Search results for ""Pitch Publishing""

Namaste, Geezer is a revealing and trenchant memoir by one of England's top national newspaper reporters, who has seen and covered it all, from the Heysel disaster to World Cups, plus the death of Princess Diana.Most football fans who grew up loving the game in the hooliganism-blighted 1970s probably experienced running from opposition fans at some point. For Shekhar Bhatia, the menacing enemy was within the nastier, right-wing elements among fans of his own team. Taken to West Ham by his father, who arrived in Britain from India in the late 1950s, young Shekhar just could not understand the hate directed towards rare Asian-heritage fans back then, and has since spent a lifetime steering a path between his loyalty to the Hammers and racism in the game.Often shocking, ultimately joyous, this is a tale of rising above prejudice to fulfil ambitions, in both football and journalism.

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Tri Again is a rip-roaring, wetsuit-struggling, pedal-pushing odyssey that charts one man''s journey from a pneumonia-stricken heap to the starting line of Ironman.After a health scare leaves him gasping not just for air but for meaning, our everyman athlete decides to take on the ultimate challenge: the Ironman triathlon. With his trusty coach and the unexpected camaraderie of friendships found along the way, he sets out on a quest not just for glory, but for redemption.From the struggles of securing pool time during a global pandemic to the surreal world of virtual training sessions, Tri Again serves up a heartfelt, and sometimes harrowing, account of what it means to push the human body and spirit to their limits - a tale of the incessant pursuit of a finish line that seems forever just around the next bend.

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Torry: The Life and Career of a Football Great is the story of the remarkable Torry Gillick, a Scottish international footballer revered both in Glasgow and Liverpool.On the pitch, Gillick won every possible honour in Scottish football with Rangers across two spells at Ibrox, and was the only player signed twice by the legendary Bill Struth. At Everton, he was a key player in their famous league title triumph in 1939, making the club the last champions before World War Two.Gillick was a character and an entertainer, his skills and goals earning him a place in the Hall of Fame at both clubs. But his story is about more than his wonderful football career; it is one of a family man whose life was blighted by tragedy and heartache, but who always emerged stronger and who earned respect and friendship in and out of football.

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Updated for 2024, and (hopefully) to coincide with the club's return to the Premier League, Ipswich Town Miscellany is a collection of information you never knew you needed to know about the club it's also the perfect companion for Ipswich Town On This Day.Full of intriguing anecdotes and incredible stats and facts, like the tale of the striker whose shot cleared the stand and hit a horse ploughing a field, and the local Cub Scout pack who made tea in the Portman Road centre circle.Find out which World Cup finals was graced by no fewer than six Ipswich Town players; or which legendary Town boss is statistically the club''s most successful, and which great manager only comes third on the all-time list. And at which match the club produced its first programme, a game that was watched by only 2,000 fans.All these stories and hundreds more appear in a brilliantly rese

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Forty years on from his dramatic triumph in the Open Championship at the Old Course in 1984, Seve Ballesteros''s Touch of Class is the gripping, fast-paced, definitive account of the charismatic Spanish maestro''s finest hour. Alongside battles with Tom Watson, are tales of other Seve wins and inspirational moments, and what he meant to the world.Author Kenny Reid brings alive Seve''s outstanding play in brilliant detail, as he marched to his greatest victory against his biggest rival. The Spaniard is considered an artist, magician, genius and icon, and although Ballesteros passed away in 2011, his legend endures and Touch of Class paints an insightful, vivid portrait of the man and his golf.Not just Europe''s greatest, his natural talents and swashbuckling play brought style, daring, danger and adventure to the fairways. This is a fascinating account of Seve''s golfing journey: from gifted son of a farmer in isolated Spain to dominan

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It was just after five o'clock on 4 May 1949 as the Avio Linee Italiane Fiat G.212, carrying 18 players of AC Torino and 13 other passengers, was preparing to land at Turin's Aeritalia airport.?Thick fog meant visibility was poor, and strong winds had blown the plane off course. Disorientated, the plane was around ten miles from the runway and flying in excess of 100mph, when suddenly, out of the fog emerged the Basilica of Superga. With no time for the pilot to react, the plane crashed into the Basilica, killing all 31 passengers instantly including manager Erno Egri Erbstein, English coach Leslie Lievesley, and three well-known Italian sports journalists: Renato Casalbore, the founder of Tuttosport, Renato Tosatti, Gazzetta del Popolo, and Luigi Cavallero, La Stampa.Known as Grande Torino, in honour of their achievements, AC Torino had dominated their domestic league, and on the international stag

