Search results for ""author matt riley""

Matt Riley takes us on a fascinating and bizarre behind-the-scenes journey into the weird and wonderful world of Thai football. Working as an English Media Officer in Thailand, Riley was given unique access, seldom granted to foreigners, to the country's most powerful clubs. Thai Football Tales: Beautiful Madness is a report on his time inside the Thai football bubble. From spending the afternoon with Bryan Robson in the Manchester United team hotel, to persuading a player stopping off in Bangkok on the way to sign for an A League club to abandon his journey and play in Thailand, no two days were ever the same. At a meeting in the northern city of Chiang Mai when helping a friend secure a coaching contract, the chairman Matt was negotiating with jumped into a cage to wrestle a tiger. And after interviewing the ‘King of Buriram’, Riley found his every move was being watched – and filmed! Thai Football Tales is a jaw-dropping first-hand account of a Westerner's experiences in a unique and colourful footballing culture.

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Her Game Too is a call to arms for women to be given equal access to profile, opportunities and advancement in the beautiful game. Since the sport's early days, women have been excluded from football, with those brave enough to participate, either as fans or players, beset by misogynistic attitudes if not outright abuse. While we've seen great strides made in the battle for respect and inclusion, sadly there's still a long way to go. Matt Riley provides a platform for key voices in the movement, galvanised around HerGameToo, an organisation run by female fans to fight sexism in football. We hear from the HerGameToo founders who were name-dropped in the House of Commons, Helen Nkwocha, the first woman to coach a top-flight men's team in Europe, and HerGameToo director Natalie Atkinson among others. The book explores the roots of the movement with the story of pioneering female footballer Lily Parr, and sheds light on the future, which has looked increasingly bright since Premier League side Everton pledged its support to HerGameToo.

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Kits are cultural touchstones that tell us more about our club, ourselves and the beautiful game's custodians than we often realise. The colours, crests, designs and prices show what makes the game - and us - tick. Kit and Caboodle searches out the stories that our shirts tell us about our support and the society we accept or try to rebel against. The book alternates short, shirt stories with a deeper dive into themes of ethics, philanthropy and dumb decision making. We listen to MP Tracey Crouch as she tells us about her Fan Led Review and how shirts show the progress being made to a more equitable football ecosystem. Shirts also illustrate the rise and mutation of gambling from pools to NFTs and cryptocurrencies, attitudes to the LGBTQ+ community, how clubs like St Pauli are determined to be driven by their values and why Messi's transfer to PSG Qatar can never be financed by shirt sales. Unlike anything else we wear, our club shirts envelop us in the history of our team and give us a hint of the future.

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Kit and Community digs beneath the surface of inspirational and meaningful designs to reveal the incredible causes that use football shirts to spread their message.Starting with Stanno''s Shirt, we meet Gig and Roger, the parents of Exeter City legend Adam Stansfield, who was cut down by cancer at the heartbreaking age of 31. Gig and Roger share how their son''s shirts meant, and still mean, so much to them.Then there''s York City photographers Kieran Archer, Chris Payne and Tom Poole, who designed the club''s stunning centenary shirt, celebrating the city''s heritage of chocolate making, illustrated by outstanding images. The trio describe every step of the design process. Plus, in a joyously inspirational interview, Tania and Jayme from Football Shirts FC (for charity) discuss their mission to use shirts to support cancer charities close to their hearts.As these and other accounts in this innovative book show us - every shirt has a unique stor

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