''Finn McCool's Football Club - The Birth, Death and Resurrection of a Pub Soccer Team in the City of the Dead'' is the title of a nonfiction memoir book written by Belfast author Stephen Rea and released in February 2009 by
Pelican Publishing Company
Pelican Publishing Company is a book publisher based in Gretna, a suburb of New Orleans. Formed in 1926, Pelican is the largest independent trade book publisher located in the U.S. South. Pelican publishes approximately 60 titles per year and ...
.
The bulk of the book's time-line stretches from 2004 until 2006. It humorously relates how Rea and his American wife emigrate from
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
to
, and the difficulties they encounter in adapting to their new life. Soon he becomes a regular at ''Finn McCool's'', an Irish pub in
Mid-City, New Orleans
Mid-City is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A sub-district of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the New Orleans City Planning Commission are: City Park Avenue, Toulouse Street, North Carrollton, Orleans Avenu ...
, and the book introduces the eccentric, international crowd that gathers there to watch European football games. Six months later they form a pub soccer team.
Approximately halfway into the book the tone changes. After seven months of training the team are about to play competitively when
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
slams into the city on August 29, 2005. The narrative follows the harrowing stories of players, drinkers and pub staff as they are plucked from roofs or forced to swim out of the city. Rea and his friends are scattered around the world.
Slowly they return to New Orleans and rebuild their team, their pub and their lives. The book's final chapters deal with life in the surreal landscape of immediate post-Katrina New Orleans, a city missing basic amenities like hospitals, schools, garbage pickup and traffic lights.
The book has received positive reviews both in the US and the UK and sold more than 2,000 copies in the first three months of release.
References
External links
Stephen Rea's (the author) web-site
Association football books
2009 non-fiction books
Books about Hurricane Katrina
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