Just finished reading "The Beckham Experiment" - Grant Wahl.
Not a Beckham fan but I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. Looks at his first season with the LA Galaxy. A good insight into how the MLS works (or not). I was amazed at the difference in player salaries.
Football Books
I'm currently reading All Whites 82 by John Matheson. Fantastic read. Some great stories about why Richard Wilson got dropped in Spain and the reaction from his team mates and the man himself. Brian Turners conspiracy theory on whether Saudi Arabia or maybe just their keeper tried to throw the game where we had to win 5-0. Brilliant stuff.
staring my holiday reading with
"we don't know what we're doing" a non-fiction book about WBA fans by Adrian Chiles a few laugh out loud bits and bits where he gets the emotion of football just right and I'm remembering being 'close to'(ahem) tears at matches
"we don't know what we're doing" a non-fiction book about WBA fans by Adrian Chiles a few laugh out loud bits and bits where he gets the emotion of football just right and I'm remembering being 'close to'(ahem) tears at matches
Finally found the book i'd read ages ago but forgot the name of:
Left Foot in the Grave.
Fantastic book from the perspective of a player-coach at 3rd Division Torquay back in the 90s.Buffon II2011-01-04 11:26:11
Left Foot in the Grave.
Fantastic book from the perspective of a player-coach at 3rd Division Torquay back in the 90s.Buffon II2011-01-04 11:26:11
Paul Merson has released a new book called "How not to be a professional footballer" Sounds quite funny.
Football Against the Enemy - Simon Kuper
Throughout the world, football is a potent force in the lives of billions of people. Focusing national, political and cultural identities, football is the medium through which the world's hopes and fears, passions and hatreds are expressed. Simon Kuper travelled to 22 countries from South Africa to Italy, from Russia to the USA, to examine the way football has shaped them. At the same time he tried to find out what lies behind each nation's distinctive style of play, from the carefree self-expression of the Brazilians to the anxious calculation of the Italians. During his journeys he met an extraordinary range of players, politicians and - of course - the fans themselves, all of whom revealed in their different ways the unique place football has in the life of the planet.
Don't know if it is covered in this book or others mentioned but Robben Island off Cape Town has a football association - the political prisoners formed a football league and had kit supplied to them by various clubs around the world. When the prison wanted to punish the prisoners football matches would be banned.
Jeff Dawson's "Back Home"(England and the 1970 world cup) is a fabulous read,mixing football with moments of genuine humour(some of the stories from the players are fantastic,giving perspectives on the bracelet affair,team selection and Peter Bonetti's nightmare performance).What comes through is that Alf Ramsey was ahead of his time in terms of team preparation(they even snuck quantities of a then unknown drink supplicant called Gatorade into Mexico illegally).However,they had no such luck with the team's meat supplies:that was destroyed on the dock by Mexican authorities,leaving the team to subsist on fish fingers and chips for the duration of the tournament...
.However,they had no such luck with the team's meat supplies:that was destroyed on the dock by Mexican authorities
You think even back then the Mexicans knew what was in the beef?
hahaha excellent!Didn't help them on the field though:they got tonked 4-1 by Italy in the q.final...
Recently read:
How not to be a professional footballer - Paul Merson
True Grit - Frank McLintock
Fallen Idle - Peter Marinello
First among unequals - Viv Anderson
Currently reading:
Back from the brink - Paul McGrath
Still to read:
True Storey - Peter Storey
The man with Maradona's shirt - Steve Hodge
Savage - Robbie Savage
Amazon UK has become my new friend. Cheap as books especially with the current exchange rate.
A couple I've read recently that you might like to try;
TheJam2011-10-05 19:26:05
Comrade Jim by Jim O'Riordan. The story of an English double agent who lived in Russia and played a couple of games forDynamo in the late 60s.
God Is Brazilian by Josh Lacey. About Charles Miller, the Englishman who took football to Brazil.
Just read "We are the Damned United", the real story of what happened in Clough's 44 days at Elland Road. A good read but not a lot of new revelations if you are intimately familar with the story as I am.
Starting the newish Bert Trautmann biography that has reviewed well.
anyone read 32 programmes?
it's had good reviews in the media
Just finished reading Robbie Savages autobiography which I surprisingly really enjoyed. I used to hate him when he was playing but this book showed a whole new side to him.
A friend of mine has lent me Gary Nevilles book - Red. I'm not a big fan of him either so will be interesting to see what the book is like.
Just finished reading Robbie Savages autobiography which I surprisingly really enjoyed. I used to hate him when he was playing but this book showed a whole new side to him.
A friend of mine has lent me Gary Nevilles book - Red. I'm not a big fan of him either so will be interesting to see what the book is like.
I was a little disappointed in Gary Nevilles book, I thought he might have been a bit more meaty
Felt he was a bit to measured measured in his opinions.
