Good football books to read

[Inver]

My son is reading Fabrice Muamba, 'I'm Still Standing' at the moment, the Bolton player who collapsed on the pitch. He is finding it quite an interesting read.

[FAD_FC]

Hi everyone, I've found a good book to read, ''I lost my heart to the Belles'' I think by Peter Davies. It's quite moving to read about Women's football and the struggle they have to go through just to find a pitch to play on etc. I read it several times and it makes me think every time I read it.

[Elliot555]

Just a quick additional....Nick Hornby's 'Fever Pitch', to throw a bit of footie fiction into the mix.

 

Very nice

[geordie9]

as a newcastle fan i have read the bobby robson, kevin keegan, shearers and gazzas stories which were all brilliant. Im currently reading Colin Murrays random history of football. And as ive been a football manager fan for the last 16 years ive read and enjoyed Football Manager Stole My Life.

[geordie9]

finished Colin Murrays random history of football, decent read with a few titbits in there, toilet reading

[geordie9]

Alex Fergusons new autobiography looks like it will be a good read. Although i used to really dislike Fergie i have respect for him as a manager so ill give it a read. Hopefully he dishes the dirt on a few players!

[mountain goat]

One of my favourite books of any type:

My Father And Other Working Class Football Heroes by Gary Imlach.

Imlach Snr was a footballer in the 1950's. This is a great account of his career in a time before huge wages, transfer fees in millions and player power.

[geordie9]

for any1 who likes Jeff Stelling ive just loaned a book from library called Jeffanory by Jeff Stelling, ill post review after ive read it

[Eleonora]

Excuse me, does "any1" stand for "anyone"? I know it's a silly question, but sometimes it's hard to fully understand this kind of .. short forms .. for a non-native english. I just want to be sure I got it right.

[geordie9]

yes u got it right, any1 is short for anyone.

[A Lunacy Dam Ya]

Another mention for A Season With Verona.

 

Also Calcio: A History of Italian Football by John Foot is also an enjoyable read.

[geordie9]

im reading a canny football book called Who Invented The Stepover And Other Crucial Football Conundrums. Lots of interesting facts in it.

[itsmeagain]

Red or dead by David Peace is a terribly good read, about Bill Shankly, in novel form. Very engrossing.

[geordie9]

Ive just got The Secret Footballers new book called Access All Areas

[Flip Martian]

My team is Liverpool and I've just started finding old biogs - picked up Billy Liddell's from 1960 the other day.

Stanley Matthews The Way It Was is in my collection via a used bookshop - looking forward to reading that. I also have old books by Jackie Milburn and Tom Finney.

 

More recent - Simon Jordan's Be Careful What You Wish For is a great read - about how he took over Crystal Palace and then lost it. Obviously The Damned United is a good read but there was another book by Phil Rostron written in answer to that called We Are The Damned United - which interviews the players and goes through what was true from that era and what wasn't. Fascinating chats with the old footballers.

 

Broken Dreams by Tom Bower is an excellent insight into the machinations of the FA and how football worked in recent times (and more often, how it didn't). Quite an eye opener into corporate ineptitude and backstabbings.

Clark Carlisle's You Don't Know Me, But... is another good read - not a well known footballer but he had his demons. He works for the PFA now.