Digging Deep

Who was the greatest Jewish footballer ever? A question to leave even the most historically literate football experts scratching their heads.

And yet, before the Holocaust, Jewish superstar players were at the heart of European football. So too were the visionary Jewish coaches reinventing tactics; the Jewish footballing pioneers who shaped the modern game; and even the elite Jewish referees trusted with the biggest matches.

Digging Deep excavates a destroyed civilisation. It reveals the untold stories of eleven Jewish football greats – icons one minute and marked for extermination the next. Setting exhilarating sporting triumphs against the gathering darkness of twentieth-century Europe, it restores these forgotten men to their rightful place in the football pantheon.

More than a sports book, this is a journey through the beautiful game into the savage reality of the Holocaust – tracing human sagas that speak of ambition and glory, identity and belonging, terror and murder.

David Bolchover is an author and commentator. His most recent book, The Greatest Comeback: From Genocide to Football Glory, a biography of the football coach Béla Guttmann, was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year.

He has also written three business books, including the bestselling 90-Minute Manager, which explored the various management styles of the great football coaches.

David has written for number of leading newspapers, including The Times, the Telegraph and the Financial Times, and has frequently appeared on the BBC, Sky and other broadcast outlets.

He has an MBA (Finance) from Cass Business School and a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics.