Footie Books

[Karlos]

As today (3rd March 2005) is World Book Day I thought i'd get a thread going on your favourite footie books.

For me two stand out as compelling reads -

Tony Adams - Addicted

David Winner - Briiliant Orange, the neurotic genius of dutch football


there's been plenty more that I've enjoyed but those two particulary.

for more info on world book day visit http://www.worldbookday.com/ireland/

[stojkovic]

As today (3rd March 2005) is World Book Day I thought i'd get a thread going on your favourite footie books.

For me two stand out as compelling reads -

Tony Adams - Addicted

David Winner - Briiliant Orange, the neurotic genius of dutch football


there's been plenty more that I've enjoyed but those two particulary.

for more info on world book day visit http://www.worldbookday.com/ireland/Reading the second one at the moment, its excellent also -

AJAX - THE DUTCH, THE WAR

Is also an excellent insight into the Dutch mentality.

[$Leon$]

niall quinn's autobiography and the gaffers by paul howard

are my 2 fav's.
the gaffers is about the irish team that went to the last world cup

[drinkfeckarse]

Keane's autobiography was class, I have Quinn's one too which isn't bad but I felt he talked about Keane through half of it!

One of the best I've read is "Football against the enemy" by Simon Kuper. Fantastic insight into world football and some insight into the biggest club derby games too. :cool:

[stojkovic]

Keane's autobiography was class, I have Quinn's one too which isn't bad but I felt he talked about Keane through half of it!

One of the best I've read is "Football against the enemy" by Simon Kuper. Fantastic insight into world football and some insight into the biggest club derby games too. :cool:
Yes. He also wrote the one I mentioned earlier - AJAX, THE DUTCH, THE WAR.

[drinkfeckarse]

Yes. He also wrote the one I mentioned earlier - AJAX, THE DUTCH, THE WAR.

I thought that sounded familiar alright, will have to get round to reading it then.

[Junior]

David Winner - Briiliant Orange, the neurotic genius of dutch football[/B]


A Great read - Would thoroughly recommend it for anyone looking for something a bit different from a footie book.

Cascarino's was decent enough for a biography

Celtic Minded is a decent read on what it means to be a Celtic supporter in Scotland. Lots of different contributions from professors, former players, fans etc..

[ColinR]

roy keane and the football civil war - excellent and very funny read if you are the keane camp (one to avoid if your anti-roy)

[Bluebeard]

I don't read too many football books any more, but I did love A Season with Verona by Tim Parks when I was wandering Italy last Summer. Very enjoyable someone else following a club facing relegation - an experience I am hoping that I won't be facing again :p

[green army]

i've read a few good football books. a season with verona is very good. probably the best one i read.
barca a peoples passion is another good one.
football against the enemy. (learnt alot about dinamo kiev and african attitude to football.)
i bought miracle of castel del sangio??(spelling) but i havent read it yet.

[A face]

While on this topic .... what goes eircom League related books have people read ??

[tetsujin1979]

Can't think of the name, but the author travelled to all the ibggest derbies in the world - Old Firm, Liverpool, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Istanbul - to see which really is the best derby. Cracking book.

[pete]

While on this topic .... what goes eircom League related books have people read ??

One that most people would probably mention is
There's Only One Red Army - Eamonn Sweeney (http://www.sligorovers.com/club/books/srfc_books.htm)

Very unique to League of Ireland. Might be dated now but passage about Milltown "performance" can still make me laugh.

[gustavo]

great thing about the book is that you dont really have to know anything about football , most irish males can relate to it.

[Éanna]

One that most people would probably mention is
There's Only One Red Army - Eamonn Sweeney (http://www.sligorovers.com/club/books/srfc_books.htm)

Very unique to League of Ireland. Might be dated now but passage about Milltown "performance" can still make me laugh.
absolutely excellent read.

Also good are Barca: A People's passion, and Morbo.

[Poor Student]

One of the best I've read is "Football against the enemy" by Simon Kuper. Fantastic insight into world football and some insight into the biggest club derby games too. :cool:

It's alright. Certainly well worth a read but drags on a bit and he kind of loses coherency in the points he is trying to make in general in a wider context. If I recall correctly his two major points were that politics and football are inexorably linked and that the style of play of a national team or clubs league reflects a nation's character on a deep level. He doesn't really tie these lines of argument together well. None the less it is not a worthless stab and the book has merit. It is also an interesting read as it was written in about 1992 shortly after the fall of the Berlin wall. It gives you a good feel of how football has changed and a bit about post Soviet pre EU life in the Eastern bloc.

