A common theme to this page: World Cup 1978 hosted, and won, by Argentina. Ruth (@colemans_dream) looks back at her childhood memories of an amazing tournament, and reflects on her changing perceptions. Stephen (@StephenJBaker) reviews a recent book that puts the tournament in the political spotlight.

We all have our ‘first World Cup’. They might not be the first football games you remember, but the blast of that first tournament turns your head and draws you in. Of course, there is a young Welsh generation now for whom ‘first World Cup’ means so much more than trying to understand time zones, adopting an underdog from the other side of the globe, or trying to pronounce ‘Gaetano Scirea’ correctly.

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I have hazy memories of Cymru in the quarter finals of 1976 ‘European Football Championships’, but that was just painful. It is the World Cup of 1978 that impacted with its drama, energy, noise.

I didn’t want to be drawn in. Joe Jordan’s antics at Anfield were far too raw for that. But I found myself wowed by Mario Kempes’ power and skill, amazed at how the tiny Daniel Passarella could defend so beautifully against forwards apparently twice his size… and he could score goals too. Hoped the unbridled Dutch would get their rewards; and wondered where Peruvian Teofilo Cubillas had been ‘hiding’.

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Later that summer, Argentinians Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricky Villa joined Spurs and even the First Division seemed dusted with World Cup glamour. Then the Falklands War descended less than four years later and feelings towards Argentine changed.

Now, it seems a very ignorant, narrow view of things. The ‘Dirty War’ waged by the Argentinian military dictatorship in place since 1976, unleashing torture and terrorism on his own population. The role of ‘Operation Condor’ and US support. The mothers and grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo battling to highlight the ‘disappeared’.

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My magical first World Cup now sits with a vastly different backdrop to the exotic, carnival celebration I’d once childishly thought. Makes me pause for 2022.

Author Rhys Richards (@RhysWRichards), who hails from Pen y Graig, has explored this ‘Dictatorship’s World Cup’ in his debut book. Stephen Baker reviews the book below.

I have just finished reading Blood on the Crossbar – The Dictatorship’s World Cup by Rhys Richards. The book is the story of the 1978 World Cup that was held in Argentina. The World Cup that was famous for many things such the Archie Gemmill’s goal vs Holland, the ticker tape celebrations in the final, Clive Thomas, Mario Kempes, the list goes on and on but one thing I had not known about before reading this book was the political backdrop of this World Cup. Sports washing forty years before Sports washing.

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Rhys’ excellent book not only tells us about the matches in the tournament which many people consider the greatest ever, but takes us back to when Argentina was awarded the tournament. It takes us through the coup d’etat that happened in 1976 when a brutal military dictatorship led by General Jorge Videla took over the country. This is when the sports washing took place, deciding it would be a good look for the country the dictatorship backed the tournament. 

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This is where the book stands out amongst the other sports books and surprisingly it is the only book on the subject written in English. The author tells us the story of around 30,000 people who suddenly ‘disappeared’ before the world’s press descended on Argentina. We are told the stories of people who risked everything trying to bring everything to light, from the mothers of the missing people to the journalists.

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Not only would this be a really interesting book just on the political side of the things, but it contains great writing on the actual football that took place. Amazing goals, memorable matches, Kempes’ Golden Boot. Highlights of these matches are available on YouTube, which gives the book an almost interactive feel. I was able to read about it, then watch it. Because the book is so well researched, I also used the footnotes to read more into the stories online.

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So, to sum up, this book has a bit of everything. Great sports book and political book, with both sides written in a very compelling way. Stories that could have easily been written in a very dry way, but it keeps you reading and informed.

Rhys’ book in available through a number of outlets including Amazon.

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Image of Kempes, thanks to El Grafico