Paul Merson has released a new book called "How not to be a professional footballer" Sounds quite funny.
read this over xmas - quite good, a few laughs,some insights into George Graham etc
got a bit repetitive
Nearly finished David Conn's "The Beautiful Game? Searching for the Soul of Football."
Really enjoyable look at the history of money's effect on English football, if you're ever thinking of buying a club, it's worth a read.
Before this I read "Everywhere We Go" by Dougie and Eddy Brimson. Basically two guys who have been involved in football violence giving a thorough insight into how it works in the UK. Not the best written but they have reproduced a lot of accounts the recieved from around Britain which are interesting.
Really enjoyable look at the history of money's effect on English football, if you're ever thinking of buying a club, it's worth a read.
Before this I read "Everywhere We Go" by Dougie and Eddy Brimson. Basically two guys who have been involved in football violence giving a thorough insight into how it works in the UK. Not the best written but they have reproduced a lot of accounts the recieved from around Britain which are interesting.
Also read Roy Keanes book. It was the reprint which apparently removed a lot of the content about his tackle on Alf Inge Haarland. Again, a player I never liked but the book was interesting. I enjoyed his side of the story regarding walking out on the 2002 World Cup with Ireland.
Palmerston North library has that and I've read it. Its actually a really good book. It analyses all the England squads and performances at every World Cup and European Championships since 1966.
looks like an interseting read: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/dec/21/jumpers-for-goalposts-extract
Finney on the wing??
I've just bought George Best autobiography. Haven't started it yet but I imagine it will be an interesting read.
"I've just bought George Best autobiography"
Which one? there's been 25...
Finney was/is a God in our household: the most complete player to come out of Britain since the war. Sorry Bestie...
Am reading Alan Ball's book at present and loving every moment of his domination over Liverpool in the sixties and early seventies.
Ballie had a penchant for scoring against the Reds when he was at Arsenal too: well done that man(in a squeaky high pitched voice)...
Anyone read a book called "How Soccer Explains the World"?
http://www.amazon.com/How-Soccer-Explains-World-Globalization/dp/1439566194
It sounds like it could be interesting and I want to read it but no libraries near me seem to have it and I'm not sure I want to drop cash for it if it turns out to be a badly written piece of garbage
"I've just bought George Best autobiography"
Which one? there's been 25...
"Blessed" Published 2002.
" Blessed ": Pissed more like...
?Hi again,
I have around 2,000 football books in my own personal collection, so picking a favourite would be difficult for me to do. I do like reading about the history of the game. For a long time it was a popular belief that Public School boys in England 'civilised' the working man's game of football. However, there have been books in recent years that have challenged this myth, and say that it was the working classes themselves who civilised the game. Among these are FOOTBALL’S SECRET HISTORY (2001) John Goulstone, FOOTBALL: THE FIRST HUNDRED YEARS - THE UNTOLD STORY (2005) Adrian Harvey and BEASTLY FURY: THE STRANGE BIRTH OF BRITISH FOOTBALL (2009) Richard Sanders. Beastly Fury even shows how the Public School boys were the ones who were actually the uncivilised ones. Another good read is THE CODE WAR: ENGLISH FOOTBALL UNDER THE HISTORICAL SPOTLIGHT (1994) Graham Williams, it shows how football and rugby went their seperate ways. For anyone interested in the early history of the game, I recommend all of these. From an international perspective, 100 YEARS OF FOOTBALL: THE FIFA CENTENNIAL BOOK (2004) Pierre Lanfanchi, Christiane Eisenberg, Tony Mason & Alfred Wahl, is also a good read.
The best of home grown kiwi books include: AN ASSOCIATION WITH SOCCER: THE NZFA CELEBRATES ITS FIRST 100 YEARS (1991) Tony Hilton & Barry Smith, NEW ZEALAND’S WORLD CUP (1982) John Adshead, Kevin Fallon & Armin Lindenberg, THE DEMPSEY YEARS: THE RISE OF NEW ZEALAND SOCCER (1988) Peter Devlin, ALL WHITES ’82: THE UNTOLD STORY BEHIND NEW ZEALAND SOCCER’S GREATEST CAMPAIGN (2007) John Matheson & Sam Malcomson and the latest addition to my collection, RICKI HERBERT: A NEW FIRE - THE KIWI FOOTBALL GREAT BEHIND THE ALL WHITES AND THE PHOENIX (2009) Ricki Herbert & Russell Gray.
