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Books about football - suggestions please

Jerseybean

By Jerseybean
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sugarwray

sugarwray

Posted
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1 hour ago, Richard Head said:

Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby is brilliant, much better than the film. I also remember Only A Game? by Eamonn Dunphy from the 1970s which I thought was well written.

Nice chapter about Malcolm McDonalds debut for Arsenal against Bristol City, pre match he bragged about scoring five against the country bumpkins. Paul Cheesley’s goal secured us a 0-1 win in our first game in the top flight for ages, August 76, heatwave, Wurzels at number one, only green grass in the country was at the football grounds…. Happy Days

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Davefevs

Davefevs

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35 minutes ago, ExiledAjax said:

Don't think I have tried that one. I found Nowhere Men a struggle, but felt Hunger was good, especially now that we know how the careers of most of the youth prospects mentioned therein have turned out. Some that are being highly rated at the time the book was written have faded into obscurity, whilst others are Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden. I think that makes it a good time to read this particular Calvin effort.

One other that I wanted to mention is "The Hard Yards" by Nige Tassell. It follows the 2019/20 Championship season, and is coming out in paperback on 4 August. Tassell focuses on Wycombe, Bournemouth and Sheff Wed (who had the -12 points hit that season) but he says he covers the whole division so we should be mentioned regularly. Re-live the final days of Lee Johnson, from the heady heights of signing Kasey Palmer (again), Benik Afobe's cameo, and going unbeaten for 10 games in the early season through to an FA Cup exit to Shrewsbury, COVID sweeping the nation, and Rodri saving us all. Should be an absolute classic.

I liked his ‘the bottom corner’, following non-league teams around.  Got a feeling he might live in Bishop Sutton.

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Merrick's Marvels

Merrick's Marvels

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39 minutes ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

I really enjoyed David Peace’s book about Bill Shankly ‘Red or Dead’, but it’s not for the faint hearted.  I’d suggest having a look at it in a bookshop to check whether you think it’s for you, as it is a mind-boggling book, incredibly repetitive, but quite hypnotic if you can get into it.  You’ve been warned!

I'm led to believe this is his style in general. I've had his 'Red or Dead' on my wish list for ages.

Might give 'The Damned United' a go but am struggling to give a toss about Leeds Utd and therefore devote time to it ; the film was ok, a good impersonation by the welsh fella. Peace has also written acclaimed novels but, like you say, his style is "interesting".  Would rather just read a good biography of Cloughie, of which there's more than one.  

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Tinmans Love Child

Tinmans Love Child

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2 minutes ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

I'm led to believe this is his style in general. I've had his 'Red or Dead' on my wish list for ages.

Might give 'The Damned United' a go but am struggling to give a toss about Leeds Utd and therefore devote time to it ; the film was ok, a good impersonation by the welsh fella. Peace has also written acclaimed novels but, like you say, his style is "interesting".  Would rather just read a good biography of Cloughie, of which there's more than one.  

If you don’t like Leeds then the Damned Utd is for you!  The book is very good and much more like a novel really

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GrahamC

GrahamC

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4 minutes ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

....picked it up again, after you mentioned it t'other day. Fast-forwarded, though, to the late 60s, fascinating on the 70s, and all the political shenanigans. What a country (but, you sure about actually going there?)

More than anywhere.

Was due to go in 2002 but they had another financial crash & there was a lot of rioting, plus I realised that it was also the 20th anniversary of the Falklands war.

Always wanted to go & let’s face it I’ve been on holiday to Syria, to Russia under Yeltsin & Cuba under Fidel, so this will be a walk in the park..

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Will Rollason

Will Rollason

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9 minutes ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

I'm led to believe this is his style in general. I've had his 'Red or Dead' on my wish list for ages.

Might give 'The Damned United' a go but am struggling to give a toss about Leeds Utd and therefore devote time to it ; the film was ok, a good impersonation by the welsh fella. Peace has also written acclaimed novels but, like you say, his style is "interesting".  Would rather just read a good biography of Cloughie, of which there's more than one.  

Stick with it, I happened to be a Leeds fan at that point in time as I was only 5/6 and they were the top team,  it's an unusual book in the way it's written. Bit of a stretch but elements of it are almost akin to Ulysses or even the Odyssey... the film doesn't capture it really even with Micheal sheen

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Curr Avon

Curr Avon

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1 hour ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

I really enjoyed David Peace’s book about Bill Shankly ‘Red or Dead’, but it’s not for the faint hearted.  I’d suggest having a look at it in a bookshop to check whether you think it’s for you, as it is a mind-boggling book, incredibly repetitive, but quite hypnotic if you can get into it.  You’ve been warned!

Its The Damned United on steroids. Brilliant read.

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Bristol Oil Services

Bristol Oil Services

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5 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

More than anywhere.

