Association football (Soccer) Books
Empire Publications Ltd Catch a Falling Star: The Autobiography of Neil
Book SynopsisOne of the most perceptive descriptions of Manchester City''s play during their glory years was made by Manchester Evening News reporter Peter Gardner who said that "When Youngy plays, City play". For all the talk in the intervening years of greats such as Summerbee, Bell and Lee, it was the local lad made good who made most impact when it mattered. A tall, leggy striker with a venomous left-foot shot, Young scored in every significant game for City in the late 60s. Scorer of two goals in the 1968 Championship win up at Newcastle, the scorer of the 1969 FA Cup Final winner and the first goal in the 1970 Cup Winners'' Cup final, Neil Young played as significant a role in the success and style of the Mercer-Allison partnership as anyone. Yet by 1972 he was allowed to leave the club as City began their now familiar relationship with underachievement and mismanagement. In ''Catch a Falling Star'', Neil Young explains what he has been up to in the years since his sizzling shots stung the hands of the country''s finest goalkeepers. Here he frankly discusses the problem that faced footballers of the pre-Premiership era: "When I left Rochdale for the last time one Friday afternoon I had a week''s wages... about 60. I drove home and sat in my lounge for about two hours, wondering what the hell I was going to do. I had a car on HP, a mortgage, a wife and three children to feed. I was the provider who could no longer provide. I had no savings whatsoever and my wife didn''t work. I didn''t see it coming. It was a calamity waiting to happen." Thus starts Neil''s decline into illness and depression. During the next painful decade Neil suffered numerous illnesses, lost his family, his mother and survived a suicide attempt. Thankfully, he has emerged with his spirit intact thanks largely to the love of his third wife, Carmen. ''Catch a Falling Star'' is the moving tale of a how a star on the wane managed to mount a personal comeback as impressive as any achieved on the pitch by City''s star-studded squad of the late 60s.
£16.16
Empire Publications Ltd This Simple Game: The Footballing Life of Ken
Book SynopsisKen Barnes was widely regarded as one of the finest footballers of his generation never to have won an England cap. During a distinguished playing career with Manchester City, Ken appeared in the FA Cup finals of 1955 and 1956 and later captained the club before retiring in the early 60s. He spent nearly a decade away from Maine Road as a manager of Wrexham and Witton Albion before returning to Maine Road as a coach under Joe Mercer. Ken subsequently went on to serve under every City manager as either a coach or chief scout from Joe Mercer to Joe Royle. As someone who holds forthright views on the game, especially when it comes to the subject of coaching, Ken''s views could be dismissed as the ''in my day'' rantings of another embittered former pro. Yet one should bear in mind that his integrity and knowledge of the game saw him serve under every Manchester City manager from Joe Mercer to Joe Royle. In his time Ken has seen trends come and go -- from the ''deep lying centre-forward'' via ''wingless wonders'' to today''s ''holding midfielder'' and is uniquely placed to give his opinions on them all. Away from football, Ken is described as a ''character''. Make of that what you will. That may be a tale for another day. This is the story of Ken''s life in football. I''m honoured, and privileged, that he asked me to help him tell it.
£16.16
Empire Publications Ltd Complete Eric Cantona: Every Game -- Every Goal
Book SynopsisEric Cantona''s career at Old Trafford lasted only 5 years but its lasting impact is still being felt today. During that comparatively small span, Cantona''s dedication and self-confidence enabled a club to emerge from over a quarter of a century of failure and self-doubt. Cantona''s career before he arrived in England had been nomadic at best, self-destructive at worst. He blazed a trail through French football but the highest profile incidents centred on his spectacular misbehaviour and clashes with authority. By the time he was snapped up by Leeds manager Howard Wilkinson in early 1992, he seemed to have burned most of his bridges in France. A lucky phone call was the catalyst for Cantona''s 1m transfer to United following a brief Leeds career during which the Frenchman had added inspiration to a team founded on perspiration. Most Manchester United fans recognised Cantona''s class, his decisive role in Leeds 1992 title triumph and his instant hero status among Yorkshiremen. Yet few could have anticipated the quality that would shine through following his arrival at Old Trafford. For 26 years Manchester United fans had suffered under the jack boot of Liverpool''s domination of European and domestic trophies. Cowed into submission, their fans tended to hope for the best but feared the worst, even 6 seasons of relative success under Ferguson hadn''t changed that mindset. Cantona''s fearless attitude transformed the club, almost in an instant. Never has a football club been so altered from one day to the next by one signing. Never has a club gone from ''nearly men'' to ''champions'' at the stroke of a pen. All of a sudden, the boot was on the other foot and remains so to this day. over 10 years since Eric last kicked a ball in anger. This book details every game Eric played for Manchester United, Leeds United and the French national team as well as potted summaries of his career in France. Darren Phillips, author of "The Complete George Best", has painstakingly researched his remarkable career in France, England and in the French national team. This book can be read either as a work of reference or a detailed insight into a career that altered the dynamics within English football for good.