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Football, Freedom and Paradise! is the fascinating and inspirational autobiography of former footballer Rudi Vata, a man who overcame state oppression to attain the most basic of human necessities - his freedom.Born in Albania in 1969, he was raised under the oppressive communist dictatorship that ruled the country for decades. In a regime that curtailed all the basic freedoms of civilised society, Rudi determined that, ''You do not choose to be born under a dictatorship, but you choose whether to live under it.'' Rudi devoted himself to football - the sport that would provide his road to freedom and self-determination. After playing for his country in France in 1991, he defected and sought political asylum. Thus began the adventure that would take him around the world to play the beautiful game, most notably in a successful spell at Celtic FC, and live as a free man.This is not just a football story - it''s the tale of a man who fought for his

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Never Say Die is the gripping story of Arthur Baby' Gore, a battling tennis player of the Edwardian era and the oldest-ever winner of the Wimbledon singles title.Gore enjoyed an unparalleled 40-year career in which the game evolved from a garden-party pastime into a dynamic international sport. Thrice All-England champion, Olympic gold medallist and the first-ever Davis Cup captain, Gore was an amateur of the old school who competed in more Wimbledon tournaments than anyone else in history, all the while pursuing a hectic business life in the City of London.On court he was a dogged fighter who famously did not stop trying until the last point was played. A leading personality of the sport, he symbolised the generation that established the game in the public imagination.With analysis of his opponents and the changes he witnessed in tennis and wider society, this compelling biography provides an unrivalled insight into the life and times of a forgott

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Lions in the Wilderness: England''s Decade of Decline traces the trials and tribulations of the England football team in the 1970s.It was a decade that began with the Three Lions being deposed as holders at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, and ended with them failing to appear in another major tournament until the 1980 European Championship. Manager Sir Alf Ramsey, who led England to their famous 1966 World Cup Final triumph over West Germany at Wembley, lost his job in the wake of his side''s calamitous failure to qualify for the 1974 tournament, while ultimate successor Don Revie walked out in highly controversial fashion to take charge of the United Arab Emirates and leave Ron Greenwood to pick up the pieces of his country''s shattered reputation.Lions in the Wilderness also focuses on the personalities who shaped English football in the 70s and charts the growing emergence of black players, culminating in right-back Viv Anderson becoming the first

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Brian Moore Saved My Sunday is a nostalgic romp through the golden days of regional televised football.It revisits a time when the voices of not just the peerless Brian Moore, but of Hugh Johns, Gerald Sinstadt, Gerry Harrison and others, brought drama to TV sets. Whether The Big Match, Shoot or Kick Off Match, each ITV region had its own version.Dozens of people from in front of or behind the camera, or on the mic, were interviewed for this fascinating book that was ten years in the making. The families of Moore, Johns and Sinstadt provide priceless insights and many exclusive photographs. Pioneering director Bob Gardam, creative mastermind Jeff Foulser, ITV stalwart Gary Newbon, and forces of nature like Granada''s Paul Doherty, also share their memories.Brian Moore Saved My Sunday will thrill those fans who wolfed down their Sunday lunch to grab the best spot in front of the TV for football

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Going to the Wire looks at a dozen teams, from the 1970s to the present day, whose survival came down to the season's final day. It captures the drama and the passion that comes when not only league survival, but jobs and even a club's very existence can be on the line.It's all here, as Tom Brogan looks at the drama of late, late goals, on those days when fans can spend more time with ears pressed to radios, or eyes glued to mobile phones, all for news from another ground! The passion, the shredded nerves, bitten fingernails, the absurdities of blatant time-wasting, fake news of goals' elsewhere and ultimately teams coming back from the dead.Relegation is all part of the game, but one that no fan wants their team to get dragged into, but great escapes can make heroes of the unlikeliest of players. Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, Middlesbrough, Burnley, Derby County and Coventry City are just a few of the clubs whose final-day e

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The Sons of Revie is the definitive account of ten incredible seasons at Leeds United, told through the eyes of a young supporter who grew up on the glory and heartbreak of cheering on his team from the Scratching Shed at Elland Road and all around the country.The 1960s and 70s was a golden age for English football, a time when legends were made at all the biggest clubs in the country, yet an unfashionable club with no history of success emerged from the bottom of Division Two to tower over the rest.Led by their visionary manager, Don Revie, a squad almost entirely made up of home-grown youngsters rewrote the record books and became one of the greatest teams in history, chasing multiple trophies every season and winning almost everything there was to win, yet their legacy would be dominated by controversies and disappointments as they so often fell at the final hurdle, by fair means or foul.From Dirty Leeds to Super Leeds, there has never been a