[green army]

Can't think of the name, but the author travelled to all the ibggest derbies in the world - Old Firm, Liverpool, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Istanbul - to see which really is the best derby. Cracking book.

i read a book like that. is it the one where the author and his mate go to prague to watch sparta and slavia prague. he missed the game by a day, only realised it when he saw pictures in the paper and ended up going to a less glamorous game between the bottom two teams.it was a crap game.

[Macy]

i bought miracle of castel del sangio??(spelling) but i havent read it yet.
Couldn't finish that book - hated the author too much from about chapter 2.

Got "The Boss" last year, and have Fergie's Autobiography. Both excellent, and with the two you get a good rounded image off him.

Quinn's autobiography - well written (by Humpries obv), but still didn't warm to him.

Keane book is okay, bit short if you consider his career.

My personal favourite football book is "A Strange Kind Of Glory", Dunphy's biog of Sir Matt Busby. I'd recommend it to all but the most ABU-ist.

[Macy]

Enjoyed Bufrod's 'Among the Thugs' 15 years back when books about hooliganism were rare, now there all over the place and frankly most are absolutely terrible and can only appeal to the semi-literate.
Would've put that at older, but maybe not. Wasn't overly impressed tbh - another clueless yank, imo obviously.

[Rovers Fellow!]

Enjoyed Football against the enemy by Simon Kuper,

Derby Days by Dougie And Eddie Brimson, Some of it is about hooliganism but some there alot about how rivalry affects, family, friends, people at work etc and theres some very funny stories.

Gazza's Autobiography is actually a great read, very funny although I always hated him.

Scoring, an experts view by FranK Mcavennie is another very good autobiography. Some great stories, Some terrible stuff written about him in some of the brit rag tabloids, which he puts right in the book, think I believe him considering the rubbish papers that made him out to be some big drug dealer.

Miracle of Castel Di Sangro, great stuff.

Havent read the one red army about Sligo Rovers but heard its great read, must get my hands on it

[ciaran76]

How they stole the game by David Yallop is a good read.
Mainly about all the money that is in football and how people are just ripping the fans off.
Excellent readf in my opinion and also easy to get from most libarys.

[JoeSemi]

'Futebol-A Brazilian Way of Life' is a crackin read. Can't remember the author but it explores everything from Brazilian footballers playing in the Faroe Islands to the story of Ronaldo's breakdown at France 98'.

'Barca- A People's Passion' by Jimmy Burns gives foundation and insight into why it is more than a club and will make you want to visit the place all the more.

'Hand of God' by Jimmy Burns is a classic, although the autobiography itself might show Maradona in a different light.

Best autobiographies have to be Cascarino, Quinn, Adams and Di Canio.

[JoeSemi]

Can't think of the name, but the author travelled to all the ibggest derbies in the world - Old Firm, Liverpool, Madrid, Buenos Aires, Istanbul - to see which really is the best derby. Cracking book.

Its 'Us versus Them' by Giles Goodhead. Great book. Don't think he did Liverpool. It was the North London derby in England he went to as far as i remember.

[pete]

How they stole the game by David Yallop is a good read.
Mainly about all the money that is in football and how people are just ripping the fans off.
Excellent readf in my opinion and also easy to get from most libarys.

Yeah thats good read too. If you email the author & send him a cheque he'll post a signed copy himself...

[davey]

Eammon Sweeneys "Theres only one red army" - one of the funniest books I've ever read - brilliant.

Garry Jenkins "The Beautiful Team" - guy goes in search of Brazil 1970 squad - excellent

Rough Guide book of Cult Football - great toilet book :) loads of hilarious and little know facts

[lopez]

My faves:

Out of his skin : The John Barnes Phenomenon by Dave Hill

The Sash He Never Wore by Derek Dougan

The Team That Jack Built by Paul Rowan

Hand of God, Barca & When B*ckham Went To Spain all by Jimmy Burns

Football Against The Enemy & Ajax: The Dutch, The War by Simon Kuper.

