"Beck would go to great lengths in search of the smallest advantage. Visiting sides were made to feel as unwelcome as possible, with the heating turned off in the cramped away dressing room and flat, soggy practice balls given out. It was psychological warfare. The impact of these unsporting practices and intimidation tactics is impossible to quantify, and many felt they were done simply for effect – pseudoscience to create a hostile atmosphere. Meanwhile, Cambridge players were forced to take ice-cold showers before kick-off to ensure their alertness. A mythology developed around these rituals that remains to this day. Some opponents didn’t take kindly to it."

In episode One Hundred we revisit 'Route One' by Sean Cole, first published in Issue Twenty Seven in December 2017. In it, he examines how John Beck’s long-ball theories brought unprecedented success to Cambridge United in the 1990s.

Read the full article here: www.theblizzard.co.uk/article/route-one

Issue Twenty Seven, like all issues of the Blizzard, is available for £12 plus postage on www.theblizzard.co.uk. Since we’ve relaunched the website, all our articles, including this one, are available to read for free. Non-subscribers get 3 free articles a month, while subscribers have unlimited advert-free browsing, as well as access to digital downloads of all our issues in eBook formats.

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