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The Batmaker of Copenhagen is the inspiring story of a cricketing hero who defied the German occupation to keep cricket alive throughoutthe Nazi occupation of Denmark during the Second World War.With Copenhagen under the iron grip of the Gestapo, and German U-boats preventing any supplies coming in from England, a humble cricket scorer sets out on an improbable and dangerous quest to find willow and produce his own cricket bats.Scouring the length and breadth of the country, hounded by Gestapo spies, and risking everything for the game he loves, the ''Batmaker'' undertakes his mission under the very noses of the city''s oppressors.His nemesis, a Gestapo chief by the name of ''Lucifer'', begins a quest of his own to crush the resistance in a battle of wills that shapes the course of the war. Based on a true story, this uplifting tale of passion and patriotism brings cricket and espionage together in a unique and gripping t

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Potter, Hopcutt and a Desk in East London charts the improbable rise of Östersunds FK (OFK) from the Swedish fourth division to the Europa League. Looking for a distraction from their mundane office lives, two childhood York City fans are drawn in by the ascent of two men with loose connections to their hometown club, OFK manager Graham Potter and midfielder Jamie Hopcutt. As a passing interest becomes a full-blown obsession, the pair follow Östersunds across Europe, from a war-torn Ukraine, to a Howard Kendall-themed bar in Bilbao, to a defining night at the Emirates. Fascinated by the people they meet along the way, the pair discover a team of misfits rejected at almost every level, a fan base confused by their Scandinavian fascination and a club not afraid to do things differently while knocking out some of Europe's most storied clubs. This book is an ode to the underdog and an invigorating reminder of the power of football fandom to provide the perfect escape.

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It was the funniest fight build-up of Muhammad Ali's career - and publicist and writer Norman Giller saw it all. British bulldog Richard Dunn was challenging Ali for the world heavyweight crown in Munich in 1976, and Giller hired the eccentric hypnotist Romark to convince Richard that he could topple 'The Greatest'. What Romark kept to himself was that he planned to put a curse on Ali that would doom him to failure. Recalling arguably the most bizarre fight build-up ever, Giller has penned a book that is laugh-out-loud funny, peopled by a colourful cast that includes irascible matchmaker Mickey Duff, millionaire magnate Jarvis Astaire, much-hated heavyweight rival Joe Bugner, Richard's father-in-law, trainer and minder Jimmy Devanney, a paratrooper regiment and 54 Ali hangers-on. The match bankrupted its promoters and lost more money than any heavyweight title fight in history. Romark claimed credit for the stage collapsing at a chaotic weigh-in ceremony, while 'Cinderella Man' Dunn got beaten up and was hailed a hero.

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Does your life revolve around your football team? Does your team's result on a Saturday make or break your weekend? Would you leave your wife on the day she's due to give birth to go to a cup final 140 miles away? Or miss your daughter's fourth birthday because you're in Madrid for a UEFA Cup tie? If so, this book is for you. The Team For Me is a personal reflection of the joy and heartache of football from a fan's perspective. Written by a Hearts supporter of 50 years' standing (and occasionally falling over), its tales will hit home among fans of any and every club - from the Saturday-morning feeling of anticipation to regaling your children with what it means to follow your club; from pre-match rituals to hammering your arch-rivals in a cup final. Fans who grew up in the 1960s and 1970s will also revel in memories of half-time scoreboards, dashing to the local newsagent at 5:30pm on a Saturday for a copy of the ink-stained Football Special edition, and of collecting football cards to swap with your pals.

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The Homecoming is Jane Purdon's passionate, heartfelt account of the summer of 2022, when the Lionesses dazzled the nation and brought football home. It's also Jane's personal story. Since falling in love with football aged seven, Jane has been an activist, administrator and leader in the beautiful game, most recently as CEO of Women in Football. Her journey takes in her early days as a Sunderland fan, her first kicks of the ball in her late teens, her pioneering work in the early 1990s to promote women's involvement in football, and her subsequent career at the heart of the football establishment. In 1992, Jane wrote, 'The England women's team winning the European Championship - now that is not a fairytale, it could just happen.' Thirty years later that fairytale came true. Jane reflects on what's happened to women's football in the aftermath of the Lionesses' historic victory and what needs to happen next.

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Packed full of trivia, facts and stats, The Top 10 of Everything England covers every aspect of the Three Lions' long and colourful history in dozens of ranked lists. With a star cast of past and present internationals, the lists include the most inspirational skippers, the most prolific goalscorers, the great managers and the biggest stars in the England Women's team. Among the many memorable moments revisited are England's most iconic World Cup matches, the most celebrated wins against arch-rivals Scotland, the finest goals scored by the likes of Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker and Wayne Rooney and the most appreciated own goals gifted by the opposition. Additionally, a host of miscellaneous categories rank England's best (and worst!) kits, the funniest fan chants, the most striking and controversial player tattoos and the bizarre incidents on and off the pitch that left supporters bewildered. Fun, informative and thought-provoking, The Top 10 of Everything England is guaranteed to spark lively debate among football fans everywhere.

