el Related Books

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Title : There's Only One Red Army
Author : Eamonn Sweeney
ISBN : 1902602404
Publication Date : 31/10/2000
Format : Paperback - 253 pages
Publisher : NEW ISLAND BOOKS

Purchase : Buy it online

Synopsis : Eamonn Sweeney in "There's Only One Red Army", shows us a family held together by their devotion to a football team, Sligo Rovers. To say that they were held together is not quite accurate, since his parents' marriage did not last, but the team was the common denominator, the subject on which all the family could agree and which was the only thing to draw them together. It is possible for this book to be enjoyed by those with only a limited interest in football in general and Sligo Rovers in particular, revealing as it does a combination of humour and sadness and a notable honesty.

Taken from www.emigrant.ie

Review :

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Title : Who Stole Our Game
Author : Daire Whelan
ISBN : 0717140040
Publication Date : 31/10/2006
Format : Paperback
Publisher : GILL & MACMILLAN LTD

Purchase : Buy it online

Synopsis : How has the most popular game in the country failed so spectacularly over five decades? Who is responsible for the fall and fall of the League of Ireland? Based on interviews with players, managers, fans, club owners and officials, this book provides the answer, and examines what the future might hold for Ireland's own beautiful game.

Review : No. 1 - In a league starved of media attention, where a pocket rule could comfortably measure the daily column inches dedicated to our game, we first and foremost must be filled with great excitement and anticipation that someone has taken the time to write a book about the League of Ireland. It’s better still that a publisher has put their winnings from El Punter’s tips behind it to get it on the shelves of all good bookstores.

The someone who took the time in this case is Daire Whelan, a supporter of club football in Ireland who has tried to explain the empty seats and media indifference to the beautiful game on these shores. The old timers around the grounds often tell tales of big games from ye olde days with massive attendances, where people couldn’t get in to the ground and had to go back to their bicycles and pedal home again.

Read more on www.walkthechalk.com

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Title : We Are Rovers - Voices of Irish Sport (An Oral History of Shamrock Rovers FC)
Author : Eoghan Rice
ISBN : 1845885104
Publication Date : 7/10/2005
Format : Paperback - 191 pages
Size : 156mm x 235mm
Publisher : Nonsuch Publishing

Purchase : Buy it online

Synopsis : A book in the 'Oral History Series' in which fans, players and managers of Shamrock Rovers FC recall their memories of the Irish club. Also includes photographs. A highly personal oral history that largely sums up the Rovers' experience from a variety of perspectives - if only this had been written 20 or more years previously when key figures in the club's early years were still alive!

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Title : From The Lodge To The Box - A Miscellany of Cork Soccer
Author : Plunkett Carter
ISBN : N/A
Publication Date : 01/02/2002
Format : Paperback - 160 pages
Publisher : Greenmount Rangers AFC

Purchase :

Synopsis : This is a comprehensive guide to Cork Soccer in the 20th Century and after. This is essential reading for any Cork soccer fan. For a subject that is poorly covered and could be described as undocumented, this book does the necessary to bring the reader up to brief.

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Title : Evening Echo "Century of Cork Soccer Memories"
Author : Plunkett Carter
ISBN :
Publication Date :
Format : Paperback
Publisher :

Purchase :

Synopsis :

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Title : Supporters Guide eircom FAI Clubs 2006
Author : John Robinson
ISBN : 1862231451
Publication Date : 05/01/2006
Format : Paperback
Publisher : Soccer Books

Purchase : Buy it online

Synopsis : Following the success of the 2005 edition, this 4th edition will be in the same format providing updated information about senior club sides in the Republic of Ireland. Travelling information, contact details and new ground photographs are included, together with disabled information for each of the Eircom League clubs in the Premier and First Divisions. Much more than just a guide, it provides a full statistical record of the League for the last 10 seasons and also includes a full record of the games played by the Irish National Team during the past 20 years, and other statistical information concerning the country's major football competitions.

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Title : The History of Dundalk F.C. – The First 100 Years
Author : Jim Murphy
ISBN : 0000342041
Publication Date : 01/01/2003
Format : Hardback - 485 pages.
Size : 178mm x 250mm
Publisher : J. Murphy

Purchase : Order the book

Synopsis : An excellent, well-produced official history of the Irish club Dundalk F.C. throughout its first 100 years. Includes a statistical section featuring the result of every game 1926-2003

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Title : Singing The Blues
Author : Brian Kennedy
ISBN : 0955309816
Publication Date : 01/11/2006
Format : Paperback - 202 pages
Size : A5
Publisher : Zesty Thorndyke Publishing

Purchase : Buy It Online

Synopsis : Enjoy one fan's look at the Blues down through the years. Through the good times and the bad, from 1930 to the Cup Final of 2004. Written by Brian Kennedy this is a must read for all fans of Waterford United. 75 years is a long time in football. In that period Waterford has seen it all. Six titles in eight seasons, record-breaking runs, glorious nights in Europe. It's also seen relegation, re-election and an on-going struggle to survive Thousands of fans in the sixties - hundreds of supporters in the eighties. This his third book is a quirky look at the last 75 years of Waterford United told in his own unique style. It chapters the birth of the club in the 30's to the present day team playing at the RSC.