£10.40
Empire Publications Ltd Old Trafford: 100 Years of the Theatre of Dreams:
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£12.30
Empire Publications Ltd Villa Premier Years 1992-2010: A Fan's View from
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£8.50
Empire Publications Ltd Manchester United Premier Years: 1992-2010
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£9.45
Empire Publications Ltd 19: The Remarkable Story of United's League
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£17.06
Empire Publications Ltd Midlands Footy: 1980-2011
Book SynopsisThis book looks back at the teams, players, managers and rivalries between all the Midlands clubs since 1980.Over the last 30 years of great games there are many true icons who will never be forgotten and Midlands football fans have voted for the top 5 players from each of their clubs. Featuring every result of every Midlands derby ever played and in-depth profiles of 100 Midland club legends -- this is a celebration of one of the world''s football hotbeds. Features: Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Burton Albion, Cheltenham Town, Coventry City, Derby County, Kettering Town, Kidderminster Harriers, Leicester City, Northampton Town, Notts County, Nottingham Forest, Port Vale, Shrewsbury Town, Stoke City, Tamworth, Telford United, Walsall, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
£8.50
Empire Publications Ltd Mancini: Diary of a Champion
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£10.40
Empire Publications Ltd Roman Conquest: Chelsea -- Kings of Europe 2012
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£10.40
Empire Publications Ltd Centurions: England's 100 Club
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£18.00
Empire Publications Ltd Greenhoff!
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£13.46
Empire Publications Ltd Teenage Kicks: The Story of Manchester City's
Book SynopsisThere wasn''t much to cheer about for Manchester City fans during the mid-1980s. With the club''s coffers empty following a disastrous series of signings at the start of the decade, City seemed in decline as attendances dwindled and interest waned. The only relief from the gloom came in the form of a talented crop of youngsters that arrived at the club from 1983 onwards. Fourteen teenagers who would go on to accomplish something supporters had waited 33 years to achieve. Producing one''s own players has always been an emblem of pride for football supporters. Established in 1953, the FA Youth Cup has always been the litmus test of a club''s youth policy. Until 1986 Manchester City had reached the final twice but actually winning the trophy had proved to be a step too far. Teenage Kicks is the story of how ''The Class of 1986'' won the prestigious trophy for the first time in the club''s history and using both exclusive and archive interviews, it describes how the team came together and details what became of each of the fourteen teenagers from that point onwards.
£10.40
Empire Publications Ltd 20/13 -- A Tribute to Sir Alex Ferguson: The
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£9.45
Empire Publications Ltd Flyin' High
Book SynopsisWe accompany an awe-struck seven year-old Salford boy at his first game in 1966 watching Best, Law and Charlton in their pomp, through relegation, raucous away days and foreign adventures. There is bucket-loads of beer, banter... and Barcelona''s Nou Camp for the greatest night of all! The cast includes Sir Matt, Captain Marvel, Eric the King, The Baby-faced Assassin, Reliant Robin and The Ginger Prince. The writer revels in a Fergie Wonderland, yet there''s solemnity too, the passing of heroes and American impostors. Above the Theatre of Dreams though, the red flag was, as ever, flying high.
£7.95
Empire Publications Ltd In My Blood: I Was Born to Follow Liverpool
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£9.45
Empire Publications Ltd Brian Clough: The Fans Behind the Legend
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£8.50
Empire Publications Ltd Red, White & Blackmore
Book SynopsisAs a homegrown player with a taste for spectacular goals, Clayton Blackmore was a fan favourite for Manchester United long before he secured cult status with his tremendous form in the club''s famous 1990/91 season. His clearance off the line in the Cup Winners'' Cup Final against Barcelona being just as crucial as his long-range efforts which helped to get United there. After becoming one of the few remaining players from the entertaining sides of the 80s to get his hands on a League winner''s medal, Clayton''s career was interrupted at its peak by injury before he left with Bryan Robson to lead a revolution up at Middlesbrough, in a controversial spell at the Riverside which included Brazilian superstars and Premier League points deductions. A true legend of Welsh football, Clayton Blackmore''s is a unique story of one of the most famous rebuilding periods in football history, packed with anecdotes. Ghost writer Wayne Barton has worked with numerous Manchester United legends and was described by the Independent in 2015 as ''the leading writer'' on the club.
£18.00
Empire Publications Ltd We Never Win At Home We Never Win Away...: The
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£9.45
Empire Publications Ltd Harry Stafford: Manchester United's First Captain
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£10.40
Empire Publications Ltd Six Foot Two, Eyes OF Blue...: The Authorised
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£10.40
Empire Publications Ltd Don't Look Back in Anger: The Manchester City
Book SynopsisFrom being the butt of jokes to domestic treble winners, Manchester City fans have endured more ups and downs than most football supporters over the past 30 years as they journeyed down the divisions before bouncing back in spectacular style under a new owner with unlimited wealth. Yet throughout this long rollercoaster journey City fans stayed loyal to their club -- averaging over 25,000 most seasons when other large clubs have seen attendances slump well below that in bleak times. Don Price follows up his naval memoirs and last year''s ''We Never Win at Home...'' with a final collection of memories from is travels with City alongside fanzine editors Dave Wallace, Phill Gatenby and Sean Riley, a City fan who has missed just one game in 35 years and that through no fault of his own! What emerges is a support still in disbelief that after years of their team being the punchline for jokes by their neighbours and rivals they now hold the upper hand and rule the roost in English football.