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Mr Corinthian is the first-ever biography of Nicholas Lane ('Pa') Jackson, founding father of the famous Corinthian Football Club. This team of amateur gentlemen was a phenomenon in the game's early years. Achieving victories over FA Cup winners and league champions, their players twice comprised the whole England national team, while their overseas tours introduced the game to countries that would later become footballing superpowers. Jackson has been hailed as the architect, visionary and genius behind this celebrated club. But 'Pa', as he was affectionately known, was not what he seemed. An incorrigible self-publicist and social climber, he cultivated the appearance of a sophisticated English gentleman and a 'grand old man of sport'. For the last 100 years, his version of the Corinthian story, as told to club members, has been accepted as a faithful record of events - but it wasn't. Did the club's historians conspire to fabricate an undeserved reputation? This book is a search for the truth.

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A Sprinkle of Magic tells the fascinating stories of non-league clubs who defied the odds and dared to dream big in the world's oldest cup competition. When August rolls in, so do the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup as non-league sides from across the land bid to make the first round proper and pick up a potential dream tie. Stretching back to the 2009/10 season, the stories include FA Cup runs from Bath City, Redbridge, AFC Totton, Stourbridge, Hendon and of course history-makers Lincoln City, who became the first non-league side to reach the quarter-finals in more than a century in 2017. Featuring colourful tales galore, A Sprinkle of Magic brings the magic of the FA Cup alive with some of the biggest upsets of recent years.

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Snooker's Bad Boys takes us back to a time when snooker players were better paid than footballers and lived like rock stars. It looks at the feuds, fist fights, fixes and playboys who put the sport on the front and back pages of the national press - as told by those who were there. The Daily Telegraph wrote in 1986: 'Infidelity, wife desertion, murmurs of arranged matches and hints of betting coups... bad management and players' back-street behaviour is killing the game.' The truth was the public always wanted to know what Alex Higgins, Jimmy White and other bad boys of the green baize might do next. Higgins was the original hellraiser and Snooker's Bad Boys features exclusive eyewitness accounts of his rise and fall, along with the troubles and triumphs of Jimmy White, Ronnie O'Sullivan and many other rogues who drank, gambled, partied and potted their way into the hearts of millions - from the sport's peak years in the 1980s up to the present day.

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The Forgotten Cup tells the colourful story of the Mitropa Cup, the inter-war equivalent of today's Champions League. One of the most prestigious football stages of the era - along with the World Cup, which was first played in 1930 - it was a tournament to determine the kings of Europe at the end of a round-robin competition. European football at the highest level was dominated by Italian and Danubian teams - Austrian, Hungarian and Czechoslovakian - and would remain so until the end of the Second World War. The top teams of the time have now fallen into oblivion, and the exploits of Europe's football stars are largely forgotten. Matthias Sindelar, Karel Pešek 'Kád'a, Giuseppe Meazza, György Sárosi and Josef Bican along with a few others were the icons of a sport that had just turned professional, born out of the frictions of a politically heated era with an atmosphere that reverberated on the pitch. The Forgotten Cup takes us back to that lost age.

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1992: The Birth of Modern Football brings to life the key events from one of the most important years in football history. After the huge success of Italia '90 and the potential to show football around the world on TV, law makers, chairmen and players ushered in monumental changes to the structure of the game. Everyone remembers the first year of the Premier League, but changes to the backpass rule and the arrival of the newly branded Champions League would have a seismic effect on football. On the pitch, Italian clubs spent huge sums as they bolstered their squads for success at home and abroad. In England, Leeds and Manchester United were battling at the top of the league for the final season in the First Division. That sliding-doors moment really did have a huge impact on Alex Ferguson's men. To add to the growing changes, the revolution was televised. 1992: The Birth of Modern Football transports you back to the year that changed football forever.

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How to be a Cricket Fan: A Life in Fifty Artefacts from WG to Wisden is a unique, nostalgic take on supporting the greatest sport, pre-internet. This relatable, universal story records how one cricketing obsessive encounters players from WG Grace to Ben Stokes, plus plenty of characters you're unlikely to have come across. With running themes of Wisden, sportsman's dinners and otterhounds, the book's hero meets Ian Botham and Linda Lusardi on the A6, drinks red wine while showing Fred Trueman his priceless collection and drives his family mad by taking them on summer holidays to buy John Arlott's old books. The colourful images on cigarette cards and the yellow linen cover of Wisden succoured a wartime evacuee who spent a lifetime trying to bring back those memories. After facing ruin, his passion culminated in him finding happiness in a dream career. This is the story of an English eccentric's journey from cricketing backwaters to entertaining the stars and becoming a leading authority on the game.

