Association football (Soccer) Books

Book SynopsisVincent Kompany relives a spectacular and unique season for Manchester City, in which as club captain he led the Blues to a unique Treble success of Premier League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup triumphs. Told from his unique viewpoint, this is the definitive account of a remarkable campaign.  After Manchester City had won the Premier League title in 2018, collecting a record number of points along the way, the pressure was on for them to go one better in 2019 - but instead they went two better, winning every single major domestic trophy, starting with the Community Shield. In this frank and compelling book, Kompany tells the dramatic story of Manchester City's record-breaking season. In the league, they faced a formidable challenge from Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool that went all the way to the final game of the campaign. He takes the reader behind the scenes, to give them an insight into how manager Pep Guardiola inspired them and came up with the ri

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Book SynopsisWith a foreword by England legend Kelly Smith, the country''s all-time record goalscorer and a player widely considered one of the best to have played the game.The exciting story of one of the fastest growing sports in the world, played by over 30 million girls and women. Over 25 million people tuned in for the Americans'' 2015 Women''s World Cup final victory - the most-watched football match in United States history. The Making of the Women''s World Cup details the most incredible tales from previous Women''s World Cups, including: Carli Lloyd''s 13-minute hat trick and the worldwide movement set off by 2015How Japan made their country smile for the first time since the devastating tsunamiThe USA''s World Cup triumph on home soil in 1999Germany''s back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2007 Marta''s magic: The birth of a Brazilian iconHow Kelly Smith announced her arrival with the kiss of a bootThe beginnings of Australia''s

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Book SynopsisFor fans of books by Jimmy Bullard, Paul Merson, The Sidemen and the F2 FreestylersMessi might be the most skilful, Ronaldo might have the best shot, but according to FIFA it''s 16-stone Adebayo Akinfenwa who''s the strongest footballer in the world. With a larger-than-life personality to match, it''s no wonder ''The Beast'' has become an icon, attracting millions of social media followers, launching his own clothing label, and still banging in the goals for Wycombe Wanderers. With such fame and adoration, it''s easy to forget that Bayo is one of the hardest-working footballers around. His mental strength has had to be equal to his physical. Told by English clubs he was ''too big'' to play football, he joined Lithuanian team FK Atlantas as a teenager where he faced widespread racial abuse. A career of grafting in the lower leagues of English and Welsh football followed, with spells at Barry Town, Torquay, Swansea, Gillingham, Northampton and AFC Wimble

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Book Synopsis*** SHORTLISTED FOR SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2023 ***''fascinating, frank, funny'' Jim White, Daily Telegraph''insightful'' Henry Winter, The Times''very entertaining ... great stories'' Hawksbee & Jacobs, talkSPORT radio''an incredible book'' The Football Show, Sky Sports News''Yeah, I''m all that plus a bag of chips''''Come round my house and we''ll have a fight on the front lawn''''I''m as chuffed as a badger at the start of the mating season''''I thought his bum cheeks looked very pert''Football management is like being a potato - you''re never too far from the sack and everyone is constantly chipping away at you. It''s not for the faint-hearted and unless you''ve got skin as thick as rhino and, more importantly, a wicked sense of humour, you''ve no chance of surviving.IaTrade Reviewa kaleidoscope of anecdotes and detours packed with wisdom acquired on the hoof. -- Kevin Garside * The i newspaper *

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Book SynopsisARSENAL: THE STORY OF A FOOTBALL CLUB IN 101 LIVES tells the history of the Gunners through the biographies of key individuals associated with the club from its formation in the gas-lit days of Victorian Britain through to the present day. From David Danskin, the Scottish mechanical engineer and footballer who was the driving force behind the team raised at Dial Square, a workshop at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, to Arsene Wenger, the longest-serving and most successful manager in Arsenal's history. The in-depth stories of the characters - players, managers, chairmen - here paint a fascinating picture of how the club - indeed, the game of football itself - has developed from workers playing for fun to today's multi-million-pound business.

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Book SynopsisEver wondered what it's REALLY like to be a Premier League footballer?My name is James Milner and I'm not a Ribena-holic.Let me share insights into what it's like being a professional footballer, across my different experiences with Newcastle, Aston Villa, Manchester City and now Liverpool (not forgetting a six-match loan spell at Swindon). Plus my highs - and a few too many lows - playing for England.There isn't a current player who's been playing Premier League football as long as I have, and that gives me a pretty rare perspective into how the top-flight game has changed over the past seventeen years.In this book, I explain how a footballer's working week unfolds - what we eat and how we prepare for matches technically, tactically, mentally and physically - and talk you through the ups and downs of a matchday. I reveal my penalty-taking techniques, half-time team talks and the differences between playing against Lionel Messi, Wilfried Zaha and Jimmy Bullard.I've played for managers ranging from Terry Venables, Peter Reid and Sir Bobby Robson to Martin O'Neill, Fabio Capello and Jurgen Klopp. I tell you what it's like sharing a training ground and a dressing-room with team-mates such as Lee Bowyer, Mario Balotelli and Mo Salah. I also reveal the behind-the-scenes work that went into Liverpool's Champions League success - and the celebrations that followed.So this isn't an autobiography. The whole point of Ask A Footballer is that you, the fans, asked me questions and I have used my own experiences to answer them. I hope you like it, and don't find it too boring.

