Search results for ""Author David Tossell""

The year 2015 was a historic one for the England women's cricket team, their first full year as professional players and with every ball of their Ashes series live on television and radio. As the dramatic events of the summer unfolded, David Tossell was given exclusive access to follow at close quarters, from freezing training mornings in the dead of winter to the dressing room and team meetings in the heat of battle against Australia. Under the guidance of a coach who cared deeply about their performance and welfare, a diverse group of girls came together in the pursuit of international glory and personal achievement, united by a remarkable love for each other and a passion for their profession. As The Girls of Summer reveals, they would need every piece of resilience and resolve those bonds could offer. With a foreword by England captain Charlotte Edwards.

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It is a special footballer who wins the World Cup as a 21-year-old and ends a two-decade career as one of the most revered players in the history of four clubs. Former England captain Alan Ball was such a man: prodigy at Blackpool, youngest hero of 1966, Championship winner at Everton, British-record signing for the second time at Arsenal and veteran schemer for Southampton - not to mention footwear trend-setter. And all after being told he was too small to succeed in the game.Yet his years as a flat-cap wearing manager consisted mostly of relegation and promotion battles, some successful and some not, and plenty of frustration as he fought to produce winners in his own image and emulate the feats of his playing days. His life already touched tragically by the car crash that killed his father and the loss of his beloved wife Lesley to cancer, Ball died, aged only 61, after suffering a heart attack during a garden blaze.A decade on from his death, and drawing on interviews with family, friends and colleagues including Jimmy Armfield, Sir Geoff Hurst, George Cohen, Gordon Banks, Joe Royle, Mick Channon, Lawrie McMenemy, Francis Lee, George Graham, Frank McLintock, Matthew Le Tissier and many more, Alan Ball: The Man in White Boots is the definitive study of one of English football's most enduring figures.

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Don Howe is one of English football's great coaches, with an unrivalled record at international and club level. As right-hand man to three England managers, he helped his country to the 1990 World Cup and Euro 96 semi-finals. He helped to steer them through the 1982 World Cup unbeaten and to the quarter-finals four years later. Howe masterminded the 1970/71 double at Arsenal, where two spells as coach also brought European and further FA Cup glory. He was also an integral part of one of the greatest Wembley upsets when he helped Wimbledon's 'Crazy Gang' to victory over the mighty Liverpool in 1988. As a player at West Bromwich Albion, Howe won 24 international caps, but as a manager he failed to achieve the success he craved. Yet over a three-decade period, he won acclaim from many of England's finest players as a genius of the coaching profession. Through interviews with players, colleagues, friends and family, this book examines the triumphs and challenges of Don Howe's career and assesses his contribution to English football.

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Jimmy Greaves remains the greatest goalscorer in English football history, with a record of 357 top-flight goals that may never be surpassed. Teenage sensation at Chelsea and England debutant at 19, he became - after an unhappy spell at AC Milan - a legend at Tottenham Hotspur. But despite 44 international goals in 57 games, his England career was defined by the heartbreak of missing the 1966 World Cup Final. A shock move to West Ham brought an acrimonious end to his Spurs days and, a year later, he retired from the game, aged only 31. What followed was a desperate descent into alcoholism, followed by a remarkable battle to win back his family and self-esteem. Reinventing himself as a popular TV personality, his instincts in front of camera proved as natural as those in front of goal. Having taken his final drink in 1978, Greaves has remained sober from that day. Drawing on interviews with family, friends, colleagues and opponents, Natural: The Jimmy Greaves Story is the definitive biography of one of England's most loved footballers.

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In the 1970s, an age long before World Cups, rugby union to the British public meant Bill McLaren, rude songs and, most of all, Wales. Between 1969 and 1979, the men in red shirts won or shared eight Five Nations Championships, including three Grand Slams and six Triple Crowns. But the mere facts resonate less than the enduring images of the precision of Gareth Edwards, the sublime touch of Barry John, the sidesteps of Gerald Davies and Phil Bennett, the courage of J.P.R. Williams, and the forward power of the Pontypool Front Row and 'Merv the Swerve' Davies. To the land of their fathers, these Welsh heroes represented pride and conquest at a time when the decline of the province's traditional coal and steel industries was sending thousands to the dole queue and threatening the fabric of local communities. Yet the achievements of those players transcended their homeland and extended beyond mere rugby fans. With the help of comedian Max Boyce, the culture of Welsh rugby and valley life permeated Britain's living rooms at the height of prime time, reinforcing the sporting brilliance that lit up winter Saturday afternoons. In Nobody Beats Us, David Tossell, who spent the '70s as a schoolboy scrum-half trying to perfect the Gareth Edwards reverse pass, interviews many of the key figures of a golden age of Welsh rugby and vividly recreates an unforgettable sporting era.