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Galvinised is the tale of two footballing brothers with contrasting fortunes who played in a golden age of the game. It's a story of glamour and heartache. Tottenham Hotspur snapped up left-winger Tony Galvin from non-league Goole Town while he was studying Russian at Hull University. Tony won the FA Cup and UEFA Cup with Spurs alongside legendary stars such as Glenn Hoddle and Ossie Ardiles. He also won 29 Republic of Ireland caps and played at Euro 88. Tony ended his playing days at Sheffield Wednesday and Swindon Town. Conversely, elder brother Chris, an inside-forward, joined Leeds United as an apprentice but struggled to break into Don Revie's iconic team. After witnessing Leeds' glory days from the subs' bench, he played across the Football League pyramid at Hull City, Stockport County and York City before finding success in Hong Kong. The Galvin brothers have tales galore from the 1960s to 1980s, and share stories of players, travelling escapades, training ground bust-ups and unforgettable matches in this unique biography.

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The revealing autobiography of former footballer Emile Heskey. From humble beginnings, Emile became one of Leicester's favourite sons, as part of Martin O'Neill's swashbuckling misfits. In five years he won promotion, four top-ten Premier League finishes and two League Cups. England called, as did Gerard Houllier and an £11 million move to Liverpool, enabling Emile to form a memorable partnership with Michael Owen for both club and country. Then came the trophies - six of them, including the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup. Heskey's England career saw him play in two European Championships and two World Cups as part of the Golden Generation, earning 62 caps and scoring seven times - including the final goal in the 5-1 demolition of Germany. He went on to play for Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic, Aston Villa, Newcastle Jets and Bolton Wanderers, notably donating £100,000 to save Leicester City from extinction. Even Heskey Scored is the story of a largely unsung player, loved by his team-mates, who overcame fierce criticism to live the dream.

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What makes the number-ten jersey so special? It's merely material and thread - the number only used for administrative purposes. Yet the number ten represents much more than football. Those wearing it carry the weight of expectation for club and country. Andy Bollen forensically examines the world's greatest players - from Puskás to Pelé, Maradona and Messi - and asks, what makes them tick? How did they reach legendary status? He explores how their will to win at all costs comes from their desire to overcome adversity - escape poverty, rejection or horrendous injury. Bollen scrutinises the illustrious players who wore the number-ten shirt, discussing the lives, careers and mindsets of the classic playmakers. Theirs is a unique mentality, a twisted logic and drive. Part brilliance, part elegant brutality, they are required to deliver an artistry, genius and creativity. Their play is elevated to a work of art, then, with great devilment, they are capable of wilfully slashing and destroying it.

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Former Burnley FC director Clive Holt brings us the inside track on his 35 years at the club in a compelling memoir chock-full of anecdotes and previously untold stories. Every committee or boardroom needs someone who can ask awkward questions and see what might be coming around the next corner. Clive was that man at Burnley FC. Wherever Burnley were playing, he rarely missed a match, whether those dreadful games of the old Fourth Division when Burnley were in the doldrums, or the heady afternoons at Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge or the Emirates in the Premier League. Clive's knowledge of the workings of Burnley was encyclopaedic, and as company secretary he knew exactly what was going on throughout the club. He left the board in 2020 when Burnley were bought by the American company ALK, but continues to attend games with a devotion that has never wavered.

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Stanley Park Story: Life, Love and the Merseyside Derby charts the recent history of the longest continuous running derby game in English football. Liverpool and Everton have now contested the fixture every season since 1962. Using a mixture of fact, fiction and personal experience, Jeff Goulding has crafted a compelling tale spanning three generations of two families, Red and Blue. Their lives become intricately woven together through 50 years of this unique sporting rivalry. The story explores the changing fortunes of each team and the relationship between the two sets of supporters, which evolves over the years. The life and times of Jimmy, a Blue, and Tommy, a Red, form the basis of the drama which unfolds against a backdrop of thrilling sporting encounters, social and political upheaval and catastrophe. Ultimately, the story is one of a love so strong it reaches across the park to forge a timeless bond between the two families.