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Book Synopsis'One of the best football books I've ever read.' John Motson on Provided You Don't Kiss Me'Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I am very disappointed by that attitude. I can assure you it's much more important than that' - Bill ShanklyWhat Shankly said isn't even half-true. In fact, it's bollocks. Football isn't the be-all and end-all of everything. If nothing else, I know that much.As a player, Thom Callaghan was defined by the winning goal he scored in an FA Cup final. The goal wasn't the blessing he imagined it would be. His whole career was defined by that brief moment of glory.With his playing days over, Callaghan, still a local hero, is tempted back to his old club as caretaker manager. His task to rescue it from relegation. He's got the job solely on the recommendation of his former boss and mentor Frank Mallory, now desperately ill and responsible for the team's precipitous decline.Callaghan is pitched into the Premier League during the last months of the 1996-1997 season, where - among reputations more gilded than his own - he finds himself pitted against the likes of Alex Ferguson's Manchester United, chasing their fourth title in five years, and also one of the newest recruits to the English game, Arsene Wenger.Can Callaghan save his club from what seems the inevitability of the drop? Does Mallory - eccentric, inspirational and manipulative - even want him to succeed? What if the prize of a personal triumph isn't worth it in the end?Injury Time is the first novel from the multiple award-winning sportswriter Duncan Hamilton.Trade Review'What I enjoy most about this beautifully written and tender account of the relationship between a nervous young provincial reporter and a football genius is the sense of genuine proximity to its subject, so that Clough's obvious flaws seem forgivable and even beguiling, rather than cruel and unbearable. Wonderful book' Russel Brand, Guardian on Provided You Don't Kiss Me'One of the best football books I've ever read.' John Motson on Provided You Don't Kiss MeHamilton...expresses the passion that millions like him, in pursuit of happiness and belonging, feel for the beautiful game. Simply magnificent * Mail on Sunday *A marriage of prose and detail so fine and fastidious that it takes the breath away * Independent *Justifiably prize-winning * Mail on Sunday *A convincing behind the scenes re-enactment of English football... Hamilton has a perceptively humane understanding of men for whom football was never just a game * Guardian *A fictional look at action, on and off the pitch, past and present, that will leave you smiling * Sun *Set in the last decades of the 20th Century and mingling real-life footballers with fictional characters, this is a thoughtful, entertaining debut novel by one of our finest sports writers, in which the beautiful game becomes a moving metaphor for the vicissitudes of human experience. * Mail on Sunday *With spare, sharp prose and knowing insights, Hamilton has written a heartwarming as well as heartbreaking winner. * Weekend Sport *An immersive character study of people damaged by sport and its temptations of glory, how some overcome, and how others are crushed by it. * Strong Words *

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Book SynopsisHe was one of the hardest, most controversial footballers of his generation: the £20million man who became the first professional player to go to jail for an offence committed on the field of play. He was the fans’ hero who disappeared. Duncan Ferguson was an old-fashioned Scottish centre-forward who went from a boarding house in Dundee to the marble staircase of Rangers in a record-breaking transfer. His £4m move from Dundee United to Ibrox made him British football’s most expensive native player. But he would also become one of the most notorious footballers in the land. Sent to prison after head-butting an opponent during a Scottish Premier Division match between Rangers and Raith Rovers, Ferguson made history all over again. He served half of a three-month sentence in Glasgow’s infamous Barlinnie Prison. A twelve-match ban from the Scottish Football Association was later overturned following a long appeal process. Bruised by the experience, he turned his back on Scotland’s national team and the media. Ferguson reaped the riches of the Sky era. He was a folk hero at Everton, where he spent ten years either side of an injury-hit spell at Newcastle United. Although the game made him a millionaire, he rejected its new culture of celebrity and remained a fiery figure, racking up a Premiership record of eight red cards. And then, after scoring in the final minute of the last game of his career, he turned his back on football completely – or so it seemed.Trade ReviewAn illuminating, well-sourced and forensic examination of the enigma of British football * Henry Winter *A truly exceptional football biography, a study of one of the game’s great enigmas… sensitive and beautifully written * Patrick Barclay *Duncan Ferguson’s life brought to book at last… gripping * Scotsman *One of football’s biggest enigmas…The author has painstakingly interviewed and researched every aspect of the player’s life * scotlandnow.dailyrecord *