Some of the classics of football literature include: THE SOCCER SYNDROME: FROM THE PRIMEVAL FORTIES (1966) John Moynihan, THE FOOTBALL MAN: PEOPLE AND PASSIONS IN SOCCER (1968) Arthur Hopcraft, THE GLORY GAME (1972) Hunter Davies and ONLY A GAME? THE DIARY OF A PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALLER (1976) Eamon Dunphy. All excellent reads. Modern classics include: FEVER PITCH: THE STORY OF FOOTBALL AND OBSESSION (1992) Nick Hornby, FOOTBALL AGAINST THE ENEMY (1994) Simon Kuper, THE FAR CORNER: A MAZY DRIBBLE THROUGH NORTH EAST FOOTBALL (1997) Harry Pearson, CORNER FLAGS & CORNER SHOPS: THE ASIAN FOOTBALL EXPERIENCE (1998) Jas Bains & Sanjiev Johal and PARKLIFE: A SEARCH FOR THE HEART OF FOOTBALL (1999) Nick Varley, all these are excellent also.
For those of us who collect football yearbooks, then ROTHMANS / SKY SPORT FOOTBALL YEARBOOK is still THE yearbook to get. This year's edition is the 40th, I have the first 39 - still to get this year's. But the daddy of them all is THE ATHLETIC NEWS / SUNDAY CHRONICLE / EMPIRE NEWS / NEWS OF THE WORLD / NATIONWIDE FOOTBALL ANNUAL. This year's edition is the 123rd, I have yet to get this year's edition, but I have 50 in my collection. I went to the UK on holiday last year and stumbled on a second hand book shop where I found a load of old football and cricket annuals dating from the 1930's to the 1970's for around 85p each. I bought the lot! Another collectable one is the PLAYFAIR FOOTBALL ANNUAL, I recently purchased this year's edition, the 62nd, but I only have 24 of these in my collection.
Good football encyclopedias / reference books include: PURNELL’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL (1972)
Norman S. Barrett (Ed), ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BRITISH FOOTBALL (1974) Phil Soar & Martin Tyler, THE HAMLYN A-Z OF BRITISH FOOTBALL RECORDS (1981) Phil Soar and ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL (4 vols) (1960) Howard Fabian & Geoffrey Green (Eds), a bit dated but still very good. More international ones include ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD FOOTBALL (1980) Phil Soar, Martin Tyler & Richard Widdows, THE COMPLETE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FOOTBALL (1998) Keir Radnedge and THE GUINNESS RECORD OF WORLD SOCCER (1992) Guy Oliver.
Classic football club histories include: THE STORY OF THE RANGERS 1873-1923 (1923) John Allan, THE HISTORY OF BLACKBURN ROVERS FOOTBALL CLUB 1875-1925 (1925) Charles Francis, THE ROMANCE OF THE WEDNESDAY 1867-1926 (1926) Richard A. Sparling, HISTORY OF THE EVERTON FOOTBALL CLUB 1878/79-1928/29 (1929) Thomas Keates, THE STORY OF THE CELTIC: A JUBILEE HISTORY 1888-1938 (1939) Willie Maley, THERE’S ONLY ONE UNITED: THE OFFICIAL CENTENARY HISTORY OF MANCHESTER UNITED 1878-1978 (1978) Geoffrey Green, AND THE SPURS GO MARCHING ON...:THE OFFICIAL CENTENARY HISTORY OF TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR FOOTBALL CLUB (1982) Phil Soar, THE GLORY AND THE DREAM: THE HISTORY OF CELTIC FC 1887-1986 (1986) Tom Campbell & Pat Woods, MILLWALL: LIONS OF THE SOUTH (1988) James Murray and not forgetting my own favourite club, THE BRISTOL BABE: THE FIRST 100 YEARS OF BRISTOL CITY FC (1994) David M. Woods.
There's been a lot of crap football autobiographies / biographies, fortunately though there has also been some goods one. Among the good ones are FATHER OF FOOTBALL: THE STORY OF SIR MATT BUSBY (1970) David Miller, "THIS ONE’S ON ME" (1979) Jimmy Greaves & Norman Giller, KICKED INTO TOUCH (1981) Fred Eyre, FOOTBALL WIZARD: THE BILLY MEREDITH STORY (1986) John Harding, ALEX JAMES: LIFE OF A FOOTBALL LEGEND (1988) John Harding, STANLEY MATTHEWS: THE AUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY (1989) David Miller, LEFT FOOT FORWARD: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A JOURNEYMAN FOOTBALLER (1995) Garry Nelson & Anthony Fowles, TALES FROM THE BOOT CAMPS (1997) Steve Claridge & Ian Ridley and ADDICTED (1998) Tony Adams & Ian Ridley.
An unusual book was THE SOCCER TRIBE (1981) Desmond Morris. Desmond, of course, is famous for his studies on human behaviour. He was a director of Oxford United and wrote an interesting study. A couple of books that looks into corruption at FIFA are HOW THEY STOLE THE GAME (1999) David Yallop and FOUL!: THE SECRET WORLD OF FIFA - BRIBES, VOTE RIGGING AND TICKET SCANDALS (2006) Andrew Jennings, very interesting books.
