bealios Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 The Footballer who could Fly - Duncan Hamilton Have to say, read this on holiday last year as it was bought for me, and thought it was a great read, I would recommend it. Has a Newcastle angle, but also Nottingham. http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Footballer-Who-Could-Fly/dp/1846059801 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Colossus Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Read and enjoyed recently: Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning - Guillem Balague I'm Not Really Here- Paul Lake La Roja: A Journey Through Spanish Football - Jimmy Burns Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World - Graham Hunter Futebol: A Brazilian Way of Life - Alex Bellos I Am Zlatan - Zlatan Ibrahimovic Would like to read / know if anyone would recommend: Football Against The Enemy - Simon Kuper Behind The Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football - Jonathan Wilson More Than Just A Game: Football Against Apartheid Tor! The Story of German Football - Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger Ajax, the Dutch, the War: Football in Europe during the Second World War - Simon Kuper To be avoided: Colin Murray's football miscellany or whatever it was called, decent for having a shit but nothing else. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ketsbaia Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 The clue was hidden somewhere amongst 'Colin Murray'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Colossus Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 The clue was hidden somewhere amongst 'Colin Murray'. Y'know when you can't stop reading in the voice of the person writing? 'Liverpul' and 'Wuuuuuuulvs' almost killed me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattypnufc Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Barca by Graham Hunter is one of the best footy books I've read. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Flash Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Steven Gerrard's book is the only footballer specific book I'd call gripping. It's really good. John Burridge's one is also surprising good. The Secret Footballer (Dave Kitson) is crap and says nothing we don't already know. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattypnufc Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I did quite enjoy Mickey Quinn's who ate all the pies. Genuinely funny. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Colossus Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Steven Gerrard's book is the only footballer specific book I'd call gripping. It's really good. I enjoyed the part just after the pictures when he talks about how much he hates Gattuso in the CL final just for waving to his family in the crowd. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Flash Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Steven Gerrard's book is the only footballer specific book I'd call gripping. It's really good. I enjoyed the part just after the pictures when he talks about how much he hates Gattuso in the CL final just for waving to his family in the crowd. He comes across as a weirdo mental for the most part. He starts crying and gets violently angry when someone put his trainers in the bath Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexthegreat Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Ancelotti's autobiography was a very good read, although I seem to remember it was about a third of the length it could have been. He comes across really well. I'd recommend Billy Furious' book "A Mag For All Seasons" and The Far Corner to any Newcastle fan. Both are really passionate north east football fans, and both are actually very talented writers. Really liked Roy Keane's book when I read it, was very raw. However I suspect if I read it now it'll seem a bit more holllow now that he's become one of the bullshitters he claimed to hate. The Secret Footballer is worth a look, although I think it could have been a lot better. Normally it would be quite easy to paint a favourable picture of yourself when you're constantly confiding to your reader, but I thought he came across as a bit of a cock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzzieMandias Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Would like to read / know if anyone would recommend: Football Against The Enemy - Simon Kuper I thought that one was excellent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I've mentioned it before but Tim Parks - A Season with Verona is by far the best football book I've read, about an Englishman expatriated in Italy who follows Hellas Verona to all their away games throughout the season. The writer should I say isn't exactly what you'd call your traditional working class football fan, but you excuse it as its so well written. Opening chapter in particular is fantastic and although the rest of it doesn't live up to those standards it's still well worth a read. It's not all about football as he uses the season as a framework to explain Italian mindset and culture. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGuv Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 The Footballer who could Fly - Duncan Hamilton Have to say, read this on holiday last year as it was bought for me, and thought it was a great read, I would recommend it. Has a Newcastle angle, but also Nottingham. http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Footballer-Who-Could-Fly/dp/1846059801 Duncan Hamilton's Brian Clough book was absolutely fantastic - so I might have to give this a go. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leazes.ender Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I've mentioned it before but Tim Parks - A Season with Verona is by far the best football book I've read, about an Englishman expatriated in Italy who follows Hellas Verona to all their away games throughout the season. The writer should I say isn't exactly what you'd call your traditional working class football fan, but you excuse it as its so well written. Opening chapter in particular is fantastic and although the rest of it doesn't live up to those standards it's still well worth a read. It's not all about football as he uses the season as a framework to explain Italian mindset and culture. This. I've read his other Italian books on the back of this one too. Left Foot Forward - Garry Nelson (The original real footballers autobiography, really open eyes to the way it used to be) The Miracle Of Castel Di Sangro - Joe McGinniss Life Sentence - Mark Hodkinson (about Rochdale) Pointless - Jeff Connor (East Stirlingshire) Football against the enemy - Simon Kuper Behind the curtain - Jonathon Wilson Damned United - David Peace Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manosdepiedra Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Read loads already listed on here, but one of the best books I've read on any subject is "my father and other working class football heroes" by Gary Imlach, who used to do the gridiron on C4 and now does the cycling on itv4. You wouldnt have to like football in any way to enjoy it. Describes the struggle to get rid of the maximum wage for footballers. When Jimmy Hill pops his clogs every footballer who is a millionaire nowadays should go to his funeral and pay their respects to him for making it possible. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brummie Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I've mentioned it before but Tim Parks - A Season with Verona is by far the best football book I've read, about an Englishman expatriated in Italy who follows Hellas Verona to all their away games throughout the season. The writer should I say isn't exactly what you'd call your traditional working class football fan, but you excuse it as its so well written. Opening chapter in particular is fantastic and although the rest of it doesn't live up to those standards it's still well worth a read. It's not all about football as he uses the season as a framework to explain Italian mindset and culture. Entirely agree. It is a fantastic book. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I've mentioned it before but Tim Parks - A Season with Verona is by far the best football book I've read, about an Englishman expatriated in Italy who follows Hellas Verona to all their away games throughout the season. The writer should I say isn't exactly what you'd call your traditional working class football fan, but you excuse it as its so well written. Opening chapter in particular is fantastic and although the rest of it doesn't live up to those standards it's still well worth a read. It's not all about football as he uses the season as a framework to explain Italian mindset and culture. Entirely agree. It is a fantastic book. Wish I'd read it close to release, interesting none the less though. I think Jonathan Wilson is writing an Argie book although I'm not sure, definitely a market for it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ameritoon Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Bought A Season with Verona and A Life Too Short Think I'll have exhausted my football writing resources after those two, guess I'll have to catchup on The Blizzard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Blizzard is too niche for my tastes like, same with a lot of Wilson's content for elsewhere. Pretentious for the sake of being so I often find. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brummie Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Blizzard is too niche for my tastes like, same with a lot of Wilson's content for elsewhere. Pretentious for the sake of being so I often find. Have to say, I agree. Not so much that it is pretentious, but it drains every last ounce of enjoyment from the game by hugely over analysing it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ketsbaia Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 I get the 1p digital Blizzard downloads It's brilliant but I only cherry pick 3 or 4 things to read per issue. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Blizzard is too niche for my tastes like, same with a lot of Wilson's content for elsewhere. Pretentious for the sake of being so I often find. Have to say, I agree. Not so much that it is pretentious, but it drains every last ounce of enjoyment from the game by hugely over analysing it. Good point actually RE: his writing, it's probably more him I find a bit pretentious but then again if I was him I'd be exactly the same. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ameritoon Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 He definitely has an air of being pretentious, I generally stay away from his columns online, but his books cover subjects I'm not going to find anywhere else. There's probably a reason I stopped reading halfway through Issue 1 of The Blizzard last year, but there's some very good pieces from what I read. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Wilson's stuff borders on tactical autism. He has some stuff I have enjoyed reading, don't get me wrong, but much of the time it bores the tits off me. When it comes to football literature its always best when focusing on the human side of things. On the players themselves, on fan culture, on how football reflects society etc make for good reading be it in book or article form. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ketsbaia Posted June 13, 2013 Share Posted June 13, 2013 Blizzard gets some quality people writing for it like Marcotti, Lowe, Auclair etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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