Suggested Reading List

[sjjn]

Originally posted by Playable Back


I took this book w/ me on my recent trip to Italy. I didn't want to go see the sites, but rather to stay in the hotel and read this book! It was great in my opinion.

I have just started A Season With Verona by Tim Parks.
Anyone with any opinions on this book?


Your probably done by now, but I just found this post..I just finished it last week and thought it was very well done. Makes you wish there was that kind of excitement at games here in the states.

[Dr. Wankler]

Originally posted by bronxiniowa


Spurs and Arsenal fans will appreciate

Another definitive Spurs fan book seems to be The Glory Game by Hunter Davies. It's 30 years old (and has just been reprinted in the states), so it was written at the dawn of the contemporary era for English football, and it retains its interest regardless of (or maybe because of) how much the game has changed.

http://www.bigsoccer.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=&products_id=959&

QPR Kevin H: thanks for bringing up My Favorite Year, which is on my shelf next to my favorite chair (where I keep all my favorite soccer books). Can't believe I let it slip my mind.

[cREWBILLY]

David Ungrady's Unlucky: A Season of Struggle in a Minor League Pro Soccer. The book describes the events of the 1998 season for the D-3 Northern Virgina Royals. It's been a while since I read it but a very interesting tale coming from the perspective of the author who joins the team.

[nicodemus]

To specifically come down of the WC high, I would suggest: Ultra Nippon: How Japan Reinvented Football

It is a mighty good read.

[CG]

I'm reading Ajax,Barcelona,Cruyff which is a series of interviews with Johan Cruyff on all matters football. Very insightful so far.

[Mattbro]

Originally posted by dwinkler
I really enjoyed Full Time: the Secret Life of Tony Cascarino by Cascarino and Paul Kimmage. Not your typical ghosted autobiography.

I'm glad someone mentioned this one. What a great book. Especially if you've always wondered what it's like to be an ageing professional soccer player with a nagging self-confidence problem.

[K.P.]

Wow, so much I haven't read. I'm working my way through Football Against the Enemy, and I've read Soccer in Sun & Shadow and the Miracle of Castel di Sangre... but I have to say I always find myself re-reading Fever Pitch.

The quote that hits home right now is "After maybe ten years of this, the Championship becomes something you either believe in or you don't, like God."

Anyway, I plan on tackling the Glory Game next. Thanks for all the suggestions!

[cpwilson80]

Fever Pitch is the definitive soccer fanatic book. Hornby is an excellent writer, and even though I knew little of Arsenal pre-1990 (when I started watching Euro soccer), I felt like I was living the seasons with him.

I asked my girlfriend to read it so she knows fully how I feel about the game. Her reply: "Why do I need to read it? I already live it."

The book is that good.

Soccer in Sun and Shadow is a good read up until Galeano ventures on his tangents on how money is killing the game (which may be true, but he takes an extreme position.) He also places much of his attention on race of soccer players. He is far more effective describing the game (both general and past games), its fans, and how the game relates to people.

[Jayhawk]

Where can one find the Galeano book? I've been looking for books and articles by Galeano since McGinniss quoted him in Miracle, I've had no luck.

[BrianCappellieri]

I've seen it in Borders and Barnes & Noble but you can also find it on Amazon. (http://www.amazon.com)

[Golazo]

Originally posted by cpwilson80


Soccer in Sun and Shadow is a good read up until Galeano ventures on his tangents on how money is killing the game (which may be true, but he takes an extreme position.) He also places much of his attention on race of soccer players. He is far more effective describing the game (both general and past games), its fans, and how the game relates to people.

Also... he (more or less: see below) goes through a synopsis of world events leading up to each World Cup. I found myself getting annoyed at the political bent of these. (i.e. "I get it, you are against U.S. Imperialism... You love that Castro is still in power.... You have made your point.") He can write whatever he wants, but I think the book loses some of it's poetry because of it.

[Greenway]

I will weigh in on the side of some of my favorite soccer books.

I took A Season With Verona with me to Italy this spring and enjoyed it immensly. (the book and Italy) Parks is not just writing about soccer but about the Italian character and approach to life. A laugh out loud kind of book.