There's loads more great books in my collection, but I have probably bored anyone who has attempted to read this post to sleep by now...
Just finished reading Ian Rush's book. Nothing controversial at all and most Liverpool fans would probably have known about most of the stuff he wrote about. For me though, it was a good way to learn a bit more about a great Liverpool era obviously not being a 'Pool fan myself. He came across as a pretty honest and decent bloke.
Thanks for the ideas guys, just updated my wishlist with some new titles.
Just been on a spree reading:
The Numbers Game
Soccernomics
Inverting the Pyramid (Great book on Tactics & history)
And now reading "Behind the Curtain" mentioned earlier in the thread.
Recently read:
Goodfella - Craig Bellamy
I'm not really here - Paul Lake
Full Time - Tony Cascarino
Hammered - Mark Ward
Super Tramp - John Robertson
The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw - Robin Friday
Currently reading Steve Claridges book - Tales from the Boot Camp.
Anyone read a book called "How Soccer Explains the World"?
http://www.amazon.com/How-Soccer-Explains-World-Globalization/dp/1439566194
It sounds like it could be interesting and I want to read it but no libraries near me seem to have it and I'm not sure I want to drop cash for it if it turns out to be a badly written piece of garbage
I have a copy
what is your location?
Needed a holiday read and picked up a cheap copy of "Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography", 2013. Ghost written by Paul Hayward.
No real depth, revelation or insight here. Feels like him and the ghost writer tried to stitch together a bunch of anecdotes over the last 10-12 years. Comes across as jumbled, military medium dross. Given his continued role at the club as a director, it comes across as red-wash.
I was hoping for more managerial and leadership insight but it never really tapped into any of those depths.
Not much to recommend.
Willing to pass on to someone though,they may get more out of it. Free to a good home.
Needed a holiday read and picked up a cheap copy of "Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography", 2013. Ghost written by Paul Hayward.
No real depth, revelation or insight here. Feels like him and the ghost writer tried to stitch together a bunch of anecdotes over the last 10-12 years. Comes across as jumbled, military medium dross. Given his continued role at the club as a director, it comes across as red-wash.
I was hoping for more managerial and leadership insight but it never really tapped into any of those depths.
Not much to recommend.
Willing to pass on to someone though,they may get more out of it. Free to a good home.
Coming your way Pete.
Needed a holiday read and picked up a cheap copy of "Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography", 2013. Ghost written by Paul Hayward.
No real depth, revelation or insight here. Feels like him and the ghost writer tried to stitch together a bunch of anecdotes over the last 10-12 years. Comes across as jumbled, military medium dross. Given his continued role at the club as a director, it comes across as red-wash.
I was hoping for more managerial and leadership insight but it never really tapped into any of those depths.
Not much to recommend.
Willing to pass on to someone though,they may get more out of it. Free to a good home.
I thought much the same about that book.
Just finished reading "Invincible" by Amy Lawrence, thoroughly recommend that, really good interviews with the players and some really great insight direct from Wenger's mouth.
Needed a holiday read and picked up a cheap copy of "Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography", 2013. Ghost written by Paul Hayward.
No real depth, revelation or insight here. Feels like him and the ghost writer tried to stitch together a bunch of anecdotes over the last 10-12 years. Comes across as jumbled, military medium dross. Given his continued role at the club as a director, it comes across as red-wash.
I was hoping for more managerial and leadership insight but it never really tapped into any of those depths.
Not much to recommend.
Willing to pass on to someone though,they may get more out of it. Free to a good home.
Many thanks! Arrived on Saturday.
Recently read this one : "The Nowhere Men" - The unknown story of Footballs True Talent spotters
Found it an interesting and enjoyable read providing an insight into football scouting.
Issue 17 of The Blizzard is going to have something New Zealand related...
"The Theory section considers Stanko Poklepović and his notion of spiral impostations, Malcolm Allison at Sporting, Paul Tisdale at Exeter City, the development of football in New Zealand and whether playing video games might make footballers better."
Issue 17 of The Blizzard is going to have something New Zealand related...
"The Theory section considers Stanko Poklepović and his notion of spiral impostations, Malcolm Allison at Sporting, Paul Tisdale at Exeter City, the development of football in New Zealand and whether playing video games might make footballers better."
we'll fit right in with that lot.
Read the latest Bobby Moore biography(Bobby Moore: The Man in Full) by Matt Dickinson and although I enjoyed it, he still comes off as a complete enigma. So in that sense, the writer didn't really achieve his objective, but nevertheless, there are plenty of great stories, particularly surrounding Moore's epic alcohol consumption, and utter failure as a businessman. For fans of footie in the 60s & 70s it's a great read.