A Natural/ Ron Raisin
A Natural by Ron Raisin is hardly a typical book on football. It features life in the lower reaches of the League and a gay young footballer, Tom Pearman, who was a precocious talent as a kid but descended down the leagues. From the footballing perspective I found it interesting but Melanie Gay, on reading it, observed that as a novel it was thin on plot, character and dialogue and the football element though undoubtedly well depicted did not sustain her.
Tom Pearman plays for Town, a local side in the West Country who gained admission to the Football League. He suppresses his homosexual tendencies but does get involved sexually with the club groundsman Liam. There is a parallel story of Chris Easter, the club skipper nearing the ending of his career, and his wife Leah and their baby Tyler. As Melanie says none of the characters are fleshed out. There is no real explanation of why Tom and Liam have an illicit and dangerous affaire.
The cruel banter of the dressing room, the japes and practical jokes,the insecurities of a professional footballer are however well depicted. Tom loses form and is loaned out to a conference side. Chris suffers a broken leg and becomes depressed and introverted. Chris follows slavishly that feature of modern support – the fan’s forum. When Liam but not Tom is outed the hypocrisy of the club in affirming its tolerance and opposition to homophobia but leaving Liam out to dry but protecting Tom, who is back to favour and form, is surely what would happen in real club life. Although the players are aggressively heterosexual in a world where only one gay Justin Fashanu has come out, a weird and barbaric rite of holding a young player down whilst his testiciles are scrubbed with a wire brush and boot polish is akin to a prison gang rape.
I am pleased A Natural was published and it’s a welcome addition to the football library. I doubt though whether its reach and appeal will be beyond the football world.