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Tony Greig is remembered as the colourful captain who led cricket into its biggest crisis of the last century. An all-rounder who mixed boldness with belligerence, he was the first South African to skipper England, restoring national pride with victory in India after poundings at the hands of Australia and the West Indies. A controversial and charismatic competitor whose "make them grovel" comment about the West Indies signalled trouble, he later lost the captaincy for recruiting players for Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket. More than three decades later, now a leading television commentator, Greig has never been fully absolved. Featuring many new interviews, including with Greig himself, the book asks whether cricket history judges the accomplished all-rounder fairly, or is coloured by off-field controversies. Tony Greig offers a compelling portrait of a fascinating cricketing era - and was shortlisted for Best Cricket Book at the 2012 British Sports Book Awards.

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One Day At A Time uses selected matches from the past 60 years to tell the story of limited-overs cricket. One-day cricket arrived as a formalised part of the calendar in 1963 with the launch of the Gillette Cup in England. The development of the limited-overs game is at the heart of the sport’s evolution, from the introduction of multi-national competition to the 21st-century phenomenon of franchise-based 20-over leagues. ‘One-day internationals’ found their way into the sport’s lexicon from 1971 and the first men’s World Cup was staged in 1975, while India’s surprise success in the 1983 edition was responsible for changing the landscape of the world’s most cricket-mad country and the global game’s balance of power. The need for an even more abbreviated version of the sport saw Twenty20 cricket introduced in England in 2003. Once again, it was Indian success on the world stage that sparked a game-changing revolution that resulted in the Indian Premier League and a year-round series of franchise-led competitions in all parts of the world. The matches featured in One Day At A Time include the first Lord’s final; the ‘underarm’ outrage in Australia; extraordinary innings by Richards, Tendulkar and Gayle; tales of match-fixing; the greatest day in the women’s game; and, of course, England’s elusive first 50-over triumph.

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All Crazee Now is the story of English football and its footballers in the 1970s, a decade that saw the start of the move from the 'old-fashioned' game towards the modern Premier League era; a transition that accelerated throughout the decade. Much of what we recognise in today's game is rooted in the seventies - including diverse ethnicity and multi-nationalism in club teams; the rise of commercialism; the cult of the manager; the end of the player-next-door; and the demand for victory ahead of individualism. The beginning of the decade remains the period in English football that supporters felt more connected than anytime previous or since. By the time the Thatcherite 1980s were dawning, the way had been paved for a rapid evolution towards 21st-century football. More than just a chronicle of trophy winners, star players and personalities, it offers a study of the tactical, philosophical, social, cultural, economic and political landscape that shaped football throughout a turbulent period for a nation and its favourite sport.

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Derek Dougan was no ordinary footballer. A flamboyant Northern Irish goalscorer, his unwillingness to accept injustice and mismanagement won him as many enemies as friends. Shortly after being asked to collaborate on a new autobiography, a project undone by Dougan's sudden death, David Tossell set out to retrace his life through a series of over 70 interviews. The result is a definitive account of a contradictory icon with a unique place in the evolution of modern British football. Dougan demanded a transfer on the eve of an FA Cup final, quoted Voltaire and fell out with various clubs. As chairman of the PFA, he fought for freedom of contract; as a club executive, he introduced shirt sponsorship; and 'The Doog' saved Wolves from extinction. In Sunshine Or In Shadow reveals the darkness and light of Derek Dougan, the drive and demons that kept him fighting to the very end.

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When England cricket captain Tony Greig announced that he intended to make the West Indies 'grovel', he lit a fire that burned as intensely as the sunshine that made 1976 one of the most memorable summers in British history. Spurred on by what they saw as a deeply offensive remark, especially from a white South African, Clive Lloyd's touring team vowed to make Greig pay. In Viv Richards, emerging as the world's most exciting batsman, and fast bowlers Michael Holding and Andy Roberts they had the players to do it. Featuring interviews with key figures from English and West Indian cricket, Grovel!: The Story and Legacy of the Summer of 1976 provides a fascinating study of the events and social issues surrounding one of the sport's most controversial and colourful tours - as well as addressing the decline of West Indies cricket and its loss of support in the new century.

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