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Sixty Years of the World Cup is a personal, nostalgic, fun and frank reflection on the author's six-decade association with football's biggest showpiece. Brian Barwick journeyed just five miles to his first World Cup match during the iconic 1966 tournament held in England, but later travelled the globe witnessing first-hand some of football's greatest and most controversial moments. As a major national TV sport producer and executive, he was also responsible for how the tournament was broadcast to tens of millions of viewers on the BBC and ITV. A stint as CEO of the FA brought him the unique experience of being personally associated with the triumphs and tribulations of trying to win the World Cup. During his 60-year relationship with football's greatest prize, he witnessed many of the tournament's most famous matches, most gifted players and coaches, and iconic and controversial moments, meeting colourful personalities, making programmes that broke TV audience records and even helping an operatic aria to become a worldwide smash-hit!

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Big Deal! is crammed with exclusive transfer stories that have never been heard before outside the boardroom. Veteran journalists Richard Sydenham and John Wragg have gained exclusive contributions from an array of star names including Jurgen Klopp, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Claudio Ranieri and the late Gerard Houllier, plus homegrown legends such as Kevin Keegan, David Moyes, Sam Allardyce and Martin O'Neill. You'll get the inside track on some of the most momentous transfers in British football, including the transfers that never quite made it over the line. Kevin Keegan's shock move to Southampton at the height of his fame and Pat Jennings' switch from north London rivals Tottenham to Arsenal are just two examples of transfers that caused a stir, and the managers involved with the moves explain how they made them happen. The transfers that never materialised will surprise many. Learn how Wolves nearly landed Michel Platini before his career exploded with Juventus, and how ambitious Burnley tried desperately to sign a young Harry Kane.

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The story of how one small boy's near impossible dream became a reality. Growing up in poverty in the austere 1950s Fife coalfield, Tommy Hutchison had an unshakable belief that one day he would wear the dark blue shirt of Scotland. To an outsider it seemed an improbable ambition. Too weak to cross a ball from the byline to the goal area, the teenage Hutchison was overlooked by his teachers and never made the school football team. Through sheer determination, an indomitable spirit and hour upon hour of lonely practice, the adolescent Tommy was finally noticed by his local team, and his journey to Hampden and World Cup glory began. Tommy's football genius ultimately took him all over the world to play with and against some of the greatest footballers of the 1970s and 80s in a career spanning four amazing decades. Hutch, Hard Work and Belief is the funny yet inspiring story of how the seemingly unattainable can be achieved by unwavering, resolute self-belief.

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The Defiant: A History of Football Against Fascism uncovers the role that footballers and fans have played in the fight against fascism and the far right. Follow the path of football activism from the turbulent 1920s to the culture wars of the 21st century. What role did footballers play in World War Two? How did a Portuguese Cup Final help bring down Western Europe's longest-running dictatorship? What impact did the football community have in bringing the atrocities of Latin America's cruellest dictators to global attention? Football historian and author Chris Lee shines a spotlight on the roles of players, fans, coaches and officials in the fight against the dictatorships of Mussolini, Hitler, Franco, Salazar and authoritarian states in Latin America, bringing us an intriguing cast of rebels, partisans, spies and activists. Featuring interviews with leading authors and academics, fans and progressive football clubs, The Defiant shows that football and politics cannot be separated and asks what the future holds.

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Football brings joy to people across the world, and it evokes memories and nostalgia about past glories and events. When a football club folds, these memories and nostalgic moments are often all that is left. Forgotten Football Clubs uncovers the stories of clubs that have vanished, revealing their history, their successes and their ultimate failures. Some of the clubs were founded in the 19th century and lived for more than 100 years, while others only lasted a few years, but each one has an interesting backstory. Author Philip O'Rourke interviewed fans and experts from the teams' respective countries to find out why they disappeared and how it happened. Along the way, he analyses their results, what honours they won and casts a spotlight on their key players, managers and any controversies. The book unearths a diverse range of tales, transporting us from Asia to South America and from Europe to Africa. With such an eclectic mix, these are stories for football fans young and old.

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Blood on the Crossbar: The Dictatorship's World Cup is the story of the most controversial football World Cup of all time. When Argentina both hosted and won the World Cup in 1978, just two years after the coup d'etat that ousted Isabel Per n, it was against the backdrop of a brutal military dictatorship in the country. Under the leadership of General Jorge Videla, up to 30,000 citizens, categorised as subversives, 'disappeared'. Dogged by allegations of bribery, coercion and football's first failed drugs test, this is the story of Argentina's maiden World Cup triumph and the controversy that simmered behind it. This isn't exclusively a tale of footballers and generals, and the risks they took to succeed. It's a story of the people: Argentinean exiles, Parisian students, brave journalists, the marching mothers of Plaza de Mayo and their missing children - and Dutch stand-up comedians leading international boycotts from thousands of miles away.

