Books about football

[German Rover]

I'm currently reading soccer in sun and shadow by Eduardo Galeano.

He talks about football in a beautiful poetic way and its well worth a read.

Does anyone have any other recommendations?

[roversdude]

The Robin Friday book is really good as is Goal Gourmet by our own Peter Kitchen

[Dutch Uncle]

I know I've mentioned these before but I highly recommend:

Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson
A history of tactics from the old 2-3-5 (2 full backs, 3 half backs and 5 forwards) through 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 4-3-2-1 etc interspersed with social hostory and backdrops to the countries where innnovations developed

My Father and Other Working Class Heroes by Gary Imlach
The story of Stuart Imalch in the 1950's, when footballers were owned by clubs ratehr like slaves, and could be transfered one day to the next to a club without their consent or knowledge until it was a done deal. Again much social history

How Soccer explains the World by Franklin Foer
Eccentric but somehow fascinating account by an American(!) of teh role of football in the political and cultural history in all parts of the world including South America, Russia and Yugoslavia 

[Scooter]

Roland Reng - A life too short. It’s all about Robert Enke. 100% recommend

[Chris Black come back]

Left Foot Forward by Garry Nelson.

[Dr Fundlekrotch]

Got to agree with DU on Inverting the Pyramid.  I've just bought my 3rd copy - keep lending it to people and never getting it back.

[graingrover]

The Farther  Corner a sequel to the best seller ‘The Far Corner ‘ of a decade ago.

[Chris Black come back]

If you can slightly discount the self vindication, then Dare to Dream by John Ryan is very good on some of the decisions that the club (JR) made.

[DonnyNoel]

Michael Cox has two good ones - "The Mixer" about tactical evolutions in the premier league and "Zonal Marking" which focuses on periods of tactical progress by various nations.

I Lost My Heart To The Belles - Pete Davies behind the scenes of a season with the Belles in the 90's.

Moving The Goalposts, A Yorkshire Tragedy - Anthony Clavane about sport and how it has been affected by the economic changes since the 80's

And if you like autobiographies by non-superstar players then its worth looking at:
Garry Nelson
Andy Morrison
Lee Howey
Chris Hargreaves

[PDS01]

Tony adams - addicted is brutally honest, Simon Jordan’s be careful what you wish for is an eye opener for all those who keep claiming owners should spend more.

[idler]

The funniest are the Fred Eyre ones. They always made me laugh out loud.
Some very funny stories in there and a man who was at Man City the same time as a young Denis Law. There careers certainly took different paths as Fred became a lower and non-league journeyman player.
A successful businessman and very funny after dinner speaker. I have read his books twice  but not for many years The Rovers v Wigan game where they dropped the injured Wigan player gets a mention as well.

[POD]

Just finished reading Ian Snodin’s Autobiography called ‘Snod This For A Laugh’.  It’s a collection of short stories, some of which are Rovers related so will be of interest to Rovers fans of a certain age. 

[tyke1962]

I'd highly recommend Strange Kind Of Glory by Eamon Dunphy .

The biography of Sir Matt Busby , cradle to the grave and warts n all .

The chapter on the Munich air disaster isn't for the faint hearted , truly sad .

Best football book I've ever read and I've read hundreds .

[Campsall rover]

Merry Christmas Tyke.
I think we can just about call you an honorary Rovers fan. 

Can’t wait for our next visit to Oakwell. Let’s hope it’s next season.

[DD]

Richer than God by David Conn

Richer Than God is an authoritative, provocative, investigative account of Manchester City's history, culminating in its transformation as Sheikh Mansour seeks to spend the formerly miserable Manchester club into the European elite.Really interesting - thought provoking. certainly one of best sports books I've ever read (the best being a boxing book.....The lost soul of Eamonn Magee .......incredible!!!!)

[tyke1962]

Merry Christmas Tyke.
I think we can just about call you an honorary Rovers fan. 

Can’t wait for our next visit to Oakwell. Let’s hope it’s next season.

Well I do take a genuine interest in your club and I do hope you can get yourselves promoted this season .

All the best to you Campsall and all Rovers fans this festive period and let's hope for a better 2021 .

[Ye-Aul-Tavern]

Back from the brink the Paul McGrath autobiography. Heartbreaking stuff.

[Lifelong supporter]

Provided You Don't Kiss Me by Duncan Hamilton is excellent whatever you think of Brian Clough.
Goal Gourmet by Kitch is interesting but he didn't pick a very good ghost writer.

