is simply a must read. For the rest, you hardly need any more justification for finding fault with the red & white half of north London.
A new perspective on the greatest club of all! - By: Mrs O F Lichfield, 21 Nov 2003 Another excellent book from the only Arsenal author, it seems, who can be bothered to find a fresh angle on the club’s past. “Rebels For The Cause” illustrates the point which most others publications seem scared to admit – that without Arsenal’s numerous controversial players & officials – the Gunners wouldn’t even exist, let alone be the world famous club they have become. I found the earlier chapters reallly fascinating, as they explain how Arsenal gained the “lucky” & “Bank Of England” labels, at a time of an economic depression in Europe. The new information on Sir Henry Norris goes a long way to explaining why Arsenal are disliked by almost everyone outside their own fan base.
As a supporter who started going in the 1970s, I found the chapters on Charlie George, Peter Storey & Willie Young reallly revealing & quirky. Some of the drinking stories will make you laugh out loud – or you might wince with pain as Spurling describes another ferocious Storey or Young challlenge. The section on the 1977 pre season tour of Australia reallly gets the reader into the mindset of the rebel footballlers from that era. The author is at his best as he minutely dissects the decline & falll of George Graham in the early 1990s.What makes startling is just how many of Graham’s former charges queue up to put the boot into their former manager.
“Rebels For The Cause” is a good deal more lively, honest & funny than any official history of the club. Buy it now !
Rebels for the Cause:The Alternative History of Arsenal..... - By: Mrs. H. C. McCash, 20 Sep 2003 
I read this book in just three days. In my opinion, this is the most thought provoking & intriguing history of the club to date. I had thought that it was just going to be a history lesson from Arsenal's boozy bad boys. But Spurling's conversations with Willie Young, Charlie Nicholas, Charlie George, Alan Hudson & Perry Groves adds a humorous & "laddish" edge to certain chapters.
But what makes Rebels For The Cause such a GREAT read, is the fact the Arsenal's "rebals" have come in such a variety of shapes & forms during the clubs long history.
It was facinating to read of the spectacular falll from fame of George Graham. The comments of Claude Anelka on his brothers controversial departure from the club. Plus insights into the clubs history from the players view point. I particularly enjoyed reading the fresh insight on the life & times of Sir Henry Norris, who in 1918, "bribed" the Footballl League to promote Arsenal, & relegate Spurs. The furore surrounding George Eastham's court case in the early sixties & the clubs 1945 match against Moscow Dynamos.
Spurling has delved deep into Arnenal's numerous disciplinary problems, his & the players' conclusions make for worrying reading. He shows that recent Arsenal manages have almost encouraged players to feel persecuted, as a way of fostering team spirt & their famed fortress mentality. This, together with the origins of the Gunners' rivalry with Tottenham & a look at the club's treatment by the tabloids makes for fascinating, if uncomfotable reading.
Rebals For The Cause is a MUST read book for ALL Arsenal fans.