£9.45
Empire Publications The Killing of Emiliano Sala 2021 Edition
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£10.40
Empire Publications Ltd Italia '90 Revisited: The Players' Stories
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£11.35
Empire Publications Ltd Champions At Last!: How Liverpool Finally Won The
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£12.30
Empire Publications Ltd The Wagatha Christie Trial
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£9.45
Empire Publications Ltd Ernest Mangnall: The Architect of Mancunian
Book SynopsisErnest Mangnall holds a unique place in the history of Mancunian football as the only man to manage both the city''s major clubs, but his legacy runs much deeper than that as he also played a key role in both clubs finding new homes and even oversaw the move of Bolton Wanderers to Burnden Park. He is perhaps best remembered as the man who brought Manchester United their first major honours following the takeover by John Henry Davies. There he won two League Championships, an FA Cup and two Charity Shields during a nine-year reign and the irony won''t be lost on City fans that those achievements were helped in part by the exodus of players from their club in the wake of an FA enquiry which found the club guilty for making ''under the counter'' payments. Yet it was Mangnall''s cunning as an administrator that allowed United to cherry-pick the cream of City''s players luring the likes of Billy Meredith, Sandy Turnbull and Herbert Burgess to the club. The result was United''s first great era but the club soon became mired in controversy as a number of FA enquiries that led to Davies being forced to relinquish control. Sensing the wind change, Mangnall felt no compunction in moving to City in 1914 where he stayed for a decade guiding the club through the devastation of the war before finding them a new home at Maine Road, a place still that remains in the hearts of City fans to this day. John Ernest Mangnall truly was the architect of Mancunian football.
£10.40
Pitch Publishing Ltd Punk Football: The Rise of Fan Ownership in
Book SynopsisPunk Football tells the story of how supporters have made the incredible journey from the terraces to the boardroom. Initially intrigued by the rise of AFC Wimbledon, the supporter-owned club set up after Wimbledon FC's relocation to Milton Keynes, Jim Keoghan was drawn into a world in which ordinary fans have started new clubs, taken a stake in those they once followed and sometimes saved clubs from disappearing altogether. The fan-ownership movement has touched every echelon of the game, challenging the private model that has dominated football for over a century. There have been highs and lows, successes and failures, but through it all the dogged determination of fans to be more than paying customers has shone through. Regarded as a revolutionary force in modern sport, the story of Punk Football is one that will appeal to every fan who has ever thought, "I could run this club better myself."
£12.99
Twocan SAFC Black Cats Masterpieces
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£15.00
Twocan Sunderland Bragging Rights
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£11.25
Twocan SoL 20 - Twenty Years at the Stadium of Light
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£15.00
Danann Media Publishing Limited Rangers Scrapbook
Book SynopsisThis beautifully Illustrated Hardback Book provides an insight into theunique story of Rangers F.C. one the most famous football clubs in the world.
£18.90
Twocan Kit Cats: SAFC's Stadium of Light Kit Story
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£15.00
Twocan Sunderland AFC The Absolute Record: The Players
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£22.50
Twocan 73@FIFTY
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£15.00
Empire Publications Ltd Duncan Edwards: A Black Country Colossus
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£13.46
Empire Publications Ltd ALEX JAMES
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£13.46
Empire Publications A HISTORY OF UNITED
£29.75
Empire Publications Ltd Everybodys Team Boca Juniors 1969
£13.46
Twocan AZ 1Eleven of the World Cup
£11.24
twocan design The Official Leicester City FC Annual 2026
£10.45
twocan design The Official QPR FC Retro Desk Calendar 2026
£10.58
twocan design The Official Canaries Diary 2026
£8.00
Reach plc Newcastle United Carabao Cup Winners 2425
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£10.00
£8.00
£11.30
Sports Publication Football: Skills and Tactics
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£4.99
Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press Journeys on a Football Carpet
Book SynopsisWhen Qatar won its bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, it was the ultimate sporting miracle for a young and ambitious nation. But the critics were quick to judge, saying that Qatar, with no football history of its own, didnt deserve the chance to host the biggest football tournament in the world. In Journeys on a Football Carpet, Qatar-born journalist and author Matthias Krug sets out to debunk that myth by sharing the fascinating inside story of the countrys football evolution over the past six decades. From its earliest football days towards becoming the epicenter of the football world in 2022, Qatar has realised the Maroon sporting philosophy: No dream, no matter how big, is impossible.
£13.29
