Geoffrey Green - Distinctive Style

Distinctive Style

Geoffrey Green had an uncanny ability to articulate the happenings on the football pitch with such eloquence and fervour gravitating every reader towards the 'beautiful game' eventually turning them into fans.

He poignantly captures the importance of FA Cup in England through early years of football as "The influence of the Cup in all this wonderful growth (football league) is almost incalculable, it was the spark that set the whole bonfire of football alight. .. it altered the whole pattern and the whole purpose of the game."

Consider this description of Sir Stanley Matthews in his prime as "It is by the power to call souls out of the abyss into life that greatness is judged. So can Matthews be judged ... Matthews is a superb artist."

Green outlines the wizardry of wingplay in general & Matthews in particular while introducing Garrincha in the 1958 World Cup as "the Matthews of the New world" thus: "the suggestion of the inward pass, the body-swerve, the flick past the defender's left side, and the glide to freedom at an unbelievable acceleration."

Weigh the method of Matthews arch rival in the 1950s, Sir Tom Finney's expansive coverage of wide-spaces on the field "To watch him show the ball to opponents, then whip it away as he weaves and changes pace, is to experience artistry at its highest level."

Or that unrivalled depiction of Sir Bobby Charlton's play "He always possessed an elemental quality; jinking, changing feet and direction, turning gracefully on the ball or accelerating through a gap surrendered by a confused enemy," which certainly brings back those moments captured by Green's purple prose into our minds and senses.

These descriptions of England's greatest players by Geoffrey Green have become definitions by which generations hence shall recall the treasure trove of legends who cast an indelible spell on this game.

Green retired from The Times in 1976 after nearly 40 years of distinguished service.