Is there a socialist way of playing football? That is a tactical one – not one based on hardwork and stakhanovite effort? When the English pubic schools started to play football dribbling was the only prized skill and pasing frowned upon as unmanly, unsporting or perhaps even socialist. It ws the Northern working class teams like Blackburn Olympic then the Scots who developed the passing game and spread it round the world. But passing is possible within a capitalist society so lets not get carried away comrades. The team that for me was the best ever was the Hungarian team of the early 1950s – the Magical Magyars of Puskas, Nandor Hidegkuti, Kocsics – who played stylish football coming out of the unlikely dour uniform background of Honved the Hungarian army team.
The great deep lying centre forward Hidegkuti
Yet what was basically football on another dimension came from early 50s Hungary and not til 1958from Brazil. But did the Magyars play socialist football – probably not. Helenio Herrera probably the most succesfull manager of all time with Inter-Milan and others was the son of Spanish anarchist exiles but his teams were highly disciplined by him in the most authoritarian way. Is there a socialist way of playing football. I doubt it – but in the meantime….’Hidegkuti…..Puskas…..GOAL….MY WORD ALL IN ONE MOVEMENT,.
Ok – I admit it – I have got a Hungary 56 replica shirt.
Ian Bone 
It would have been the Busby Babes, but for a tragedy…
It proves that ‘the greatest’ do not necessarily always get their just rewards as evidenced by the Magyars never winning the World Cup as was the case with the Austrian who were also fairly handy and, as for the sexy football of Cryuff and his Dutch comrades….
What a team they must have been – they changed the way in which football was played- 32 games undefeated up to the 1954 World Cup Final (dodgy Welsh linesman!)- scoring 144 goals in the process. Strange dressing room dynamics I’m sure- coach Sebes (tactical genius) a commited socialist, centre back Lorant a rehabilitated political prisoner and keeper Grosics an SS veteran!