Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 04:35:40 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Really good books about football (soccer)

Started by Blinder Data, January 18, 2019, 04:34:31 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Blinder Data

I am currently enjoying Sid Lowe's Fear and Loathing in La Liga: Barcelona vs Real Madrid. So far it is a really good book about football. It's a very readable account of the two clubs, telling the history of their rivalry through the key players, managers and presidents who directed the successes/failures of the clubs and added to the rivalry. Loved the sections on the Civil War, but that historical period has always been interesting to me.

I have Simon Kuper's Football Against the Enemy on my shelf which I've heard very good things about.

Any other reccos?

holyzombiejesus

I used to read football books and really enjoyed David Conn's The Football Business which talked about the start of the Premiership and what nasty greedy soulless cunts the majority of it's chairmen are. It's probably a bit out-dated now as it came out about 20 years ago.

Some journey man (Gary something?) wrote a good book about his life in the lower leagues and that was good, as are both volumes of Jimmy Greaves' autobiographies. I think the first one starts with him throwing up in the toilets before going on to Russell Harty's chatshow and ends with some homophobic abuse of Julian Clarey.

studpuppet

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on January 18, 2019, 10:44:55 PM
Some journey man (Gary something?) wrote a good book about his life in the lower leagues and that was good

That'll be Gary Nelson's Left Foot Forward: A Year In The Life Of A Journeyman Footballer, and its follow-up, Left Foot In The Grave.

You could also try (and apologies for the Amazon links but it's easier to read the blurbs there):

Soccernomics by Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski
The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw: The Robin Friday Story by Oasis's Guiggsy and Paolo Hewitt
Dynamo by Andy Dougan
My Father And Other Working Class Heros by Gary Imlach

Also - two Arsenal-centric books that non-supporters might appreciate:
Rebels For The Cause by Jon Spurling
Stuck In A Moment: The Ballad Of Paul Vaessen by Stewart Taylor

Oh, and some books that aren't specifically football-based but are fascinating are the Played In Britain series. I have the Played In London book but the others in the series are bound to be as interesting. They also published Engineering Archie which is an amazing book. Sample pages here:

http://www.playedinbritain.co.uk/pdf/engineering-archie-46-47.pdf
http://www.playedinbritain.co.uk/pdf/engineering-archie-140-141.pdf

sprocket

Any of the recommendations above that I've read were excellent, I'll throw in a few more.

Michael Calvin has a series of books examining the state of the English game, I've read The Nowhere Men, No Hunger In Paradise, and Living On The Volcano and enjoyed them all.

For biographies, A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke by Ronald Reng and Back from the Brink by Paul McGrath and Vincent Hogan are both excellent if quite bleak. Full Time: The Secret Life Of Tony Cascarino by Cascarino and Paul Kimmage was (slightly) lighter as far as I can remember, I'm not sure how much time is devoted to his glory days at Parkhead though.

The Damned United by David Peace (may depend on how well you get on with his writing style).

Once In A Lifetime  by Gavin Newsham (also a really good documentary of the same name).

The Miracle Of Castel Di Sangro by Joe McGinniss.

Tor! by Uli Hesse does a similar job to Lowe on the history of German football, Jimmy Burns' Barca covers much of the same ground.

For club-specific stuff Simon Hughes' Liverpool books are good enough to overlook the trauma of remembering Nicky Tanner.

The Mixer by Michael Cox is excellent look at how tactics evolved through the Premier League era. Well worth a read.

holyzombiejesus

Remember when football hooligan books were a thing?

Pranet

Inverting the Pyramid Jonathan Wilson a history of tactics.

Beastly Fury Richard Saunders History of early days of football. As I remember it says that most histories place too much emphasis on ex public school boys and not enough on the working class.

The Culture Bunker

I've always thought "A Strange Kind of Glory", a biography of Matt Busby by Eammon Dunphy, is an excellent read for anyone interested in the history of English football.

shh

Brilliant Orange about the history of Dutch football

Keebleman

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on January 19, 2019, 05:33:58 PM
Remember when football hooligan books were a thing?

Yes I do.  In 1997 I was working in a branch of Books Etc when an agent brought along two of her clients, Dougie and Eddy Brimson, to sign copies of their recent publication.  "This is Doug and Eddy," she said, "they've written a book."  I was impressed.  From the look of them I'd have been impressed if she'd told me they'd read a book.

Mark Steels Stockbroker

Mark Hodkinson - Believe In The Sign. Also a perfect evocation of the shit 70s.

jobotic

I remember enjoying Behind The Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football by Jonathan Wilson but it's probably massively out of date now.

hummingofevil

Quote from: jobotic on January 21, 2019, 10:41:51 AM
I remember enjoying Behind The Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football by Jonathan Wilson but it's probably massively out of date now.

I read it not so long ago and it's great.

Tim Vickery correctly suggests staring with David Goldblatt's The Ball Is Round. It really worth the effort.

I quite liked Calcio about history of Italian football.

Pirlo's biography is good. Zlatan's is a great read. Does a really good job at getting you to empathise with a 6ft+ black belt Tae Kwon Do multi-millionaire footballing immigrant Swedish genius (and I'm none of those things).

Bogbrainedmurphy

I recommend Pete Davies' "All Played Out/One Night In Turin" so often that I should be on commission, a superb read.

Michael Gibbons' "When Football Came Home - England, the English and Euro 96" is also good, looks at the culture surrounding the time too as well as the tournament.

