October 1,1988.
O ctober 1,1988. Great Britain v Germany on the biggest stage. Except that this time, after 22 men had chased a ball for 70 minutes, the Germans didn’t win. Instead, “We had them by the Sean and Kerlys,” as the Daily Telegraph gleefully reported.
A colourful new book, Seoul Glow, tells the story brilliantly. To celebrate Monday’s 30th anniversary, author Rod Gilmour spoke to all 16 members of the British Olympic hockey squad. In the days before UK Sport funding, this motley bunch of amateurs included two computer programmers, a barrister, a newsagent and an aspiring tennis player.
The result is an unlikely story of triumph against the odds. Most of the other top sides in world hockey were either professional or near as dammit, whereas the likes of goal-poacher Sean Kerly and captain Richard Dodds spent their mornings running up hills before driving to work.
Yet the squad had a unique advantage in the shape of manager Roger Self – a grim-faced, beak-nosed accountant who sadly died last year at the age of 77. Self’s uncompromising style of “motivation” would never pass muster in 2018. But Seoul Glow reveals that he – even more than Gary Lineker lookalike Kerly – was the single most important ingredient behind Britain’s success.
“Would it be fair to say that most of his style and actions were PC today? Most probably not,” said David Faulkner, who was part of a defensive unit that the revered Daily Mail sportswriter Ian Wooldridge rated as the bravest people in sport.
