The Greatest of Great Escapes by Holly Hunt – Review
By Karl Hornsey
It’s around this time of year that many football fans start to dream. Not of glory, of silverware or of cup finals, but of pulling off a ‘great escape’ and avoiding a relegation that was long thought of as being inevitable. Down the years, there have been many such occasions, either featuring last-gasp drama on the final day of a season, or simply an outstanding run of form that has avoided nailbiting in extremis, and one such relatively recent example is documented in this new book from Pitch Publishing – The Greatest of Great Escapes by Holly Hunt.
As is so often the case with Pitch, this book covers a niche subject, but one that can still appeal to the masses – that of Rotherham United’s 2015/16 Championship campaign. There’s no need to be a fan of the Millers, as most supporters will have been in Hunt’s situation before, and she declares from the off that writing this book is in itself something of a dream, as a lifelong fan of the club. Hunt’s passion shines through, and she has managed to track down and speak to enough of the former players and people involved in the club at the time to unearth all manner of gems and memories.
“Fascinating journey”
Hunt chooses to keep it simple in how to tell the story, moving chronologically through the season, with brief match reports on every Rotherham game, with the bare facts enlivened by the recollections of those on and off the field, and it helps that some of the characters involved are so charismatic and, at times, controversial. For many, the keenest interest in this story will focus on Neil Warnock, the veteran manager who simply couldn’t resist the challenge of rescuing the club from seemingly inevitable relegation from the Championship. Sadly, Warnock’s recollections aren’t included, but there are enough from the players, many of whom have taken on club legend status, to make this a fascinating journey. Throw in the fact that Steve Evans, a love/hate manager if ever there was one, was at the helm at the start of the season, and there’s plenty of material for Hunt to get her teeth into.
I would quibble a little with the title, as I could name arguably ‘greater’ great escapes than this one, though why not try to amplify the scale of the achievement involved, and perhaps that’s only because by the end of the season, Rotherham had almost comfortably survived, when the bigger drama would have taken things right down to the final whistle. That said, there’s always a love of the underdog triumphing in the face of adversity, and that’s certainly the case here, making this an excellent read, especially at this time of the year.
‘The Greatest of Great Escapes’ by Holly Hunt is published by Pitch Publishing
Karl’s love of writing was piqued at the age of eight, when he won a Blue Peter badge in an essay-writing competition. The location of said badge might be a mystery now, but the memory never fades. Hours spent writing about sport as a teenager, in pre-internet years when you had to make your entertainment, honed his skills, and Karl has worked in TV and radio listings at PA Media for 28 years, and the age of hybrid working means 50% of that can be at home listening to Classic FM and thinking about his next visit to his beloved Yorkshire Dales.
@KarlHornsey, hornskar