[Longfordian]

'A season with Verona' by Tim Parks is also excellent

[ciaran76]

'A season with Verona' by Tim Parks is also excellent
I have heard this book pop up a few times in conversation of footie books so might go out and get this one.

[Junior]

I have heard this book pop up a few times in conversation of footie books so might go out and get this one.

I am about 6 games in to the season on this one and I'm loving it. It helps that I love Italy as a travel destination as well, couple that with a bloke picking a local team to support in a foreign country (though he has lived there for 20 years) and it could be any one of us doing it. Its great stuff so far!

[Baker]

Found Football against the enemy by Simon Kuper really interesting, although one or two of the chapters were a bit boring.

Another one along the same lines I liked was Dynamo by Andy Dougan. Its mentioned in Football against the Enemy.
Its about a game in occupied Kiev during World War 2 between a Luftwaffe team and a local team made up of many former Dynamo Kiev players.
Ive heard they got the idea for Escape to Victory from it!

[colblimp]

'Tales from the Boot Camps' by Steve Claridge is a good read.

'Motsons National Obsession' by, er, John Motson is full of trivia and is, really, a must.

Kenny Dalglish's auto-biography is also very good.

[Longfordian]

I am about 6 games in to the season on this one and I'm loving it. It helps that I love Italy as a travel destination as well, couple that with a bloke picking a local team to support in a foreign country (though he has lived there for 20 years) and it could be any one of us doing it. Its great stuff so far!

It is quality, it really brings across the passion that all home and away supporters of their club have, so many bad games but you'll still go the next week and travel wherever you have to travel to because you're passionate about it, be it Eircom League or Serie A the emotions are the same.

[ollie]

my favourites:

"Football against the enemy" by Simon Kuper
The Roy Keane autobiography
the niall quinn autobiography
the tony cascarino autobiography
Man.Utd ruined my life

[Eire06]

Soccer for Dummies (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0764552295/qid=1112795067/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-4082871-8949454?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) :confused: :( :confused: :rolleyes: :D

[Éanna]

Soccer for Dummies (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0764552295/qid=1112795067/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/103-4082871-8949454?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
along that line, anyone know where to get a copy of that book Mrs Doyle was reading in the Fr Ted episode with the priests 5-a-side. "Football for Women" or something it was called. I'm sure it would be a great read ;) :p

[Eire06]

along that line, anyone know where to get a copy of that book Mrs Doyle was reading in the Fr Ted episode with the priests 5-a-side. "Football for Women" or something it was called. I'm sure it would be a great read ;) :p

Will this one do Éanna
Football for Women: And Men Who Want to Learn the Game (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0915765810/qid=1112802062/sr=1-11/ref=sr_1_0_11/202-2818416-4535829) :D

[Macy]

Bought this book a few years ago - not that well written but the author's passion and desire to learn as much as he can of the game shines through. I think the club was back in Serie B recently.
I think there's a plan to make a film of the book soon.
Worth checking out - got a lot of good recommendations from footie magazines when it first appeared.
agh, can i just repeat my contempt for this book and it's author. :eek: :)

[hamish]

Apologies, it should have been Tuff Paddy, I called you.

[wws]

some good recommendations in this thread already

have read football against the enemy which is more a collection of anecdotes and tales rather than any great look at football that is claimed - still great read in parts though

Morbo by Phil Ball is a great read for those wanting to get to know spanish football culture a little better - can be a bit boring in parts so you'd have to be interested in spanish football to get it

theres a book just out about the english game - origins history and culture - the writer was on the george hook show the other day and he was definitely entertaining so i might check it out - anyone catch the name?????


theres nothing worse than po faced books on football that take themselves to seriously so I steer clear of anything to do with Barca or Alex Ferguson

[Schumi]

theres a book just out about the english game - origins history and culture - the writer was on the george hook show the other day and he was definitely entertaining so i might check it out - anyone catch the name?????
It was something like "English football: a sensual history" I think.

*edit* Those Feet: a sensual history of English football: David Winner (http://www.newstatesman.com/Bookshop/300000095809)

[Karlos]

It was something like "English football: a sensual history" I think.

*edit* Those Feet: a sensual history of English football: David Winner (http://www.newstatesman.com/Bookshop/300000095809)

Yep that's the one! Same guy that wrote 'Brilliant Orange: the neurotic genius of dutch football'. If it's half as good as that one it will be well worth a read. Must get it myself