She Stood There Laughing: A Man, His Son and Their Football Club | 
 enlarge | Author: Stephen Foster
Publisher: Scribner
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
Buy Used: £1.37
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Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 40356
Media: Paperback
Pages: 193
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.8
ISBN: 0743256832
EAN: 9780743256834
ASIN: 0743256832
Publication Date: March 1, 2004
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 So funny but yet so true February 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Being a Stokie myself I purchased this book almost immediately after it came out and have now read it at least three times. I also had a season ticket that year and so can empathise with everything that Foster has to say. Also gives a reminder how bigger clubs are continuously a*** licked. Take Newcastle for example. There fans are described as being the LONGEST SUFFERING in football what a joke. They have been in the Top Flight nearly since its conception. They should try following Stoke or worse still Port Fail to experience long suffering. Still if you like football or have read or seen Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch then YOU should get this. It's a p*$$r in places.
 She Stood There Laughing January 19, 2005
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a great book following Stoke City through a whole season through the eyes of a born again exiled fan. As the title says 'She Stood There Laughing' so will you. I word of advice, don't read this in bed if you share a bed as you will annoy your partner with your continuous sniggling.
Very funny, very readable. April 6, 2004
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
This is a highly enjoyable, readable book and I ended up reading the whole thing the day I started it as it related closely to a lot of my own feelings and also described matches that I'd attended. All Stoke supporters (and possibly all supporters of any other team) will be able to appreciate the agonies of losing when you expected to win and winning when you expected to lose. The author certainly comes across as a committed supporter, travelling from Norwich every week to watch his team and also comes across as inteligent and well-informed, following the fortunes an misfortunes of Stoke City throughout the 2002/2003 season.
Unlike the typical football supporter, the author does seem to have a glass that is half-empty rather than half-full, always expecting his team to do badly. Even more strange for a Stoke supporter, he regards the underacheivement of recent years as normality and the acheivements of the 1930's, 40's, 50's and 70's as 'blips'. That said, he has a good knowledge of his subject and describes the travelling and the football very well.
Some of his criticisms of Tony Pulis' management do, however, seem a bit unjustified in the light of this seasons vastly improved performance, but he wouldn't be much of a football fan if he didn't complain about the state or the performances of the club, the players and the management would he?
In all it's a hugely enjoyable, engaging, readable book.
A must read for Stokies everywhere March 26, 2004
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Just brilliant!! I just could not put it down.Waddo would be impressed From a posh Stokie living in Ascot.
It'd have been 5* if he'd put asterisks in the word Pulis March 3, 2004
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
It's not often you pick up a football book and come across the line 'But, as the renowned French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan has it..' but then it's not often you pick up a football book as honest (to use the author's terminology) and refreshing as this.Stephen Foster has written a book that easily recreates what it feels like to follow a less than successful football club through the course of a season. And this I feel, is it's major plus. For every disassociated, gloryfied Premiership 'Big Club' supporter we need to remember there is at least one, if not more, of us who follow the also-rans. For most of this book, it's easy to replace the words 'Stoke City' with the name of your own club and you'll know exactly what he's talking about. Poor performances on the pitch, bad management in the boardroom, it's all displayed here in it's earthy glory. That said, the season the author writes about is not a typical lower division story. For although we can juxtapose our own club at many points, much of this book is uniquely Stoke-esque. The humour, the schadenfreude, the quintessentialness of the region comes across as he explains to the reader quite why he, and many more, believe that Stoke have punched below their weight for so long. The dual dimension of the use of his son (football buddy, and also as counterpoint to explain quite why he feels the need to put himself through such drudgery.. often he asks of his son 'why are you still coming? you don't need to.' of course, his son says exactly what he needs to hear 'because, you fool, it's Stoke'. Clearly, especially in the season told in the book, the author feels the need to re-confirm exactly why he travels 400miles just for home games when the football on offer is such a poor standard when compared to a team 2 mins from his doorstep). All in all, this is a fantastic read. A story of football as we, who watch in the lower leagues, know it. If you are a BIG CLUB supporter you'd do well to re-acquaint yourself. Who knows, you could be down here next.
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