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Book SynopsisDuring the 1980s, Liverpool Football Club dominated English football, winning six league titles, two European Cups, two FA Cups and four League Cups. In Red Machine, Simon Hughes interviews some of the most colourful characters to have played for the club during that period. The resulting interviews, set against the historical backdrop of both the club and the city, provide a vivid portrait of life at Liverpool during an era when the club’s unparalleled on-pitch success often went hand in hand with a boozy social scene fraught with rows, fights and wind-ups.The players featured here include John Barnes, Bruce Grobbelaar, Howard Gayle, Michael Robinson, John Wark, Kevin Sheedy, Nigel Spackman, Steve Staunton, David Hodgson and Craig Johnston, as well as first-team coach Ronnie Moran. Their candid, ribald and sometimes scathing recollections provide an antidote to the media-coached, on-message interviews given by today’s players and combine to offer a unique insight to this exciting time in the club’s history.Trade Reviewan excellent new book ... Eat your heart out, ProZone. * The Independent *His abilities are delivered with excellent understatement in Simon Hughes' Red Machine. * The Independent *

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Book Synopsis'Striking . . . extraordinarily ambitious' JONATHAN WILSON, NEW STATESMAN'A compelling account of how football became a force in Latin America with an impact far beyond the pitch, helping forge national identity and fuelling regional rivalries' INDEPENDENT¡Golazo! recounts the story of Latin American football: the extravagantly talented players; pistol-toting referees; bloody coup d'états; breathtaking goals; invidious conspiracies; strikers with matinee idol looks and a taste for tango dancers; alcoholism; suicide and some of the most exhilarating teams ever to take the field.And yet it is gripping social history. Andreas Campomar shows how the sport that started as the eccentric pastime of a few expat cricket players has become a defining force, the architect of national identity and a reflection of the region's soul.Including not only the well-known heroes of 'the beautiful game', but also the numerous forgotten gems of Latin American football, ¡Golazo! is the extraordinary tale of how football came to define a continent.Trade ReviewPerfection, pride, politics and punch-ups. The South American way of football has never been more readable. -- John Crace * Guardian *Extra­ordinarily ambitious. -- Jonathan Wilson * New Statesman *A compelling account of how football became a force in Latin America with an impact far beyond the pitch, helping forge national identity and fuelling regional rivalries. -- Chris Maume * Independent *Campomar effectively brings out the colour and passion for the game, its evocative language, its artistic power and its sometimes-martial ugliness . . . Fine, scintillating history. * Kirkus *This year's World Cup has inspired a number of notable books, among them ¡Golazo! by Andreas Campomar. -- Richard Williams * Guardian *Absorbing and entertaining. * Literary Review *Lively history . . . Perfectly timed. * Sport *Gripping social history. * Daily Telegraph *¡Golazo! is a timely, intelligent and entertaining account of the development of football in Latin America . . . this is a readable and incisive history, a "serious" football book . . . the main strength of ¡Golazo! lies in the way its perspective extends to the politics - real and mythologised - that lie beyond the sport. -- Jimmy Burns * Tablet *A fascinating read. * Sunday Mirror *A celebration of this beautiful play and more a chronicle of how sport, politics and culture have intersected and influenced each other across the region. * Economist *The best two books I've come across recently on the craze around the World Cup in Brazil from a Latin American viewpoint are in English: Andreas Campomar's Golazo, on how soccer built Latin America in general, and Goldblatt's Futebol Nation, about how Brazilians can't think about anything else, even when they try. -- Ilan Stavans * New Republic *Comprehensive. -- Simon Kuper * Financial Times *[A] sweeping exploration of soccer intersecting with politics, history, economics and culture in forging a continent's passion. -- Steven Goff * Washington Post *[Campomar] makes this case throughout, always keeping an eye on the global context of the sport. The scale of this book is essentially high level . . . Golazo! is an enlightening, lively work, one that never shortchanges the sport or the nations at its heart. * Barnes & Noble Review *A splendid history of Latin American football on both the continent and the international stage . . . This is football writing at its very best, epic on the pitch, socially aware off it. * Huffington Post *Brilliant . . . [an] excellent study of football. -- Mihir Bose * Inside World Football *Recounting the history of the South American game, with all its social and political backdrops, is some task - but Campomar achieves it in style . . . Government coups, gun-touting refs . . . it's all here. -- ***** [five stars] * FourFourTwo *