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Title : Come on the Hoops - the Story of Shamrock Rovers, Irelands Greatest Soccer Club
Author : Charlie Willoughby
ISBN : N/A
Publication Date : 1987
Format : Softback - 144 Pages plus cover
Size :
Publisher : DBA Publications Ltd

Purchase :

Synopsis : Brief, rather patchy and considerably idiosyncratic history. Disparaging comparisons with the fictitious works of Flann O'Brien and James Joyce are sadly valid. A history of the club, was published in 1987 just after the disastrous sale of Glenmalure Park.

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Title : The Hoops - History of Shamrock Rovers
Author : Robert Goggins, Paul Doolan
ISBN : 0717121216
Publication Date : 01/10/1993
Format : Paperback - 388 pages
Size :
Publisher : Gill & Macmillan

Purchase :

Synopsis : Founded in Ringsend in 1901, Shamrock Rovers is the most famous club in Irish football. After a number of false starts, Rovers eventually established themselves in the League of Ireland in the early 1920s and have been Ireland's glamour team ever since. The Hoops have won the League of Ireland 14 times, in the 1950s they produced one of the greatest teams ever seen in Irish soccer under the leadership of Paddy Coad, although some would argue that the 1960s team that won the cup six times in a row was an even greater side. This book draws upon all the surviving records of the club as well as on interviews with members and players, old and new. It traces the Rovers' story from early beginnings through the glory years to the barren 1970s and the trauma of the move from Milltown in the late 1980s. It recalls the clubs triumphs, both in Ireland and in Europe.

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Title : Shamrock Rovers Football Club: 100 Years
Author : Robert Goggins
ISBN : N/A
Publication Date : 2002
Format : Softback - 120 pages plus cover
Size :
Publisher : SRFC in-house published (Kilkenny People)

Purchase :

Synopsis : Largely pictorial history that has unavoidable gaps but boasts some evocative images and startling statistics. A true labour of love. A coffee table version would be an essential purchase.

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Title : The Strings Of My Harps
Author : Patsy McGowan
ISBN : N/A
Publication Date : 1998
Format : Paperback, 208 pages
Size : 209 x 145 mm
Publisher : Browne Printers Letterkenny

Purchase : No longer widely available, you occasionally see copies in Donegal bookshops though

Synopsis : Patsy McGowan, Harps 3-time manager and one of the leading forces behind the clubs formation and rise to prominence tells the unlikely story of a a rural club that went from junior football to European football in a couple of years.

Review : A brilliant book a little spoiled by McGowan's bitterness at times. Some of the stories and and anecdotes are laugh out loud funny, and the story overall is a bit of a football fairytale. A great story of a club run on a wing and a prayer, and the chapter about the tour of the USA is particularly interesting. Last chapter is titled 'Watching Harps Die', which is annoying. A must for any Irish football fan that can get their hands on it though.

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Title : Dyed in the Wool
Author : Robin Browett
ISBN : N/A
Publication Date : 2005
Format : Softback - 162 pages
Size :
Publisher : Privately Published (by his family)

Purchase :

Synopsis : Robin's book is a personal travelogue about football and the people he met, rather than being a 'Rovers' book. It's people such as him that makes Shamrock Rovers a great club to support and Rovers fans will honour Robert and others who didn't make it to Tallaght when we do eventually get there. Rovers is a magnet for people with attitude and Robin had it in bucketloads. Respect. This diary about following Rovers, which was published posthumously as Robin suffered from spina bifida and has since left us. R.I.P.

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Title : North West Frontier: Professional Football In The F.A.I. National League
Author : Conall Collier
ISBN : 0953319806
Publication Date : 01/01/1998
Format : Paperback - 288 pages
Size : A5
Publisher : Fifth Province

Purchase :

Synopsis : North West Frontier puts the FAI National League and professional football club sligo Rovers under the microscope during a 16-month period from July 1997 to October 1998 (taken from introduction)

Review : Great snapshot of Sligo Rovers and the LOI in the late 1990s as Conall Collier follows the highs and lows of the league in 1997/98. Some great quotes, perspectives and photos from the time.