Tim Parks "A Season With Verona" is great too, the kind of thing I wish there were more of. It's part travelogue part social study part Serie A review.


jamiefairlie

Quote from: Pranet on January 19, 2019, 07:22:53 PM
Inverting the Pyramid Jonathan Wilson a history of tactics.

Beastly Fury Richard Saunders History of early days of football. As I remember it says that most histories place too much emphasis on ex public school boys and not enough on the working class.

Both excellent, good call.

jamiefairlie

Quote from: The Culture Bunker on January 19, 2019, 07:35:53 PM
I've always thought "A Strange Kind of Glory", a biography of Matt Busby by Eammon Dunphy, is an excellent read for anyone interested in the history of English football.

Dunphy's Only A Game is really good too.

Jockice

If we're talking novels, The Damned United is excellent (even though I've never been able to finish another David Peace book) and I have very fond memories of reading The Blinder by Barry Hines when I should have been studying for my O-levels.

sprocket

Quote from: Bogbrainedmurphy on February 04, 2019, 01:19:37 PM
Michael Gibbons' "When Football Came Home - England, the English and Euro 96" is also good, looks at the culture surrounding the time too as well as the tournament.

Reminds me that I should have mentioned Danish Dynamite which he co-wrote with Rob Smyth and Lars Eriksen.

The Blizzard is also worth checking out for long-form pieces, I think non-subscribers can access three per month.

Rolf Lundgren

'Garrincha: The Triumph and Tragedy of Brazil's Forgotten Footballing Hero' by Ruy Castro is probably the best football biography I've ever read. Can't recommend it enough.

'A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke' by Ronald Reng. Very sad as you might expect but a fascinating and sympathetic insight into depression. A book for anyone who wonders why rich, successful people would be depressed.

'The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro' by Joe McGinniss as mentioned above. Loud American blowhard who knows virtually nothing about football, apart from an appreciation of Roberto Baggio, immerses himself into a newly promoted Serie B team by moving into the tiny village where they play. McGuinness' bluster and brute honesty eventually become endearing and there's an incredible ending.

'Provided You Don't Kiss Me' by Duncan Hamilton. I'm a Clough obsessive and love his autobiographies too but this book written by a local journalist in Nottingham gives you the best sense of the man with a fair and objective eye.

'O Louis' by Hugo Borst. Ostensibly a biography of Louis Van Gaal but in parts an autobiography of Hugo Borst and his fractious relationship with Van Gaal. Not to everyone's tastes but the style of writing is fantastic.

MiddleRabbit

The Numbers Game - David Sally.  Sounds dry, but isn't.  A statistical analysis of loads of things that throws much received wisdom into doubt.  Most interesting book I've read about football, not against much stiff opposition admittedly.


Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: holyzombiejesus on January 19, 2019, 05:33:58 PM
Remember when football hooligan books were a thing?

I read The Football Factory when it first came out and remember thinking it was pretty interesting, but I was a young and innocent man back then and I've no idea how I'd react to it now.

Bogbrainedmurphy

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on February 07, 2019, 12:07:18 PM
I read The Football Factory when it first came out and remember thinking it was pretty interesting, but I was a young and innocent man back then and I've no idea how I'd react to it now.

All 3 books in that trilogy are interesting though I must admit revisiting them years later and skimming through, it's an abrasive read.

I've read a lot of the hooligan stuff, majority awful but recently finished Running With The Firm, it's the story that inspired the film ID, and that was very good

studpuppet

One I've just been reminded of: Pegasus: The Famous Oxford and Cambridge Soccer Side of the Nineteen Fifties.

Recommended by (of all people) Bob Mills on the radio a few years ago, it documents the decline and eventual loss 'proper' amateur football after WW2.


studpuppet

Quote from: __steve__ on February 19, 2019, 01:31:16 PM
One of the greats: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=22862740192

If we're going down that road, this is an absolute steal:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Football-Handbook-The-Glory-Years/132248608629

Under £2.50 for over 500 pages of late seventies football nostalgia and Wikipedia-style info on clubs and players. Bargain.

another Mr. Lizard

Ooh, Football Handbook! I was an avid reader/collector of that in my teens and still have the original mags in three lovely sturdy green official binders.

I'll add 'What Didn't Happen Next' as a contribution to the thread - found it cheap in a charity shop some years ago (you may well find copies in similar outlets) and enjoyed it much more than expected. Nick Hancock and Chris England's look at football history in a sort of 'Sliding Doors' manner, taking famous/notorious/significant incidents and imagining the long-term consequences if they had never happened. Haven't dug it off the shelf in a while, but seem to recall a piece on how Eric Cantona would have helped Sheffield Wednesday become the dominant force in European competition for the next couple of decades (as a Derby County fan who recalls us being robbed of Euro glory in 1973, and how our manager and members of the team then won the European Cup twice under rival colours, that struck a chord). A nice frivolous read that leaves you wanting to add your own contributions.

studpuppet

Quote from: another Mr. Lizard on February 26, 2019, 07:30:07 AM
Ooh, Football Handbook! I was an avid reader/collector of that in my teens and still have the original mags in three lovely sturdy green official binders.

I had a centre back in my Sunday League team many years ago, who I swear had learned to head the ball using Dave Watson's piece in the skills section. *puts two fingers together and places them on forehead*

Pranet

That bit about Dave Watson has reminded me of this, which I had (It didn't help much). Could it have been reprinted in this format do you think?