Was due to go in 2002 but they had another financial crash & there was a lot of rioting, plus I realised that it was also the 20th anniversary of the Falklands war.

Always wanted to go & let’s face it I’ve been on holiday to Syria, to Russia under Yeltsin & Cuba under Fidel, so this will be a walk in the park..

And "Twerton Park, under Francis" remember 

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ExiledAjax

ExiledAjax

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6 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

More than anywhere.

Was due to go in 2002 but they had another financial crash & there was a lot of rioting, plus I realised that it was also the 20th anniversary of the Falklands war.

Always wanted to go & let’s face it I’ve been on holiday to Syria, to Russia under Yeltsin & Cuba under Fidel, so this will be a walk in the park..

I had a bloody lovely time in Buenos Aires, the wetlands of Ibera, and on an overland trip up to the Iguazu waterfalls on the three-way border with Brasil and Paraguay.

I found Argentinians to be friendly, hospitable, and easygoing. BA has the usual issue of all big cities, but getting out and into the countryside was fantastic fun.

Highly recommended and ignore any Falklands worries.  

If you ever go then it's worth taking the boat across the River Plate and checking out Montevideo in Uruguay. Good lord the steaks.

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BTRFTG

BTRFTG

Posted
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1 hour ago, The Dolman Pragmatist said:

I really enjoyed David Peace’s book about Bill Shankly ‘Red or Dead’, but it’s not for the faint hearted.  I’d suggest having a look at it in a bookshop to check whether you think it’s for you, as it is a mind-boggling book, incredibly repetitive, but quite hypnotic if you can get into it.  You’ve been warned!

That's the brilliance of Peace's writing (both football & non-football.) His rhythmic repetition as an accentuating device is mesmeric. It's personifies all adulation or hatred held. It recalls the form of Stewart Lee's comedy, how to take a single line or premise and turn it into an half hour routine yet remain funny throughout.

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awbb

awbb

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Both of Garry Nelson's books are excellent. Left Foot Forward and Left Back in the Grave.

Rick Gekoski's account of Coventry City's 97/98 season, Staying Up, is absolutely hilarious as well. I can't believe a Premier League (at the time) football club allowed some random American the access that he had.

 

 

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Merrick's Marvels

Merrick's Marvels

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Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Jerseybean said:

Not sure if there is already a thread on this, I couldn’t find one, if there is please can the mods amalgamate this.

Have just finished reading ‘The footballer who could fly’ by Duncan Hamilton. 

Would be good to hear of other good reads on the subject of football books. 

It's difficult to know what to recommend without knowing what you're interested in - are you after a ghost written biography about boozin' bettin' and shaggin' by a footballer who can barely speak, never mind write or something a bit more in depth?

Any book by Jonathan Wilson, some recommended here, will give you as much social history as it will football - the game is placed in a wider context, so you learn about all sorts. No idea if that's your thing, though.

If it is.... 

'A Brilliant Orange - The neurotic genius of Dutch football' by David Winner is the book that inspired this style of serious football writing. It's a history of Dutch football, mostly their Total Football of the 60s/70s, Cruyff et al. As a disciple of JC  - Johan Cruyff not Jesus Christ - I recommend it highly. But it's also a whole lot more, it's about how their football reflects their culture and history. The first line of the Introduction is:

"If this is a book about Dutch football, at some stage you'll probably wonder why it contains pages and pages about art and architects, cows and canals, anarchists, church painters, rabbis and airports but barely a word, for example, about PSV and Feyenoord"

And so a whole industry was born.  But as I say, it might not be what you're looking for. Football writing has certainly come a long way, though, that's for sure.

As a fan of all things Dutch, I'll also mention 'Stillness and Speed' which is Dennis Bergkamp's autobiography (co-written with Winner). This concentrates a whole lot more on football rather than social history and recent football at that (Cruyff and the 1970s may be ancient history to you, depending on your age). There's a lot of stuff about Arsenal, obviously. Can't say I'm fussed about them but Bergkamp - "the sober Dziekanowski" as he's known - was a particular favourite of mine.   

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Merrick's Marvels

Merrick's Marvels

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Posted (edited)
42 minutes ago, BTRFTG said:

That's the brilliance of Peace's writing (both football & non-football.) His rhythmic repetition as an accentuating device is mesmeric. It's personifies all adulation or hatred held. It recalls the form of Stewart Lee's comedy, how to take a single line or premise and turn it into an half hour routine yet remain funny throughout.

You're right! I hadn't made the connection before. Thanks. 

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Port Said Red

Port Said Red

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I see someone has mentioned Harry Dolmans book, I really enjoyed that.

Also for a light hearted look at the life of the true journeyman footballer, take a look at Lutz Pfannenstiel's The Unstoppable Keeper. He is the only man to have played on all six continents that soccer is played on, it's hilarious at times.

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