QuoteWhy is this thread in the Eircom league section...?
Have the usually ruthless and efficient mods fallen asleep on this watch.....?
Seconded, Futebol is a brilliant book.Originally Posted by blackholesun
I'm currently reading Garrincha's biography.
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Why is this thread in the Eircom league section...?
Have the usually ruthless and efficient mods fallen asleep on this watch.....?
Football Against The Enemy by Simon Kuper is an excelent book as is John Foots Calco. My Favourite Year is also quite good, Roddy Doyle writes a piece in it about Ireland during Italia 90. EL Diego , Maradonas autobiography was a pile of pants. Not as "colourfull" as i thought it would be at all, all along the lines of " we played this match... we won.. we played again.. we lost. No menton of drug fulled romps with prostitutes/shooting at journalists/hanging out with gangsters, very disappointing.
Am sure there will be more additions to this thread following the Christmas read-a-thon.
Was mentioned before, but The Damned United really is an excellent read, hard to put down. Only got it yesterday but almost finished now. Better get back to it actually.......
Build A Bonfire, although good luck finding a copy due to its revered status amongst Brighton fans - Tallaght Library has one weirdly. Narrative account of two years spent trying to de-seat the chairman of a club he was resolutely asset stripping.
You can get it on amazon, from £68 though!
If you're looking for something new and a bit different you could try More Than Just A Game by Chuck Korr and Marvin Close. It's the story of the prisoners of Robben Island and the football league they sent up.
Nvmqvam Deorsvm
As it's a book on the LOI and there aren't many out there it's probably worth a read.
But I found it to be very, very poor, and a real waste of a good premise. It offers no new insights and many of the conclusions drawn are just plain wrong.
Also, it's ridiculously weighted towards Shamrock Rovers and Drumcondra. I remember going through it ages ago, actually maybe in this thread, but a load of teams are very poorly represented, and for a history of domestic football to have no reference to Finn Harps whatever in the index is nothing short of shameful.
Anyway, many many good books mentioned, but I'd add my recommendation to, among others:
Singing The Blues and Blue, White & Dynamite by Brian Kennedy
Only One Red Army by Eamonn Sweeney
Strings Of My Harps by Patsy McGowan
The Miracle Of Castel di Sangro by Joe McGinniss
A Season With Verona by Tim Parks
My Father And Other Working Class Heroes by Gary Imlach
Only The Goalkeeper To Beat by Francis Hodgson
Football Against The Enemy by Simon Kuper
Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius Of Dutch Football by David Winner
The Damned United by David Peace
And the autobiogs of Niall Quinn, Paul McGrath (Back From The Brink) and especially Tony Cascarino (Full Time)
Just noticed am a bit light on recent ones there, could do with a few new recommendations!
Last edited by stann; 03/01/2009 at 10:17 PM.
more bass
It isn't, and nor does it claim to be, a history of Irish football in the sense that you're suggesting.
It's a book about a very specific processfor Irish football - namely its erosion versus competitor overseas leagues. Ignoring a plethora of teams, inclusing Finn Harps, in pursuit of that bigger picture is therefore entirely understandable.
Wasn't suggesting that it's an exhaustive history of Irish football. But it is a history, of sorts. And it does purport to deal with domestic football.
It's subtitled 'The Fall And Fall Of Irish Soccer' after all.
It should have been 'The Fall And Fall Of Two Teams In Dublin'.
Last edited by stann; 04/01/2009 at 10:16 PM.
more bass
This book is quite good - a chapter on football, past and present, on each of about 15 former communist countries.
http://www.walkthechalk.com/extras.php?cid=2&id=15
I tend to avoid football books (and I'm prepared to admit that is just down to my ignorance).
However, this looks promising... similar territory to There's Only One Red Army. Real Football, Real Fans... and gets a very positive review from Hunter Davies. Sorry if it's already been mentioned.
Just started More Than Just A Game- Football Vs Apartheid. It's the story of the football association that was run by the prisoners on Ellis Island in South Africa. Seems good so far.
Galway United - Connacht Champions 2008
Left foot forward is a great read and i would recommend it to anyone who has any insterest in football - must have a look for the sequel
are you sure fever pitch is fiction? i thought it was a sort of autobiographical thing
Apologoes for the bumpage but just wanted to post this link from the Guardian website somewhere:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010...football-books
From Arthur Hopcraft to Nick Hornby, the award-winning journalist chooses the books that have improved our understanding of the beautiful game.
Each to their own, I would have Simon Inglis and Brian Glanville on a short list. I flick through that Sandro Solinas book 'Stadio D'Italia'. Mostly for the pictures.
I seen Glanville arguing with Peter Davies on TV in the early nineties. During the programme Glanville the Italian-phile stated "Your pronounciation of Cagliari shows your ignorance of Italian Football."
Only read a couple of Simon Inglis books, I bought the hardback version of The Football Grounds of Europe (1990), hits the mark on a few different football themes.
The book is still in good shape after all these years, most of the pages are stuck together though.
" I'll go right up to here,
it can't possibly hurt.
All they will find is my
beer and my shirt."
I agree, Simon Inglis' Fottoball ground of Europe is still one of the best book I've ever read, despite some embarassing pure british comments in the text. Definitly out of date but still a very enjoyable reading. Without this book I've probably never published my Stadi d'Italia.
Nvmqvam Deorsvm
Just finished the book on the LOI, "Who stole our game" by Daire Whelan, a history of incompetence in the FAI and LOI. Quite a depressing read but well researched and thougt provoking.
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