Quick Take
- Narration: Arsene Wenger reads his own introduction, and the combination of his distinctive voice with the narrated memoir creates a dual authority that Arsenal fans in particular will find affecting.
- Themes: Football governance and leadership, the creation of the Premier League, investing in people over systems
- Mood: Insider and reflective, occasionally self-congratulatory
- Verdict: An essential listen for anyone serious about the modern history of English football, with business and leadership lessons that hold up independent of the sport.
I came to Calling the Shots on a long flight, which turned out to be exactly the right context. David Dein’s memoir is the kind of book that benefits from uninterrupted time, the kind of book where you finish one chapter and immediately want to know what happened next. I am not an Arsenal supporter, but the business history here crosses well beyond club allegiance. This is a book about how institutions are built and how a person with genuine conviction navigates some of the most significant moments in a major sport’s modern history.
Dein was one of the prime movers behind the creation of the Premier League, a figure of significant influence within the England national setup, and the man most responsible, alongside Arsene Wenger, for the transformation of Arsenal into one of the dominant clubs of English football over more than two decades. The book covers all of that from the inside, and the combination of access and candor is what makes it worthwhile.
Our Take on Calling the Shots
The Premier League chapters are the book’s most historically significant contribution. Dein was in rooms where decisions were made that reshaped English football commercially and structurally, and he describes those negotiations and confrontations with enough detail to be genuinely illuminating. One reviewer described learning about how modern football evolved to what we have today, crediting Dein as a major force behind changes they had not previously understood as connected.
The book is also a meditation on leadership, and it works at that level independently of football. Dein is consistently interested in what makes people effective, how trust is built, and what separates good judgment from great judgment in high-stakes environments. These sections have drawn praise from readers who approached the title as a business book rather than a football memoir.
Why Listen to Calling the Shots
The introduction written and read by Arsene Wenger is a genuine addition. Wenger’s voice, with all the weight of his Arsenal legacy, gives the opening a character that a hired narrator could not approximate. For listeners who followed the Wenger era at Arsenal, that brief section alone carries considerable emotional resonance.
The memoir’s strongest chapter, by several reviewers’ accounts, involves Dein’s pursuit of a specific individual whose name reviewers decline to reveal, a chapter that one reader singled out as their favorite in the entire book. That kind of specific storytelling, in which individual people are rendered with personality rather than just function, is where Dein most clearly has the gift for narrative.
What to Watch For in Calling the Shots
The critical review on record is from an Arsenal fan who came in with high expectations and found the book did not live up to them, ultimately describing it as a chore to finish. The specific complaint is vague, suggesting the issue may be more about tone or pacing than factual content. The book does carry the self-assurance of someone who knows he was central to major events, which can read as self-congratulatory depending on the listener’s patience for that register.
Non-football readers should be prepared for significant football-specific content even in the leadership sections. The business principles are illustrated primarily through football decisions rather than abstracted from them.
Who Should Listen to Calling the Shots
Football fans with an interest in how the Premier League was constructed and how Arsenal became what it was under Dein and Wenger will find this essential. Listeners interested in sports governance, business leadership, and the intersection of commercial ambition with sporting culture will get genuine value independent of club allegiance. Dedicated Arsenal supporters should manage expectations: this is not a warm nostalgic tour of trophy seasons but a business memoir with football as its primary domain.
At twelve and a half hours, the audiobook gives the material room to breathe. Dein does not rush through the decades, and the pacing suits listeners who want to understand not just what happened but why specific decisions were made and what they meant at the time. This is a memoir that respects its audience’s intelligence, which is not always guaranteed in the sports biography genre.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Arsene Wenger narrate the whole audiobook, or just the introduction?
Wenger writes and reads only the introduction. The main memoir is narrated separately, with Wenger’s contribution serving as a framing device.
Is Calling the Shots primarily for Arsenal fans, or does it have broader appeal?
The book has genuine broad appeal. The Premier League creation chapters and the leadership and people management sections are relevant to anyone interested in sports governance or business, regardless of club allegiance.
Does Dein address his departure from Arsenal in 2007, and if so, does he explain what happened?
Reviewers who address the book’s insider access suggest Dein does discuss his departure, though the details of specific revelations are not widely summarized in the available reviews.
How much of the memoir focuses on the commercial side of football versus the sporting narrative?
The commercial and governance dimensions are prominent throughout, particularly the Premier League founding chapters. Sporting narrative is present but filtered through the lens of institutional decision-making rather than match-by-match accounts.
