Flight to Bogata

England's Football Rebel, Neil Franklin

John Harding

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• eBook ISBN:
  9781785317491
• Year: 2020

Flight to Bogotá tells the incredible story of one of the most infamous episodes in English sporting history, when a group of British footballers turned their backs on club and country before the 1950 World Cup for a sporting El Dorado in Colombia. It was a rebellion led by first-choice England centre-half Neil Franklin. The book charts how the players were secretly lured away from Britain, amid Franklin's strident complaints of 'serfdom' in English football, their brief struggles to adapt to Colombian life and the fallout once they humiliatingly returned home to face the wrath of club and country. This escapade was a personal failure for Franklin and left his career in tatters. But the players' vociferous defence of their behaviour enlightened a shocked nation about how clubs mistreated footballers. Ultimately, it led to reforms that would financially benefit future footballing generations, but these financial rewards were never enjoyed by Franklin and his fellow 'football bandits' who embarked on that fateful 'Flight to Bogotá'.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. Birth of a Rebel Leader
• 2. Stoking Up Trouble
• 3. Potters Crack
• 4. A One-Man Strike
• 5. El Dorado
• 6. A Mystery Correspondent
• 7. The Bombshell
• 8. Santa Fe Debuts
• 9. Bogotá Bad Boys
• 10. The Great Escape
• 11. Franklin’s Punishment
• 12. Quashing a Football Mutiny
• 13. Fallen Idol
• 14. El Dorado’s Aftermath: The Campaign for Reform
• 15. Footballing Pioneer or Mercenary Rebel?
• Bibliography
• Photos