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Whats the best FOOTBALL book you have ever read ?



Easy 10

Brain dead MUG SHEEP
Jul 5, 2003
61,673
Location Location
I picked this up recently

51haf8SIgnL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


Before you close the thread and report me, its actually a truly marvelous account by a USA journalist (Chuck Culpepper) who grew bored and weary of the NFL / MLB / NBA. So he flies to England, picks a PL team (at the time P#@*#y), and follows them for a whole season. To hear an american's take on our game is (I think) genuinely fascinating. This chap is a wonderful wordsmith and has a fantastic turn of phrase.

Among the highlights for me is when he goes to Villa Park when they play Birmingham, and he is utterly agog at the chant "cheer up Stevie Bruce, oh what can it mean to a fat geordie bastad and a shit football team". Hearing football fans adapt "Cheer Up Sleepy Jean" to an abusive football chant simply blew his mind. Its nothing to us, but its lovely to see how alien our fans behaviour is to an american.

Massively entertaining read.
 














Mellor 3 Ward 4

Well-known member
Jul 27, 2004
9,756
saaf of the water
I really enjoyed "All played Out" by Pete Davies.

It's the story of Italia 90 - from the players and fans point of view, and how English football changed during that World Cup.

I was there in Italy during the Summer of 1990, and the book brought back many memories. What a brilliant World Cup that was.
 






Easy 10

Brain dead MUG SHEEP
Jul 5, 2003
61,673
Location Location
I really enjoyed "All played Out" by Pete Davies.

It's the story of Italia 90 - from the players and fans point of view, and how English football changed during that World Cup.

I was there in Italy during the Summer of 1990, and the book brought back many memories. What a brilliant World Cup that was.

Yup, thats in my collection too, I've read that a couple of times and its superb. From the fans view, the journalists view, the access he had to the players, the manager, the stuffed shirts at FA at the time. Possibly one of the best football books ever written.
 


Not Andy Naylor

Well-known member
Dec 12, 2007
8,787
Seven Dials
The Far Corner by Harry Pearson, all about football in the North East, and Tales From The Boot Camps by Steve Claridge and Ian Ridley. Plus Football Grounds of Britain by Simon Inglis.
 


atfc village

Well-known member
Mar 28, 2013
5,012
Lower Bourne .Farnham
Outcasts The Lands That FIFA Forgot by Steve Menary. A book about lesser Football teams including The Falklands ,Northern Cyprus ,Greenland and many more.
 






Moshe Gariani

Well-known member
Mar 10, 2005
12,068
"Goalkeepers Are Different" by Brian Glanville.
 






trueblue

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
10,350
Hove
"All Played Out' may well be top of the list but a long time since I picked it up. 'The Miracle of Castel di Sangro' was excellent plus Gary Imlach's one about his Dad "My Father and Other Working Class Heroes'. Like the Cloughie one mentioned too and currently enjoying Pep: Confidential. Of the ones about players, Cascarino's certainly stood out. Basically, the best ones are about more than football.
 


wellquickwoody

Many More Voting Years
NSC Patreon
Aug 10, 2007
13,585
Melbourne
I picked this up recently

51haf8SIgnL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


Before you close the thread and report me, its actually a truly marvelous account by a USA journalist (Chuck Culpepper) who grew bored and weary of the NFL / MLB / NBA. So he flies to England, picks a PL team (at the time P#@*#y), and follows them for a whole season. To hear an american's take on our game is (I think) genuinely fascinating. This chap is a wonderful wordsmith and has a fantastic turn of phrase.

Among the highlights for me is when he goes to Villa Park when they play Birmingham, and he is utterly agog at the chant "cheer up Stevie Bruce, oh what can it mean to a fat geordie bastad and a shit football team". Hearing football fans adapt "Cheer Up Sleepy Jean" to an abusive football chant simply blew his mind. Its nothing to us, but its lovely to see how alien our fans behaviour is to an american.

Massively entertaining read.

Bill Bryson - Amongst the Thugs was an interesting account from across the pond too.
 








Jul 7, 2003
8,571
'The Miracle of Castel di Sangro' is a good call but Dynamo by Andy Duggan is probably the best out there about the Dynamo Kiev team during the Nazi occupation in World War 2.
 





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