Sports Books-Man United related but any other club if you wish!

[BusbyBabes]

I have two old Manchester United books.

One is called 'Tackle soccer this way' written by the late great Duncan Edwards, a member of the 'Busby Babes' who died as the result of the Munich crash, but published just after his death in February 1958. It was published in a way of memorial by the publishers. It is a second edition in 1958 with dust jacket and black and white pictures of Duncan.The cheapest I have seen is 40 pounds and the most expensive is hundred and fifty.There is a lot of significance with this book as it is the thoughts of the great player himself.

I also have the 'Book of European football' by Bobby Charlton published in 1969 with foreword by Sir Matt Busby CBE and it is a first edition.

Just wondered what other fans have at home?

[BFGFOOTBALL]

The best book I have ever read is TOR!
The story of German soccer. I love reading sports history and watching old footage.

Early chapters discuss the structure of German football, in particular as to the naming of clubs and the "founding date". Contrary to popular opinion, this clearly demonstrates that German bureaucrats have a sense of humour :) The author exhibits his whimsical humour as well. Regarding the rise of hooliganism, UHL offers this superb quote: "It would take a sociological tome to discuss them, and too many trees have already lost their lives because somebody set out to do just that." He then does a good job of offering some explanation, putting it within the context of an Angst-ridden German society of the 1980s.
He also dispels some of the myths that have grown up surrounding the Bayern-Gladbach rivalry of the 1970s. Whereas it is now "common knowledge" that Gladbach represented "free-flowing attacking soccer", embodied by Netzer, Bayern was dour, results oriented, perhaps best represented by Schwarzenbeck. UHL rips this to shreds, pointing out (as any football fan who actually watched matches in the 70s already knows) that in fact it was Bayern who scored the most goals and generally attacked. Yes Bayern has in fact come to embody faceless corporate football, but that was a much later development - long after Gladbach had sunk into the sunset.
Throughout the book, UHL raises lots of facts and anecdotes that while not critical to the understanding of the game, are nevertheless interesting. For example, the preponderence of red-white uniforms after WWII had a practical reason: since cloth was hard to come by, resourceful club tailors stitched together kits from the only readily surplused cloth: Nazi flags that were cut up.
The last chapter deals specifically with the decline of the national squad, and is very insightful. Most fans today associate German football with cynical hacking and power, combined with luck. Of course, it was not always the case, and in fact the 1972 team was probably one of the most skilled and flowing squads ever assembled anywhere.