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Title : Mud, Sweat and Jeers
Author : Jim Rhatigan
ISBN : None
Publication Date : Circa 2000
Format : Paperback - Pocket sized book 214 pages
Publisher : Kilkenny People Printing Limited

Purchase : Jim Rhatigan

Synopsis : General manager Jim Rhatigan wrote "Mud, Sweat and Jeers" a semi autobiographial account of the founding of the club. The books is available in Holohan’s Newsagents, Kilkenny St. An excellent read, the book is full of anecdotes that could well apply to any sporting club. The format is short pieces on the history and people involved in Kilkenny City since its inception as EMFA in 1966, also interspersed with photographs. A highly entertaining and essential read for an eircom League or football fan.

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Title : The Beautiful Game in the Beautiful City
Author : Martin Heffernan told by Gerard Sweeney
ISBN : None
Publication Date : Circa 2005-6
Format : Paperback
Publisher : Unknown

Purchase : Local Stores in Cork

Synopsis : "The Beautiful Game in the Beautiful City, not so charming or pretty. A wry keen look at life in Cork Soccer."

Review : This book typifies football in Cork, not just in recent years but going back several years. The book hinges on the efforts to start a footballing academy in Cork and all the politics that is involved. You could say it is depicts the lack of organisation and foresight involved in this gallant effort, and that it highlights the need for unified effort and cohesion or solidarity. I would then say it highlights the single mindedness, obstinate attitude and short-sightedness of the people involved.

Before i go any further, i do want to say that the whole project was admirable and well intended, or from what i read at least. The over all objective of the project is not clear and having read the book is questionable to say the least.

Alarm bells should have been ringing very early on in the campaign to get the project off the ground. Hand shakes for the newspapers and commendable vocal support was never going to assist in a project like this. Concrete quantifiable support and tangible backing for the project did not appear to be evident at any stage and shear endeavour was never going to be enough to make it viable. And as a result this leaded itself to the opening / closing episode of this book. It truly was a cart before the horse situation and it was glaring from the onset.

The book itself is very light on detail and the actual vital planning and the project management aspects of the academy so its hard to see where the vision and aims of the project correlated to the forecasting and scheduling of the terminal elements that would be necessary in a venture like this. There also is no mention of research and investigation into previous or current schemes. So much so it seems it was never done.

At the risk of sounding very cynical and harsh, this book illustrate a text book case on how not to do it.

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Title: The Garrison Game - The State of Irish Football
Author: Dave Hannigan
ISBN: 1 85158 980 5
Publication Date: 1998
Format: Hardback - 190 pages
Size: A5
Publisher: Mainstream Publishing (UK).

Purchase: Purchased second-hand in London

Brief Description: In the beginning, association football in Ireland was known as the garrison game because it was played in towns where British garrisons existed. This book traces the growth of interest in the sport, examining the relationship between Ireland and the British game.

Synopsis: Looks primarily at the international game, from the day Jack Charlton took over up to 1998 - although the Introduction (18 pages long) contains a number of references to EL clubs. In the beginning, association football in Ireland was known as the garrison game: the game played in those towns where British garrisons existed when the country was under foreign rule. To its critics, it was just a crude no-hands variation on the indigenous sport of Gaelic football. These days it consumes much of the country.

This book traces the growth in interest from the day 12 years ago when Jack Charlton took over as manager of the then struggling Republic of Ireland international team to the present, a time when there are more Irish professionals playing in Britain than ever before. From Roy Keane of Manchester United to John Donegan of Forfar Athletic, it examines the relationship between Ireland and the British game.

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Title : A History of Derry City Football and Athletic Club 1929-1972
Author : W.H.W. Platt
ISBN : 0950195324
Publication Date : 1986
Format : Paperback
Size : 204 pages
Publisher : WHW Platt (Coleraine) - seems to have been self-published.

Purchase : Out of print: Have only seen it in second hand book shops or programme fairs.

Synopsis : Presents the results, goalscorers, all outstanding features and achievements etc of every game played by Derry City at senior level, week by week from 1929 to 1972.

Review : Lots of facts & figures. A useful reference book but no discussion or analysis of anything happening off the pitch e.g. how the political situation affected the club. One for the stattos.

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Title : A History of Athlone Town Football Club - The First 101 Years
Author : Frank Lynch
ISBN :
Publication Date : 1991
Format : 399 pages
Size : 21 cm
Publisher :

Purchase :

Synopsis : The history of Athlone Town Football Club

Review :

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Anyone interested in writing a review for eL related books ??

The walkthechalk boys have a review of Who Stole our Game? here

Mod : Who wrote the review though? and would it be cool to copy? Any more info would be more than welcome aswell.