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Book SynopsisBoxing Day 1920, and 53,000 men, women and children pack inside Goodison Park. The extraordinary crowds have come to watch two local rivals play a match for charity. But this is no ordinary charity fixture. Eleven of the players are international celebrities and their team is the biggest draw in British - and world - football. Yet they are all full-time factory workers - and they are women. They are the ladies of Dick Kerr electrical works. And the male football establishment is terrified by them. With the men away fighting from 1914-1918, most of the workers in the factories of northern England were women. And many factories had a ladies' football team. In December 1917, the team from the Dick Kerr factory challenged the ladies of the nearby Arundel Coulthard Foundry to a charity match. It was the first of 828 games for Dick Kerr Ladies as over the decades they scored more than 3,500 goals and raised the equivalent of GBP1 million for an array of charities. By 1920, ladies football was a major spectator sport. But away from the cheering terraces are bastions of professional men's football viewed the mass popularity of women's soccer with increasing alarm.On 5 December 1921 the Football Association met in London. After a brief debate behind closed doors it unanimously passed an urgent resolution: women's football was banned from all professional football grounds. Dick Kerr Ladies did not give in, playing their matches on parkland with thousands of spectators turning up to watch. But constant pressure from the FA meant that one by one, teams began to fold,. It would take until 1971 for the FA to life its ban. Today, women's football has once again claimed a place in the global games. But it came too late for the pioneers of the sport: Preston Ladies - nee Dick Kerr Ladies - played their last match in 1969.

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Book SynopsisIn Soccer Goalkeeper Training the authors explain and show through detailed photos and coaching points the physical and technical skills required for novice goalkeepers to improve their current level with easy to follow progressions. Another topic is how to make decisions in tactical situations on the soccer field, for example using communication as a tool for organizing the field player of one's team. The authors also delve into the more advanced and scientific areas of periodization and mental preparation used by the most accomplished goalkeepers in Major League Soccer and the US National Team to achieve ultimate success at the highest levels of the game. Hereby, some psychological aspects covered by the book are the relationship between goalkeepers and their coaches and giving feedback. Also, readers will find a training guide which is divided into exercises by various themes. Whether you are an aspiring young goalkeeper or a more advanced collegiate player, regardless of the level of goalkeeper you currently coach, Soccer Goalkeeper Training will have something to help bring out the best in you and your most important player.

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Book SynopsisThe outspoken anonymous author is back with the ultimate book to challenge conventional footballing wisdom. With his trademark wit, intelligence and candour, the Secret Footballer will guide you through formations, tactics, mind games and everything else you need to know about what it takes to be a pro.Includes: in-depth analysis of modern tactics; insight into the psychology of players on and off the pitch; tips on nutrition and fitness; how to deal with fans (including what it's like to play in each Premier League ground in England); a guide to modern footballing language; and a remarkable exposé of the finances involved in the commercial game. If you want to know how to stop a player like Cristiano Ronaldo, or why exactly Rooney is worth £300,000 a week, or who the greatest player of all time is, you will find it all here.Fully illustrated with line drawings showing the technical aspects of the game, this will be the perfect Christmas gift for aspiring football stars and armchair pundits alike.

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Book SynopsisAn illustrated history of football trade cards, an epic saga of 1,000 brands and myriad collections. The A-Z traces the earliest cards and stickers - British inventions, both - through a century of sports cards from tobacco cards to Panini stickers, via everything that came in between: footballers issued with chewing gum and sweet cigarettes, lucky bag mementoes, football teams cut from packets of tea, and many more. It chronicles the epoch of our forefathers and the very first football cards, dating back to the 1880s, followed by the era of their children and the earliest stickers - and so the rise of cigarette cards and paper soccer star adhesives. These days, along with our Panini stickers and trading cards, we appreciate these vintage treasures not only for their beauty but also for their value. Fond recollections of childhood passions past and present will warm hearts, while enchanting galleries of rarely seen cards will captivate football fans and collectors alike. Incorporating a guide to values, the A-Z is priceless.

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Book SynopsisThe brutal 2010 murders of promising footballer Eddie Moussa and his brother were a harbinger of the gang violence now laying siege to Sweden. Written by crime reporter Ann Tornkvist, Follow Fucking Orders captures the freefall of a quaint town, known for its sports-crazed community and top-league football team, into a bloody turf war. After the biggest police investigation into organised crime in Swedish history, the local mob boss was sentenced to life for ordering the hit on Eddie. Author Ann Tornkvist followed the gripping story for five years, securing unique access to families who had fled into the witness protection programme. In 2016, the mob boss tried to derail this book's publication by threatening to have her killed. Undeterred, Tornkvist published Follow Fucking Orders in Sweden in 2018. The first edition sold out within a week and soon became the most popular book in the country's maximum-security prisons. Ultimately, the book offers a chilling reminder that true crime has no last chapter.