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Big Boots to Fill is the story of Argentina's search for a worthy heir to the great Diego Maradona. When Maradona led Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986 and Napoli to their first Italian title a year later, he was regarded by many as the greatest footballer of all time. Since then, in his homeland of Argentina, generations of players have been hyped as the 'new Maradona'. Some of them achieved eminence in their own right - players like the great Juan Román Riquelme, troubled Ariel Ortega, beloved Carlos Tevez and magical Pablo Aimar. Others wilted under the huge weight of expectation and ended their careers in obscure backwaters, playing in lower leagues. It was not until the emergence of Lionel Messi that the country had a worthy wearer of the sobriquet 'the new Maradona'. This is the tale of Argentinian football between Maradona and Messi, of all the highly touted players who have come and gone in between, and their struggles with the pressure of living up to the legend of the Argentine number 10 shirt.

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Back in the Big Time! Sheffield Wednesday's Return to Division One, 1984-86 tells the story of the Owls' return to the top flight after 14 years in the wilderness. In the 1970s, the club had been a footballing byword for underachievement. After flirting with relegation to Division Four in 1976, it began its slow climb back to the top table under Jack Charlton and then Howard Wilkinson. It was Wilkinson's team that gained promotion to the highest league in 1984. They attacked Division One with gusto - within two years finishing fifth in the league and embarking on cup campaigns that took them heartbreakingly close to Wembley. Drawing on detailed research, John Dyson shines new light on the period, combining exclusive interviews with key players, management and club officials with the perspective of supporters and others to piece together a new history. Here is the unfiltered story of a team that did not give up. This is the Owls back in the big time!

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Mud, Blood and Studs is a special story of sporting excellence passed from generation to generation. An alcoholic father abandons his family in Troon, Scotland, and sails for America, but against the odds his offspring prosper, as his four boys have natural athletic ability. Oldest son, Jim, travels to America to track down his father and finds a country in the throes of the Great Depression. However, his superb soccer skills win him selection for the 1930 US World Cup team. In 1932, he signs for Manchester United, and later for Spurs. Jim passes his skills on to his son, George, who becomes a USA All-Star and USMNT player. Jim's brothers, John and Tom, shake up Scottish football, and John hands down his sublime hand-to-eye coordination to sons Peter and Gordon, who make their mark in international rugby. Then there are Peter and Gordon's cousins, the Lambies, who impact South African rugby. This fascinating book brings you the inside track on a remarkable family who overcame adversity to thrive at the top level of sport.

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Power & Glory is a visual homage to the NFL, which takes us on a hard-hitting journey from the pre-Super Bowl era to the present day. Using stunning images, it's a celebration of a uniquely American sporting culture, featuring the greatest stars, teams, games and stadiums. From Terry Bradshaw to Tom Brady, Jim Brown to Joe Montana, from the Green Bay Packers who won the first ever Super Bowl to Aaron Rodgers winning the Super Bowl for Green Bay decades later, it covers all 32 teams that have competed in the NFL. Whether the photos are from the era of muddy pitches or modern-day indoor arenas, Power & Glory projects a physicality and toughness that defines the NFL's players. From the harshness of playing the game in freezing and wet conditions to the glamour and pageantry of the Super Bowl, this eye-catching photographic collection showcases the game in all its glory. Alongside these beautiful and breathtaking images are stats, records and write-ups on the teams that bring the NFL's rich history to life.

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In 1960, at the start of a tumultuous decade that saw major global change, the Intercontinental Cup was born. For the first time, this ambitious annual cup crowned a world club champion, pitting the kings of the two great footballing continents - Europe and South America - against each other. In an era before money ruined the global balance of football, neither dominated. From the Estadio Centenario and the Maracana, to Old Trafford and the San Siro, the most iconic stadia in world football hosted Intercontinental Cup games. The star players of their respective generations participated - from Puskas and Di Stefano in the inaugural 1960 edition, to legends such as Pele, Ronaldo, Zico and van Basten. When Two Worlds Collide charts the Intercontinental Cup's colourful 44-year history, from its trailblazing inception to 2004 when the last ball was kicked in Yokohama. The controversial clashes of the late 1960s, the cup's decline in the 70s and the pivotal 1980 rebirth in Japan are all covered.

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As a young footballer, Clare Shine appeared to have it all. She won her first international call-up at age 13, and by 15 was part of the Republic of Ireland Women's under-17 squad. But the pressure of being a star striker weighed heavily on her young shoulders. By age 19, she had played in a UEFA European Championship and a FIFA World Cup, scored the winner in a Cup Final, won her first senior international cap and become a full-time professional player. But she had also become addicted to alcohol, experimented with drugs, suffered panic attacks and attempted suicide for the first time. This is the story of someone trapped in a world where the weight of expectancy and the battle with personal demons was all washed away, albeit temporarily, whenever she put the ball in the back of the net. It is the story of a girl struggling to find her true identity, a journey in search of confidence and self-belief from someone who seemingly had it in abundance, and a remarkable tale of recovery and achieving new goals.

