Top five: The Spoiler’s favourite football books
Required reading for those in love with the game
Need something to read on your next holiday? Of course, you don’t – there’s a recession on, and only Coleen Rooney can afford to lay around on a beach all day. Regardless, here’s our five favourite books written about the beautiful game…
Fever Pitch
by Nick Hornby
In his autobiographical account of attending Arsenal matches between 1968 and 1992, Nick Hornby eloquently evoked the irrational thoughts, hopes and fears of being a football supporter. The faithful account of countless hours spent at Highbury is augmented with details about Hornby’s personal life – the breakup of his family, his love life and his well-documented passion for music. We haven’t seen the British film version, but the American film, in which the protagonist loves the Boston Red Sox, is utter poo.
My Father and Other Working Class Football Heroes
by Gary Imlach
Journalist and broadcaster Gary Imlach immortalised the memory of his father Stewart in his superb 2005 biography. Imlach snr was a left winger for various sides in the fifties and sixties before moving in to coaching, and the book captures his career highlights from the perspective of his adoring football-mad son. If only every member of our Mercenary XI were forced to read about the humble working conditions and £20-a-week wages…
You’ll Win Nothing with Kids: Fathers, Sons and Football
by Jim White
A book about a dad who is forced to get involved with his son’s U-14 football team sounds alarmingly similar to the plot of ropey Will Ferrell film Kicking & Screaming, but trust us, this one is a brilliant read. While fretting about relegation, White deals with the banal drama of buying a new club kettle, and the vitriolic abuse that flows from the mouths of proud parents. The title is an Alan Hanson quote: “You’ll win nothing with kids,” said the Scotsman of the young Manchester Utd side that eventually went on to win the title.
The Damned United
by David Peace
This 2006 novel chronicles Brian Clough’s disastrous 44-day stint at Leeds Utd in 1974. The club were the league champions at the time, and Old Big ‘Ead managed just six wins. Peace describes it as “a fiction based on a fact,” and it has caused controversy, undoubtedly because Clough comes across as a bit of a drunk mentalist. The first person stream of consciousness style is a little difficult to get into, so if you don’t fancy the challenge wait for the film version which will be released in March.
Only a Game?: The Diary of a Professional Footballer
by Eamon Dunphy
Irish midfielder Dunphy spent most of his career at Millwall in the sixties and seventies, but is perhaps best known as the journalist and ranting radio presenter who is outspoken on just about every aspect of the game (Liam Brady is a “bitter little man”, Cristiano Ronaldo is a “poof ball” and Luis Garcia “belongs in a dustbin”). He kept a diary detailing success and disillusion during the 1973/74 at Millwall, and the subsequent memoir is a great reminder of a time when diving was done in swimming pools, and only ladies wore gloves. It was so successful that U2 asked Dunphy to write their official band biography.
Got any more suggestions for great football literature? Don’t keep it to yourself – share the love below…
13 responses so far
Brooks // January 28, 2009 at 5:45 pm
The Football Factory didn’t make it? The movie was crap, but the book was quite good.
SolidSnake // January 28, 2009 at 5:59 pm
This is a glorious collection of football shorts:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whom-Ball-Rolls-Ian-Plenderleith/dp/0752842579/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233165250&sr=1-1
Some bleak, some dark, but all funny and poignant and managing to capture just why we love and hate the game so.
GreyGit // January 28, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Excellent book on the Seria B team.
“The Miracle of Castel di Sangro”
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miracle-Castel-di-Sangro/dp/075152753X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233167840&sr=1-1
Written by an American who followed them for a season as they gained promotion through dodgy means (It is Italy after all…)
Aintza // January 29, 2009 at 3:06 am
I love Phil Ball’s “Morbo”, as it’s the only English-language book that gives the history of Spanish football from Reacreativo Huelva to Valencia and the National Team.
Ulrik Fredrik // January 29, 2009 at 3:26 am
What about Moments by Cristiano Ronaldo?
Mlle. Dupont // January 29, 2009 at 4:39 am
Among the Thugs, Bill Buford.
Delboy Dublin // January 29, 2009 at 8:41 am
Forza Italia by Paddy Agnew, an Irish journalist’s account of how Italian football influences every aspect of life in the peninsula, covering every aspect of the game, from the early 80s with the influx of players like Luther Blissett and Liam Brady through the golden age of Napoli football thanks to Maradona right up to the Calciopoli scandals.
http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/3368800/Forza-Italia/Product.html
wob // January 29, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football
Very interesting book that explains why the soccer players of the Netherlands play beautifully but lose their most important matches. He analyses other elements of Dutch life and culture, such as their flat flooding-prone land, unusual taste in art, and their experiences in World War 2.
I have read the book myself in the Dutch translation
wob // January 29, 2009 at 12:17 pm
written by David Winner
HLEB MUST GO // January 29, 2009 at 4:01 pm
“My Enemy, My Friend”
gary ashdown // February 4, 2009 at 2:39 am
Some great recommendations above. However, ‘Football Against The Enemy’ by Simon Kuper is a ‘must read’ for any football fan.
Mizman // April 29, 2009 at 3:41 pm
The greatest footballer you never saw- The Robin Friday story.
Quality read about ROBIN FRIDAY who played for reading and cardiff. Bit of a george best / gazza character. Written by Paulo hewiitt and Guigsy from Oasis!!
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