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Book SynopsisLiverpool Matches of My Life provides a unique perspective on 50 iconic Liverpool games spanning the author's lifetime, from 1960 to date. It takes the reader on a journey through 60 years of this famous club, from its Second Division days to the recent victory in the FIFA Club World Cup and many trophy-winning successes in between. Beginning with a brief history of the club up to 1959, the author relives 50 crucial games that brought Liverpool to the pinnacle of club football by 2019. All the chosen matches meant a great deal to the club, its fans and the author. Along the way there are many firsts, record victories, trophies and games that have gone down in Anfield folklore. As well as covering iconic matches, the book provides brief profiles of key players and tells the story of the intervening years, with all the highs and lows that Liverpool experienced in search of that elusive Premier League title. Are Liverpool the greatest English team of the last 60 years? Judge for yourself as you read the story of this wonderful club.

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Book SynopsisChampions Under Lockdown is the third book in the Red Odyssey series. It tells the story of an extraordinary season from the perspective of the terraces. After their epic 2018/19 season, in 2019/20 Jurgen Klopp would target Liverpool's first league title in 30 years. During this unforgettable season his side would smash all records. They claimed the UEFA Super Cup and then the Club World Cup before sailing to a 25-point lead at the top of the Premier League. Fans who thought they had seen it all witnessed arguably the greatest Reds side in history sweep all before them. They were declared champions-elect, but the fates decreed there would be a final barrier to Liverpool claiming their prize. In the midst of a global virus pandemic and with the country on lockdown, voices called for the season to be declared null and void, threatening to wipe the achievements of this incredible team from history. But Jurgen and his men rose again to claim their holy grail. This is the unique story of the champions under lockdown.

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Book SynopsisEnglish football changed in the 1990s. For better, for worse - but mainly for better. The shirts and shorts got baggier and brighter. Exotic-named players were enticed from overseas. New stadiums were built in the wake of the Taylor Report. The Premier League emerged and England hosted its first international tournament since 1966. The era of 'New Labour' and 'Cool Britannia', it was also the decade English football went mainstream. When the Seagulls Follow the Trawler author Tom Whitworth travelled to English football's hotbeds - the cities of London, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle - to meet the people who lived through an era of change: the players and the managers, the owners and the fans. He looks back at key moments, the teams, the title races, the twists and turns, the characters and the rivalries. All from a decade when English football began to shrug off its bad-lad image - at least off the pitch - and move out of the darkness and into the light.

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Book SynopsisThe son of a Scottish plantation owner and a free woman of colour, Andrew Watson was provided for by his wealthy father. Receiving a first-class education in English public schools, he would later reject university to become a footballer in Glasgow. Schooled by the most advanced practitioners of the game at that time, he became one of the best footballers in Glasgow and captained Scotland's invincible national team. He played for the greatest clubs of the day on both sides of the border and as a 'Scottish professor', brought his talent to England and shared his knowledge with the Southern amateurs, helping the game evolve from a public-school pastime to a national obsession. He played alongside and educated many who would represent the English national team, changing the game forever. But the record of his achievements faded as the game he helped change took over the world, leaving his memory in the shadows. Over 100 years later, he was rediscovered in an old photograph, and after years of research, his achievements were finally recognised.

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Book SynopsisRicky Hill grew up beneath the shadow of Wembley Stadium, where he sold programmes at England games as a boy. When he was seven, he was told by a teacher that only two in every hundred boys could possibly make it as a professional footballer. Ricky told her he would be one of the two. Ten years later, this gifted midfielder scored on his debut for Luton Town. Ricky stayed with Luton for 14 years, made 508 appearances and became a club legend. Emerging at a time when racism was rife, he was only the fourth black player to represent England. Later, as a coach, he had to fight to smash down barriers holding back black managers, and devised an equivalent of the NFL's 'Rooney Rule' to help BAME applicants secure senior coaching jobs in English football. While Ricky has won trophies and awards overseas, he has been overlooked in this country. In Love of the Game, he tells the shocking story behind his short spell in charge of Luton, and reveals just how much the football decision-makers in England have ignored him and other black coaches.Trade Review"Hill's story is a perfect example of how racism of a different kind, that which manifests itself in unconscious bias, still appears to exist... Hill, who won three England caps under Bobby Robson, has not given up on a return to coaching even at the age of 62. This book stands as powerful advocacy for his cause." --Backpass magazine; "An excellent book, an easy read but not a comfortable one." --Verite Sport

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Book SynopsisUPDATED TO INCLUDE HIS CONTROVERSIAL TRANSFER TO BARCELONA Quick, incisive and versatile, Antoine Griezmann is the ultimate modern forward. But did you know that he had to leave France in order to find a professional club willing to take a chance on him?Or that he wears the number 7 shirt as a tribute to his idol, David Beckham? Or that Real Sociedad fans came to affectionately refer to him as 'The Little Devil'? Find our about all this and more in Luca Caioli and Cyril Collot's tirelessly researched biography, featuring exclusive interviews with those who know him best.Includes all the action from the 2018/19 season