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Between defeat by Trevor Berbick in December 1981 and lighting the Olympic flame in Atlanta in July 1996, Muhammad Ali spent the 15 most turbulent years of his life traversing the globe, seeking a higher purpose. Depending on the day, the retired champion could be a diplomat trying to liberate hostages in the Middle East, a salesman flogging cookies and cologne across America, or an amateur magician performing sleights of hand everywhere from prison yards to school halls to Valentino fashion shows. Sometimes hilarious, often terribly poignant, this kaleidoscopic account of the most bizarre episodes in his epic life chronicles Ali preaching Islam, causing havoc and touching lives from Beijing to Birmingham, Detroit to Damascus, Khartoum to the Khyber Pass. One minute hanging with Donald Trump, the next with Nelson Mandela, even as his own body and mind battled the onset of Parkinson's Syndrome, here are so many previously untold stories about 'The Greatest' treating statesmen and strangers, popes and paupers just the same.

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Taxi for Kiev: The Story of Six Strangers, Crossing Six Borders, Over Six Days is the true and uncensored story of six lads from very different backgrounds who had never met before but found kinship in a common goal: to get to Kiev for the 2019 Champions League Final between Liverpool and Real Madrid. They embarked on a 3,500-mile taxi trip that took them to many places - physically, mentally and emotionally. Deprived of basic comforts for six days, this was never going to be an easy journey especially among strangers. You'd be surprised what you can learn about a man living in such close quarters. Lack of sleep, space and sanctuary just compounded the issue. Add to this a severe lack of hygiene, and this trip looked like a recipe for disaster. Not only did the lads survive and get on well but, surprisingly, they formed lasting bonds. Taxi for Kiev is one man's account of that unforgettable six-day adventure - a candid tale that touches on the good, the bad and the ugly in human nature. It has shocks, tears and laughs aplenty.

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On 23 July 1993, under the rain of artillery fire from the army of the self-proclaimed republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, the city of Agdam was levelled to the ground. The population fled to other villages or to the capital of Baku, while 60,000 of Agdam's inhabitants - their homes reduced to rubble - were forced to become refugees in their own country. The last standard-bearer of the once-bustling and historically important city of Agdam was its football team. Qarabag instantly became the embodiment of this obsolete city, and took on the role of keeping it alive for a population that had lost everything - a beacon of light in the darkest of times. The team, led by coach Gurban Gurbanov, would amaze the whole of Europe, first reaching the Europa League groups and then the Champions League group stage. This book tells the story of that incredible sporting feat and how the club's two-horse logo has become the emblem of an entire people, of a nation that struggles, suffers and holds tight to the dream of one day returning home.

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When Jim Smith took charge of Derby County in the summer of 1995, he joined a club needing to balance the books after several seasons of failing to reach the Premier League. Little was expected of him. Yet alongside Steve McClaren, Smith oversaw a transformation that took Derby to a new home, a new division and to the brink of European competition for the first time since the days of Dave Mackay. Smith built a side capable of matching the very best in English football, amassing an array of international talent almost never before seen in the British game, alongside hugely impressive home-grown players. This is the story of Jim Smith's Derby County, told with the exclusive insights of Smith's players, coaching staff, friends and supporters. Rams legends including Igor Stimac, Stefano Eranio and Steve McClaren speak in depth on what made that Derby County side, while those closest to Jim reveal what the legendary man-manager was like to deal with, both in and out of football.

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Feeling Blue is a football fan's memoir like no other. Spanning more than 35 years and set across three continents, it is a true story that encompasses love, race and identity - all interweaved with the chaotic fall and rise of Manchester City. Dickie Denton was born into a 1960s Manchester home with many siblings, one of whom was adopted and of Asian parentage. As he grew up, Dickie faced the twin challenges of racist bullying and academic underachievement. Football was his refuge and Manchester City became his obsession - through boyhood, coming of age and adulthood. By middle age he had the trappings of a successful international business career but still craved the thing that he most desired and continued to elude him: success for Manchester City. His story dramatically climaxes in 2012, on a sultry May night in Singapore. Feeling Blue is not just for Man City fans, or even just football fans. It is a deeply personal story told with humour and honesty that will appeal to all and bring forth tears and laughter in equal measure.

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A 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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