[DD]

I agree with lifelong - Provided you dont kiss me” is excellent - as are all Hamiltons books!!

[BillyStubbsTears]

All Played Out by Pete Davies about Italia 90 takes some beating.

And while Among The Thugs by Bill Buford is mainly about an upper middle class author getting his kicks by trailing along with a Firm, it has THE best page I've ever read about football. He coins the phrase "dead time" to refer to that moment between the ball leaving the player's foot and hitting the back of the net or not. Where the whole universe stands still while you wait for the outcome. It's like he was actually there at the Deva when Dave Cameron arrowed that shot towards the top corner and for a split second, everything collapsed. Until Andy Warrington's fingertips found that extra two inches. 

[BillyStubbsTears]

Here is that "Dead Time" bit.

http://allintensivepurposes.blogspot.com/2006/07/dead-time.html?m=1

Edit: in fact this is a better section.

 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tA4LdEw2zlsC&pg=PA172&lpg=PA172&dq=among+the+thugs+%22dead+time%22&source=bl&ots=SwSRil4q7M&sig=ACfU3U3rJCnM1m-LOdbIL9cDxvo61WpVwQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj18LbYpurtAhUYiFwKHdAqDhcQ6AEwBXoECAsQAQ#v=onepage&q=among%20the%20thugs%20%22dead%20time%22&f=false

[SoundbiteBarmyArmy]

Pirates, Punks & Politics: FC St. Pauli: Falling In Love With A Radical Football Club.

[essexrover]

Anything except Steve Bruce's books ! 

The Robin Friday one "The greatest footballer you never saw" is very good. The Damned United also a favourite of mine.

[River Don]

Beastly Fury: The strange birth of British football by Richard Sanders

A history of how the early game developed from the original mob game to being codified, the role of public schools, the emergence of football clubs and onward. Fascinating stuff.



The Damned United by David Peace

Simply the best piece of football fiction/faction ever.

[POD]

This is the first time for many years that I haven’t received a book about football at Christmas. 
Three books which I have received over the years and which I recommend are:-
1). Got Not Got by Derek Hammond & Gary Silke
2). 32 Programmes by Dave Roberts
3). An A-Z of Football Collectibles by Carl Wilkes
All the above will be of interest to anyone who likes football, but particularly to those who were watching football and collecting Programmes, Cards/Stickers, Souvenirs etc in the 1960’s, 70’s & 80’s.

[DonnyNoel]

All Played Out by Pete Davies about Italia 90 takes some beating.

And while Among The Thugs by Bill Buford is mainly about an upper middle class author getting his kicks by trailing along with a Firm, it has THE best page I've ever read about football. He coins the phrase "dead time" to refer to that moment between the ball leaving the player's foot and hitting the back of the net or not. Where the whole universe stands still while you wait for the outcome. It's like he was actually there at the Deva when Dave Cameron arrowed that shot towards the top corner and for a split second, everything collapsed. Until Andy Warrington's fingertips found that extra two inches. 

I'd forgot All Played Out. What with that and I Lost My Heart To The Belles, I'm surprised Pete Davies didn't go on and write more factual books on football. His wiki page is very sparse.

[tyke1962]

The Glory Game by Hunter Davies was one of the first behind the scenes football books written .

Hunter had an access all areas of Spurs during the 1971 / 72 season , a very good read and a great insight in to the game before player power and huge money .

Only A Game ... The Diary Of A Professional Footballer by Eamon Dunphy is an account of a season playing in the second division for Millwall and again captures the game from a bygone era .

[sheffield exile1]

 Journeyman: One Man's Odyssey Through the Lower Leagues of English Football by Ben Smith. Good insight into how players from lower levels of football live/survive. Also shows how they plan at the career ending stage as obviously their earnings will not keep them for life.

 When Footballers Were Skint: A Journey in Search of the Soul of Football by Jon Henderson. Interesting stuff on abolition of the maximum wage, Jimmy Hill was a leader in getting this overturned. A review says- "Long before perma-tanned football agents and TV mega-rights ushered in the age of the multimillionaire player, footballers’ wages were capped – even the game’s biggest names earned barely more than a plumber or electrician. Footballing legends such as Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews shared a bond of borderline penury."

[ravenrover]

Bobby Moore the man in full by Matt Dickinson is a very good read

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Football Daft by Michael Parkinson. Hilarious and plenty of local references.