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Book Synopsis'A superb book and a must-read for any City fan.' - DANIEL TAYLOR, senior writer, The Athletic'A thorough and delicious retelling of perhaps not the most successful of European journeys, but definitely the most interesting ... Fantastic.' - DAVID MOONEY, BBC Radio 5 Live'A book that brilliantly explodes the myth that City have no history or pedigree in Europe.' - SIMON MULLOCK, chief football writer, Sunday MirrorTHE ESSENTIAL NEW HISTORY OF MANCHESTER CITY'S EUROPEAN TRIUMPHS AND TRAGEDIESFEATURING A FOREWORD BY CITY LEGEND FRANCIS LEEAs one of the first English sides to taste glory in Europe, lifting the Cup Winners' Cup in 1970, City looked set for life among the continent's elite. But as their domestic fortunes went from bad to worse to absolute calamity, the wilderness returned.Avid City fan and respected journalist Simon Curtis dusts off the details of some truly intoxicating away days. Filled with tales of the club's travelling support and the evocative accounts of the journalists who saw the team of the Seventies, Curtis tells the story of a club steeped in history, defiantly refusing to bow to pomp and ceremony as it goes about lifting the ultimate prize.After a spectacular rebuild and having achieved all there is to achieve on the domestic stage, including a record-breaking 100-point season in 2017-18, City's deep-pocketed owners have their sights firmly set on European glory once more. Yet for all their recent success at home, they are anything but welcome guests at Europe's top table.Trade ReviewA book that brilliantly explodes the myth that City have no history or pedigree in Europe. Curtis doesn't just detail the club's adventures on the continent from the late 1960s, he also captures their essence with accounts from fans who were there. -- Simon Mullock, chief football writer, Sunday MirrorSimon Curtis is a fine journalist with an extensive knowledge of the club - he is also a seasoned veteran of many European away trips. This book is essential reading for all City fans. -- Ric Turner, founder and curator, Bluemoon forumIf you think that not winning the Champions League means there's no story to tell then think again. This book provides the story of every City game in Europe - a record that stretches back 54 years. Read the twists and turns of City's fortunes written in an engaging style with quotes from fans, players and broadcasters who were there. -- Gary James, football historianFrom Down the Kippax Steps to the latest rapture at the Etihad, Simon's gift for articulating how it's felt to support this undeniably unconventional football club has been unmatched. In times of comedy, tragedy, feast or famine, his writing has defined what it's meant to be City like no other. -- Mark Booth, head of content, New York City Football Club"Next stop Mars," said Malcolm Allison. Not quite ... but it's been a hell of a ride. A superb book and a must-read for any City fan. -- – Daniel Taylor, senior writer, The AthleticA thorough and delicious retelling of perhaps not the most successful of European journeys, but definitely the most interesting, liberally sprinkled with the sort of humour that only a City fan could write. Fantastic. -- David Mooney, BBC Radio 5 Live

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED IN THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2023 FOR NEW FEMALE SPORTS WRITING'Jen has captured the human (and humorous) side of following a football team. A compelling story hilariously told' Sara Pascoe'From family to football, Jen Offord has captured something we can all relate to. Funny and heartbreaking in equal measure. A must read.' Cariad Lloyd'Hilarious and moving in equal parts' Carrie DunnJen Offord watches it all go wrong for Charlton Athletic and the world.When her beloved Charlton Athletic clinched promotion to The Championship in May 2019, sportswriter Jen Offord splashed out on season tickets for herself and her sceptical brother Michael, setting out to chronicle the south-east London outfit's first season back in the second tier of English football.But this season, more than any other before it, would be a game of two halves. A billionaire takeover backfired spectacularly; the team plummeted into the relegation zone just as Coronavirus swept in to suspend life as we know it.The Year of The Robin is a love letter to the power of football even when there is no football to actually watch, filled with wild characters searching for redemption and wrestling over issues of money, racism and mental health. A funny, sharp and a thought-provoking exploration of the idea of family in unprecedented times and season from which the world may never fully recover.Trade ReviewJen has captured the human (and humorous) side of following a football team. A compelling story hilariously told. * Sara Pascoe *From family to football, Jen Offord has captured something we can all relate to. Funny and heartbreaking in equal measure. A must read. * Cariad Lloyd *Hilarious and moving in equal parts, Jen Offord's The Year of the Robin is an ideal read for anyone who's loved another person, or indeed a football team...and for anyone who's lived through a pandemic. * Carrie Dunn - author of 'Unsuitable for Females: The Rise of the Lionesses and women's football in England *

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Book SynopsisFROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF RONALDO AND NEYMAR.Prolific, cool-headed and unerringly consistent, Lionel Messi is one of the most revered footballers in history. But did you know that his transfer to Barcelona was first agreed on a paper napkin?Or that an x-ray of his hand was to thank for identifying his growth hormone deficiency? And do you know why he refused to collect his first ever Champions League winner's medal?Find out all this and more in Luca Caioli's classic portrait of a footballing icon, featuring exclusive interviews with those who know him best and even Messi himself.

