Football books and documentaries

**Seano** · 20/04/2006, 2:44 PM

What has been the best football book and documentary ?
For me - Eammon Dunphy's 'Its only a game/' and the cutting edge documentary on Graham Taylor

**drinkfeckarse** · 20/04/2006, 3:50 PM

Best football book(s) I've read are Roy Keane's autobiography and Simon Kuper's Football Against The Enemy.

Not sure off the top of my head about the documentary.

**NeilMcD** · 20/04/2006, 4:28 PM

Just off the top my head Cascarinos book is quite good. He is a bit of a knob but a good book nonetheless. The book on Verona is great also, shows up the Italian game

**CraftyToePoke** · 20/04/2006, 4:49 PM

brilliant orange is meant to be..........brilliant, gotta admit ive yet to read it though.

i read David Ickes 'its a tough game son' recently and surprsingly enough for a man who went as mad as he did, its not bad read. focuses largely on those in youth academies who dont go on to live the dream and play for a living.

**Pat O' Banton** · 20/04/2006, 6:45 PM

Holland 'A Brilliant Orange', Germany with 'Tor' and Spain; 'Morbo' have all been blessed with excelent books. 'Football against the Enemy' by Simon Kuper is a brilliant look at football and politics around the world. For biographies, the previously mention 'Only a Game' by Dunphy is very good - how come he is such an eejit generally?- and I also like Niall Quinn's book. I try to stay away from hooly books as they tend to be badly written and have little conection with Football, 'Steaming In' bucks this trend (although he is partly responsible for starting it) and finally and predictably Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby has given rise to a sad generation of band wagon jumping middle class gits in Premiership grounds but thats hardly his fault for writting a superb book.

**gustavo** · 20/04/2006, 11:34 PM

"Theres only one Red Army"-Eamonn Sweeney.

**Hitman** · 21/04/2006, 8:09 AM

There was a decent Channel 4 documentary on the Chelsea youth team years back. Graham Rix was in charge, Jody Morris was the star player, I think Neil Clement was the only other one on the team to make it.

**ciaran76** · 21/04/2006, 9:59 AM

How They Stole the Game by David Yallop .

Makes you realize the corruption that swirls around FIFA and the likes.
Nearly turns you off football

**Donadoni** · 21/04/2006, 10:30 AM

Best football book I've read is 'The Miracle of Castel di Sangro'. A small town's season in Serie B. If Mario Puzo had been a sports writer then this is the sort of book he might have come up with. Cascarino's biography was surprisingly good. I loved reading the book despite ending up with the opinion that Cascarino himself was dislikeable. Best documentary? I don't remember enjoying any documentary as much as I did the Taylor '94 non-qualification one already mentioned above. Haven't seen it it ages though. I also remember enjoying the documentary following our own qualification for the same tournament.

**pineapple stu** · 21/04/2006, 12:54 PM

One not mentioned above is Charlie Connolly's Stamping Grounds - a look at Liechtenstein's attempts to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. Interesting read!

**Duffman** · 21/04/2006, 12:57 PM

Pat Nevins book about 10 years ago was quite good. Different to the usual offering from former players. Something like "On my head son" or along those lines.

**Junior** · 21/04/2006, 1:01 PM

- Jimmy Burns - Hand of God
- A season with Verona, Brilliant Orange both already mentioned.

**green army** · 21/04/2006, 2:04 PM

fever pitch
miricle of castel di sangro
Ajax - the dutch, the war....
a season with verona.

**osgood was good** · 21/04/2006, 3:55 PM

One of the most entertaining books ive ever read was Frank Worthingtons autobiography ''One hump or two '' the title sums it up really . Think its still available .

Frank McAvenny's story was also a great read .

Got a DVD in London recently called ''Trouble on the terraces '' naratted by Sean Bean , rivitting stuff .

Another great doccumentry , if you can get your hands on it was a video i got in Denmark about 6 years ago called ''Dutch Gold '' It focuses on the great Dutch side of 1974 and 1978 . Might be on e bay .

Also , look out for ''Match of the Day '' 60's 70's 80's .

**osgood was good** · 21/04/2006, 3:57 PM

Donadoni, i have a copy of that Taylor doccumentry if your interested.
I can try put it onto a DVD for ya .

**el punter** · 22/04/2006, 10:01 AM

There was a cracking documentary made about Barcelona a few years when the current President Juan Laporte was in the process of ousting the old guard. Jimmy Burns book 'Barca' is good read as is his Maradona book previously mentioned.

Brilliant Orange is the best football book I've ever read though, covesr the entire Dutch mindset and their spectacular failures - hissy fits on the eve of big games etc. References art, architecture, politics and heaps more in a very readable and surprisingly relevant way.

The Kuper book and Morbo are on my 'to read' list

**CollegeTillIDie** · 22/04/2006, 10:14 AM

" Football Explains The World" By Franklin Foerr I think his name is, is great.
I also recently read " Behind The Curtain - Football in Eastern Europe" by Jonathan Wilson,another excellent read even if he ignored the ex-Czechoslovakia.
About to start Simon Kuper's "Football Against The Enemy" and looking forward to that!

**TheJamaicanP.M.** · 22/04/2006, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by Hitman

There was a decent Channel 4 documentary on the Chelsea youth team years back. Graham Rix was in charge, Jody Morris was the star player, I think Neil Clement was the only other one on the team to make it.

Yea, I'm remember seeing that one. At one point in the documentary, the team were in the dressing room and Rix singled out Jody Morris for praise. He told the squad that Morris would definitely make it in the game. I distinctly remember him saying that Morris had such a good attitude and was so well behaved. How things have changed since then.

As mentioned already, the Channel 4 documentary on Graham Taylor was outstanding. I also enjoyed a documentary made by the BBC on the Yugoslavia youth team of the 1980s. It was a team that included the likes of Boban, Savicevic, Mijatovic and Boksic, as well as a number of other players that went on to represent both Yugoslavia and Croatia. One can only imagine what that Yugoslav team may have gone onto achieve in Euro 92 and WC 94.

Best books I've read are those by Niall Quinn, Tony Cas and Johan Cryuff.

**John83** · 22/04/2006, 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by el punter

Jimmy Burns book 'Barca' is good read as is his Maradona book previously mentioned.

Barca's an interesting read, though it struck me as being very much from the point of view of a Barca fan, rather than an impartial piece of journalism.

One of my favourite football books is Ajax, Barcelona, Cruyff. It's fascinating to read Curijff's opinions on football. They're so clear - he gets across in a sentance more than you'll ever hear from most footballers. Some of it is so simple, but it really makes sense. Just as an example, he says that the real indication of a good footballer isn't what he can do when he's got lots of space, it's what he can do with none ["put 'em under pressure" and images of Bergkamp doing things with his first touch that most footballers can't in three come to mind]. He says that a good footballer needs just two things - first touch and passing. Everything else is finesse [think of how the Dutch at their best, or the Brazilians, or Barcelona play - they can all pass a team to death].

It's written by a couple of Dutch journalists. Cruyff wasn't too free with interviews. He would charge for them and rarely did them at all. He trusted the guys who wrote the book though, and they had more access to him than any other journalists. The material in the book comes from interviews with Cruijff over the years, and it makes for a fascinating reading.

**el punter** · 22/04/2006, 2:43 PM

Originally Posted by John83

Barca's an interesting read, though it struck me as being very much from the point of view of a Barca fan, rather than an impartial piece of journalism.

I agree with this, but it's not difficult to be swept up in the whole Barca thing....their indifference to Spain, the membership owning the club, the GREAT players....it's all very romantic and satisfying.