Soccer in sun and Shadow is always next to my bedside as it is a great pick up and open anywhere kind of read. I like that he cruises through history with his stories and think his writing is poetic and fine. I give this book away as a gift all the time. I find it in used bookstores. It is in paperback but I like the hardcover for gifts.

Fever pitch, Miracle in Sante, and Barca are all on my shelf and are all good reads.

A more tactical book that I enjoy is Soccer Skills and Tactics, by Jones and Welton. Published in the 1970's this book is great because of the diagrams of famous plays of the time that illustrate different skills or tactics. It is a history lesson inside of a soccer education. Hard to find but remarkable.

I am looking forward to the new book out on Brazil and for any that come out on the USA run in the World Cup.

[Throwins]

If you have ever heard the commercial for Becks beer in which they state Germans don't do humor but they do brew beer the same applies to this book.

The info is interesting but the writing is awfull.

[Fulham9]

Here's the definitive list (in no particular order):

1. "Football against the Enemy" - Simon Kuper
2. "Fever Pitch" - Nick Hornby
3. "The Glory Game" - Hunter Davies
4. "The Miracle of Castel di Sangro" - Joe McGinniss
5. "The Far Corner" - Harry Pearson
6. "All Played Out" - Pete Davies (story of Italia 90, from an English perspective)
7. "Passion of the People?" - Tony Mason (best book in English on South American soccer)

Those six are all outstanding, and hard to put down.

Also outstanding, but out of print and a little dated is "22 Foreigners in Funny Shorts" by Pete Davies. It is really two books in one, a part history of the game, part story of Wrexham's 1992-1993 season. It was intended as a guide to the 1994 World Cup for Americans, but is very well written and highly entertaining in its own right. Look for it in used bookstores.

For the history of the game, the best is a book by a guy named Murray. I can't think of the guy's first name, or the book's title, but it is the best history I have read of soccer, and you can find in American bookstores.

"The Faber Book of Soccer" is a great anthology of soccer writing, covering the last 130 years. It contains some great stuff you can't find anywhere else.

Seriously out of print, but worth looking for in used bookstores and your local college library, is a book called "The Soccer Syndrome" by a guy named Moynihan. It was published in the 1960's, and I don't know if it has been reprinted, but is a very entertaining collection of essays about soccer in London during the '60's.

If you live near a major university, check out their research library and go to the sports stacks. Most major university libraries will have a decent collection of soccer books, both scholarly and mass-market. You can find some hidden gems there.

[paulocesar]

How about "War and Peace"???

The history of BS boards...


Actually, it should just be "War"!!?!?!??

[QPR Kevin H]

Originally posted by Fulham9
Here's the definitive list (in no particular order):

1. "Football against the Enemy" - Simon Kuper
2. "Fever Pitch" - Nick Hornby
3. "The Glory Game" - Hunter Davies
4. "The Miracle of Castel di Sangro" - Joe McGinniss
5. "The Far Corner" - Harry Pearson
6. "All Played Out" - Pete Davies (story of Italia 90, from an English perspective)
7. "Passion of the People?" - Tony Mason (best book in English on South American soccer)
bookstores.

Dont forget that one-sided flyer on Fulham's 20th Century achievements ;) (jk)

For the history of the game, the best is a book by a guy named Murray. I can't think of the guy's first name, or the book's title, but it is the best history I have read of soccer, and you can find in American bookstores.

Perhaps Bill Murray (the other one) who wrote the Old Firm history books?

[geordienation]

"All Played Out" is a fabulous book.

[Dandal]

Really impressed by this thread. Lots of books I've read and enjoyed, but surprisingly many I've not even heard about. Looks like it'll be a lot of money spent at amazondotcom.

For those of you who like "All played out" there is however I book I've not seen mentioned: Mario Risoli's "When Pelé broke out hearts", a wonderfull little book about Wales' first and only appearence in the World Cup finals.

[jotadia]

Any good books on soccer tactics, playing styles
ie German vs italian vs English vs Brazilian

[QPR Kevin H]

Originally posted by Dandal
Looks like it'll be a lot of money spent at amazondotcom.
I've ordered from Amazon.co.uk a bunch of times. The shipping is kinda harsh, but they have a great selection of soccer books (as you'd expect) and they get em sent over very quickly.