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Book SynopsisNedum Onuoha was not a typical footballer. Picked by the Manchester City Academy aged ten, he was determined to continue his education despite the lure of a career under the floodlights. Fiercely intelligent on and off the pitch, Onuoha developed into a talented defender and played his part in City's meteoric rise. In this characteristically forthright book, Onuoha reveals what goes on behind the scenes at top-tier clubs. Stuffed with insights into household names like Stuart Pearce, Sven-Goeran Eriksson, Roberto Mancini and Harry Redknapp, this is football and its most famous figures as you've never seen them before. Kicking Back is also the story of one man's search for identity: as a footballer, as a black man in England and as an outsider in the US during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. What is it like to receive horrific racist abuse while doing your job? And how has football failed the black community? Onuoha provides a damning assessment of the sport's authorities as he dives deep into a life spent on the pitch.

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Book SynopsisCharting West Ham’s tumultuous 2022–23 season and epic triumph in the Europa Conference League final, this is the story of how the Hammers defied the odds to win their first trophy in forty-three years and first European trophy in fifty-eight years. After weathering misfiring signings, dissent among the fans and the near-sacking of David Moyes, the Irons eventually secured Premier League survival and found spectacular redemption in the Europa Conference League. They played fifteen games in Europe and were unbeaten. Captain Declan Rice ended his West Ham career by lifting a trophy, just like Bobby Moore and Billy Bonds before him. The outpouring of joy at the final whistle in Prague will never be forgotten by the club’s fans, many of whom were too young to have seen their team win its last trophy. Packed with hilarious anecdotes and whimsical musings, this is West Ham’s extraordinary 2022–23 season as told by superfan Pete May, who lived (and occasionally suffered) through every nail-biting moment and crucial game. Experience the goals, games and glory all over again in this witty and impassioned book – essential reading for any Hammers fan.

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Book SynopsisAs modern football legends, the Class of 92 need no introduction. Class of 92: Out of Their League, however, opens a dramatic new chapter in the story of former Manchester United greats Gary and Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Nicky Butt, as they take on a new role in each of their lives: owners of semi-professional club Salford City FC. An enthralling, in-depth account of Salford's first two years under new ownership, Class of 92: Out of Their League combines first-hand accounts from Gary, Phil, Paul, Ryan and Nicky as they try to turn round the club's fortunes, along with a wider story of tremendous athletic and human drama. Featuring colourful characters like managers Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley, star players, club chairman Karen Baird, lifelong fans, and more, this is a story told with real authenticity and grit. Accompanying the second series of the hugely popular BBC series, Class of 92: Out of Their League is both a testament to the best of modern football and a brilliant reminder, in an era when fans are threatening walkouts over rising ticket prices, of what football is really all about.Trade ReviewA must-read for Salfordians -- Salford Star * Salford Star *An intriguing book that does attempt to lose the hype surrounding the club to give an insight into both the Class of 92 and the plight of the players who find themselves in non-league football. -- Salford Star * Salford Star *

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Book SynopsisA top-to-bottom look at England's national game, from one of the UK's leading business economists.The Premier League is the most commercially successful football league in history, the self-proclaimed 'best league in the world'. But success has come at a cost, unbalancing the English game to a profound and damaging degree.Football's stumbling response to COVID-19 and the European Super League disaster are just the most recent examples. It is estimated that more than two thirds of the country's 92 professional clubs are loss-making; payments to agents each year regularly total more than the combined income of all 44 clubs in Leagues 1 and 2; supporters have been squeezed to the limit; racist incidents are on the rise; grassroots facilities are in a dreadful state; and failed World Cup bids have severely weakened England's standing in the global game. The national team's performance at Euro 2020 can't paper over the cracks.There is an alternative. In this revealing and eye-opening analysis, leading economist Mark Gregory reveals the breadth and depth of the problems facing our national men's game, and shows us a way to bring football home for good.Trade ReviewMark Gregory... knows what he is talking about...you will understand a great deal more about English football and its coming cataclysm than you did before... [a] manifesto for change and returning the game to its roots' -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *

