Soccer books

patmac

I just read Harry Pearson's review of 'The Damned United' in WSC and he said it is the best soccer book ever written, basically it's a fictionalised account of the 44 days of Brian Clough's tenure at Leed's (for younger boardsters Leeds were the Chelsea/Man Utd of their day much hated by everyone outside Leeds, Cloughie left reigning champions unfashionable Derby County to take over from Don Revie who just got the England job and walked into a dressing room of giant egos 'crash').
Anyway there is an awful lot of crap books out there (Rooney and Ashley Cole spring to mind) so has anyone read any good soccer books lately.
My top 3 are
Football Against The Enemy (Simon Kuper). A brilliant book on the clash between soccer and politics.
Hand of God (Jimmy Burns). The story of Diego Maradona.
A season with Verona (Tim Parks): An englishman living in Verona following the struggling Serie A side in their penultimate season in serie A.

gandalf

Haven't read that many football books but one that does spring to mind as a good read was "Full Time - the secret life of Tony Cascarino" by Paul Kimmage.

Roddy23

Hand of God (Jimmy Burns). The story of Diego Maradona.

Read this too, very good, he know's his subject very well.
Also read Brian CLough's book - very good also.
Roy Keane's was pretty good, Fowler's not the mae west, very repetitive.
Slightly biased but I thought Tony Adam's Addicted was brilliant, - the best soccer book I have read.

From reading Cloughie's book, I have decided to buy Len Shackleton's clown prince book, supposed to be one of the all time great soccer books.

madds

Eamon Dunphy's book was excellent, about his time with Milwall and the struggles between players/managers & players/players that were rife within the dressing room - he wrote it circa 1968.

He takes the p*ss out of Gordon Hill something terrible if I remember correctly.

Charlie

Gazza's book was an excellant read. Full of massive highs and massive lows. Its a pretty honest account by the man himself of all his demons.

bucks73

Not a fan of players books myself as I have found those that I read quite boring. Because of that I havent bought Keanes wvwn though a few mates say it is excellent.

My favourite two are Jim Whites "Are you watching Liverpool?" and Richard Kurts "Red Army Years".

Both must haves for United fans, especially those of us getting on a bit.

gustavo

Eamonn Sweeneys "Theres only one Red Army" is a brilliant read , pity he sold out and writes about GAA for the sunday independent now.

Revelation Joe

Gary Imlach's 'My Father And Other Working-Class Football Heroes'
His father was Stewart Imlach, who played in the '58 World Cup for Scotland and won the '59 FA Cup with Nottingham Forest. Played over 400 League games and was never booked, and was first-team coach at Everton when they won the League in 1968 (?)
Should be required reading for all the moaners like Ashley Cole. If Cole thinks he was hard done by because Dein only offered him £40k a week, he needs to read about the 'retain-and-transfer' system
Imlach earnt no more than £30 a week (including bonuses), had to get a tram or walk to the ground and wasn't even given a cap for his international appearances.

Also Garry Nelson's 'Left Foot Forward' - a season in the life of a journeyman striker. Worries whether he'll get another contract. Where to get another club if he doesn't get the contract. How will he pay the bills when he gets a long-term injury.
Excellent stuff.

Del

Vince135792003

1. Eamon Dunphy- Only a Game
2. Nick Hornby- Fever Pitch
3. Tim Parks- Season with Verona

Pepe LeFrits

Only footie book I've read any time recently is Frank McLintock's autobiography 'True Grit', which is very good and I'd recommend, even if you're not an Arsenal fan. Great to read about a different era in football.

gosplan

For me they are......

Best book about being a footballer: Dunphy's.

Best book about being a fan: Fever Pitch.

Best book about football: The Beautiful Game by David Conn.

The last ones a great read about where English football is and how it got there.

sonofsam

blessed by George best.

Benedict XVI

A very good read is Guvnors: Story of a Soccer Hooligan Gang by the Man Who Led It by a guy called Michael Francis.

The title says it all . It's about Man City fans in the 70s, good easy read.

Collie D

Dunphy's biography of Keane is a good read regardless of what side you took during the Saipan era. It's coming out in the Indo as part of their biography series, worth the fiver if you haven't read it.

Fever Pitch I didn't like and not just because I was going through a big anti-Arsenal phase while reading it. Although his insights on hooliganism and Heysel were interesting.

One I bought I few years ago probably my fav. Stamping Grounds, can't remember the author but have it knocking around somewhere. It's a factual account of the author (English travel journo) who for some reason ends up supporting Liechtenstein, followng them home and abroad and becoming mates with the players. Interesting and sometimes humourous story of international football at the bottom level.

One I tried reading a few months ago, came free with Four Four Two. El Diego by the man himself, utter ****e, stopped reading half way through even before he got to the 86 World Cup (his finest hour). Probably worth sticking with the book mentioned by someone else above if you're interested in reading about Maradonna.

smackbunnybaby

captain fantastic - mick mccarthy
essential reading.

Zebra3

Thought Fever Pitch was awful. As for McCarthy's book....

The only really decent player's book I've read is Tony Adams. Shocking insight into his alcohol addiction.

Burn's book on Maradona was excellent.

Football Against The Enemy, A Season With Verona, Behind The Curtain:Travels in Eastern European Football, Morbo, Ajax Barcelona Cryuff, and Bloody Casuals (A/deen) all highly recommended by mise. The Aberdeen one is long since out of print afaik.

Pepe LeFrits

Forgot about Fever Pitch, good read in parts but it's very monotonous in the middle and latter stages - reads very much like a historical record of fixture lists at times.

mikelmessi

Read the whole of El Diego thought it was magic. For once in a football autobiography, it really felt like it was him telling the story, there was a great use of Spanish idioms etc. Plus it was nice to read someone putting the boot in to people for a change.
One of the best football books I've read is Miracle of Castel di Sangro by Joe McGinnis. Something similar to Tim Park's book, he follows a tiny village team that gets promoted to Serie B. It takes a while to get going, as he's pretty much a newcomer to football and tries to philosophise a bit, but then it really kicks off. He got more or less complete access to the the club and the story he tells is unbelievable. I don't want to give too much away but the if the incidents happened he described were in a novel, you would dismiss them as being ridiculous.
Brilliant Orange (Dutch football) is class as is Football against the Enemy but Futebol, the Brazilian Way of Life is really dull, in particular considering the subject matter.
I thought Cascarino's book was excellent (Paul Kimmage, excellent (ghost) writer) and Gary Imlach's book should defintely be more widely read.

kensutz

In Where It Hurts - Bryan Gunn:

Story about him growing up in Scotland trying to become a professional footballer and Alex Ferguson giving him his break in the Aberdeen squad who were European contenders at the time, winning one championship too. Great story about how he joined Norwich City and raising his family only to discover his daughter had leukaemia and fought in every way to help her survive only to lose her at the age of 2. It's a great read not only from a Norwich fans point of view but to see how this man is loved by everyone he meets. Also buying the book will give money towards the Bryan Gunn Leukaemia appeal so it's beneficial in both ways.