Today I’m joining the blog tour for Whatever Will Be Will Be: A Matter Of Life And Football. My review is written with thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me on the tour and to the publisher for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of It’s Always Summer Somewhere comes a moving and often hilarious journey through the 2024/25 FA Cup – from the first muddy preliminary round in Penrith to a glorious sunny day at Wembley.

On the brink of turning 40, Felix White sets out to watch a match from every round of the Cup, meeting fans, players and dreamers at every level of the English game. As he travels the country, football becomes a way to explore memory, identity, grief and joy. While he reflects on his own lifelong obsessions, his story becomes a unique expression of how the game communicates something vital, both literal and internal, between a child and an adult.

Told with lyrical wit and heartfelt honesty, Whatever Will Be, Will Be is more than just a story about football – it’s about growing up, holding on and the strange ways sport connects us all.

Review:

It’s very rare that a book combines three of my favourite things – music (Felix White is the guitarist in The Maccabees), football and reading, so a book that does comes with high expectations, and Whatever Will Be Will Be: A Matter Of Life And Football comfortably meets, and often exceeds them all. Felix White is a talented writer and I love the way he is able to put his feelings into words, especially the feelings you get watching your team as a football fan, which are very difficult to explain to someone who doesn’t like football. I felt very warm and fuzzy inside as he recounted his experiences of meeting the many different characters he met at football matches. I loved the familiarity, as I have also felt the sense of community he describes.

I’m a Bradford City supporter, so I’ve felt the full spectrum of what the FA Cup can be, from beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to losing to Cheltenham by a controversial goal in the first round. Felix White articulates this very well and his observations are funny, interesting and relatable, particularly in the chapters that recount the earlier rounds. This kept me invested in his journey until it’s final stage, even though I was already aware of how many of the matches ended.

Felix White is very open with the reader and he shares with us some very personal feelings and experiences. This means that Whatever Will Be Will Be: A Matter Of Life And Football is more than just a football book, and there were several times where it made me feel very emotional as I was reading. He connects his experience with football to significant periods of his life and I found this fascinating, and again, relatable.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough, especially for football fans.

Whatever Will Be Will Be: A Matter Of Life And Football is available from Amazon.

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