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Book SynopsisNOMINATED FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR, SPORTS BOOK AWARDSMichael Carrick was the heartbeat of Manchester United. For more than a decade he was the player that made them tick. In his book, he reveals how to win relentlessly while playing under legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, invites us to experience the camaraderie and clashes inside the United dressing room, and lets us feels what it's like to walk out on the Old Trafford pitch alongside some of the biggest names in the game - from Ronaldo to Scholes to Giggs, Rooney and the rest.In his seventeen-year professional career, Michael has won twelve major trophies at United, winning the Premier League five times, as well as three League Cups, the FA Cup, the Europa League, the Club World Cup and the Champions League.In Between the Lines, Michael honestly reveals for the first time his battles with mental health, growing up in the north-east, his struggles with the national side, as well as the redemption he has found with his family and his team.*All of Michael Carrick's proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to the Michael Carrick Foundation, dedicated to providing financial support to community services that will give underprivileged children living in the North and North East better opportunities so that they feel safe, valued and inspired.*

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Book SynopsisFOREWORD BY NEDUM ONUOHAThe year is 2012. Manchester City have failed in an audacious attempt to appoint Pep Guardiola, the most sought-after manager in world football. They watch as he wins consecutive league titles with Bayern Munich instead.The year is 2016. Guardiola has finally been courted by City. But his first season at the Etihad will be his first ever without a trophy. After drawing the first home game of his second season, he will shut himself away in the dressing room, inconsolable.The year is 2018. Manchester City followed that fateful draw with eighteen wins in a row. They will win the Premier League with a record, rampant 100 points - a now legendary 'Centurion' season.The year is 2023. Manchester City have just sealed an historic Treble by winning the Champions League in Istanbul, enhancing their legacy and Guardiola's. The world's most ambitious sporting project has come full c

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Book SynopsisFROM THE NO.1 FOOTBALL SERIES - OVER 3 MILLION COPIES SOLD!Name: Alexander IsakNationality: SwedishHero Rating: Follow the story of Alexander Isak, ultimate football hero, from young academy player at Sweden's AIK all the way to becoming the youngest goalscorer for AIK and his national team. Ultimate Football Heroes is a series of biographies telling the life stories of the biggest and best footballers in the world and their incredible journeys from childhood fan to superstar professional player. Written in fast-paced, action-packed style these books are perfect for all the family to collect and share.

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Book SynopsisAlways Believe is the gripping autobiography of Chelsea, Arsenal and France star Olivier Giroud. Join him on a remarkable journey, from playing for a small club in southern France to achieving top-flight glory there and in England, before lifting the World Cup with the French national team. Giroud shot to prominence in 2011/12 as the top scorer in France's Ligue 1, netting 21 goals to help Montpellier to their first-ever top-flight title. After signing for Arsenal in 2012, he rewarded the Gunners with 73 goals in 180 games and helped them to three FA Cup wins. He is also the French national team's second-highest scorer. Now at Chelsea, Giroud is still hungry for success. But what about the sacrifices he's made along the way? The pressures of being under the spotlight and having to cope with a constant stream of criticism and questions around his selection for the national side? Usually a private person, Giroud holds nothing back as he shares all the highs and lows of a stellar career at the game's top level in this tell-all book.

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Book SynopsisA Life with the Robins and Beyond: The Geoff Merrick Story is the most anticipated book on any player ever to pull on the red shirt of Bristol City. An England schoolboy international, Geoff turned down a host of top teams to sign for his local club. He became the Robins' youngest captain at 20 and eventually led them back to the top flight. During City's stay in Division One, Merrick was seen as one of the country's top defenders, but his life and career were thrown into turmoil when he and seven other players were asked to rip up their contracts to save the club from bankruptcy. This they did, and today their sacrifice is commemorated by a plaque outside Ashton Gate, yet it still goes down as the blackest time in City's history. It is a chapter in Geoff's life that he has never spoken about in depth - until now. When life threw Geoff and his family a cruel twist, he showed the qualities of bravery, self-belief and determination, the very traits that had characterised his performances on the pitch. A Life with the Robins and Beyond is the ultimate tale of not giving up.

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Book SynopsisSomething in the Water explores the inner workings of England's football-talent hotbeds, investigating how these areas so often create elite footballers. For decades working-class northern towns have churned out players like a factory conveyor belt - places like Huyton, a town of just over 33,000 that has produced the likes of Steven Gerrard, Peter Reid, David Nugent, Joey Barton and Tony Hibbert. However, the emergence of south London as the new-school hotbed is exciting. Players produced here are like nothing seen before in England. The concrete Catalonia is home to a new generation of stars such as Jadon Sancho, Wilf Zaha, Joe Gomez, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Joe Aribo and others. Bringing together the thoughts and ideas of those involved at every level of the game - from the south London estate cages to the heights of the Premier League and Europe's elite - the book unearths the secrets of two distinct types of hotbed that represent the past, present and possible future of English football.

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