Last year, before a crash, I had posted a request for books to read on soccer. I went through the reply's and copied titles and authors. I found the list in a back corner of an email-box I rarely look at and thought some others may want the list as well: Fever Pitch Offside The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro Manchester United Ruined My Life - Colin Schindler Among The Thugs - Bill Buford Steaming In - Colin Ward Faith of our Fathers - Alan Edge My Favourite Year - Nick Hornby (ed) Soccer in Sun and Shadow - Galeano (spelling?) The Far Corner - by Harry Pearson The Game of Their Lives - Geoffrey Douglas The Beautiful Game: Sixteen Girls and the Soccer Season That Changed Everything -Jonathan Littman FOR THE GOOD OF THE GAME Football Against The Enemy by Simon Kuper. Twenty-two Foreigners in Funny Shorts by Pete Davies. The Glory Game, Hunter Davies Faith of our Fathers - Footbal As A Religion Alan Edge Morbo - The Story of Spanish Football Phil Ball Brilliant Orange - The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football David Winter The Geezers' Guide to Football - A Lifetime of Lads, Lager and Labels Dougie Brimson Futebol - The Brazilian Way of Life Alex Bellos Cherries in the Red by Trevor Watkins. Hand of God - A biography of Diego Maradona by Jimmy Burns "All Played Out - The Full Story of Italia '90" by Pete Davies Dynamo: Defending the Honour of Kiev - Andy Dougan: Grass of Another Country London Fields," by Charlie Connelly The Beautiful Team: In Search Of Pele & The 1970 Brazilians," by Garry Jenkins Brilliant Orange--one of the best soccer books ever written. Passovatchka--story of moscow dynamo trip to england after ww II The Kop, the End of an Era, by Stephen F. Kelly Barca: A People's Passion. The Van, by Roddy Doyle UNLUCKY by Dave Ungrady The Girls of Summer - Longman "The Good, The Bad, and The Bubbly". - George Best' My Favourite Year - the Hornby anthology White City Blue by Tim Lott Full Time: the Secret Life of Tony Cascarino by Cascarino and Paul Kimmage Dream On Fathers and Sons by Colin Schindler "The Great Divide" by Alex Fynn and Olivia Blair "The Football Business" - David Conn The Glory Game by Hunter Davies Ultra Nippon: How Japan Reinvented Football The Faber Book of Soccer The Soccer Syndrome - Moynihan The World Game captain for life and other assignments - harke Left Foot Forward - Gary Nelson "Left Foot in the Grave - Gary Nelson FIFA and the Contest for World Football - John Sugden and Alan Tomlinson Great Balls of Fire, How Big Money is Hijacking World Football - John Sugden and Alan Tomlinson Stamping Grounds Only a Game? - Eamon Dunphy The Mavericks - Rob Steen The Games That Rate Soccer Fever - Richard Lyttle Sheilas, Wogs, and Poofters - Johnny Warren The story of the World Cup by Brain Glanville. Brillant Orange by David Winner The Cassell Soccer Companion by David Pickering The Making of an American Soccer Player" by Shep Messing The Way it Was - Stanley Matthews
Don't Give Up The Day Job, by Des McKeown. It's the diary of a season in the life of a second-division Scottish player, a part time professional who's a full-time sales director for Glasgow's largest stationary company. I think Shep Messing's book is called The Education of an American Soccer Player. Also, FWIW, Eduardo Galeano has just published a new English-language edition of Soccer in Shadow and Sun, released this month.
Yes, good list, and thank you. (but I can't help pointing out that you do have a few repeats in there - Brilliant Orange 3 times, Faith of our Fathers 2 times)
Your welcome, but I can't help but think which is worse, the repeats in the list of dozens, or the fact that you found them.
Call me a nut, but I had to go through the list with a fine comb to make sure that they were all either already on my bookshelf, or else on my wishlist. So now we need a DVD list.
"Among the Thugs" should be required reading. I know it no longer accurately reflects the English game, but it is a disturbing picture of what was and what could be again.
That's sad. I guess I was reflecting on the difference between league matches in the 1980's, when I felt lucky to leave a game unmolested, with league matches the last few years, where I always felt reasonably safe and comfortable.
I didn't see 'Dynamo' on your list (or maybe I just missed it) Great book...especally for those of you who are also WWII buffs. Story is about a game between a bunch of surviving players and an SS team during the German occupation in Kiev. Excellent read. Can't remember the author but I know you can find it on Amazon. I actually came across it in my local Barnes and Nobel. Pick up a copy, you won't be disappointed.
Just finished Miracle of Castel di Sangro--friggin' brilliant book. Great perspective on il calcio, and Italian life, from a rare perspective. Also wonder if someone could help me out on something--way back in 98, around WC time, i bought and read a book in Australia that was a first-person account of a hooligan. Seemed to be fictional but based on real life. Anyone know which one this might be? I totally forget the title.
I've only read these three. I read parts of Futebol - The Brazilian Way while I was killing time at the bookstore the other day. So far so good.
I feel kinda dirty for posting this here, but ... Mia Hamm -- Go For the Goal Anson Dorrance -- The Vision of a Champion: Advice and Inspiration from the World's Most Successful Women's Soccer Coach Michelle Akers -- The Game and the Glory == And of course, there's tons of others, but these are more personal accounts than just training, kiddie books or babbling about the '99 WWC.
One to add: Fear and Loathing in World Football (Armstrong & Giulianotti, eds.). Just started this one; it's a collection of essays about sectarian rivalries, along the lines of Kuper. BUT (and I didn't realize this before I bought it) it's really academic, meaning that some of the essays are absurdly jargon-choked, with every "other" "word" in "quotation marks." [eye-rolling emoticon] But some of the essays are informative and pretty good, such as the one about Rangers/Celtic. I wouldn't race out and buy it though. There are certainly better soccer books out there.
Is Captain for Life worth plunking down 7.95 for? I see it on the bargain shelf occasionally. Is it worth the time?
Reminds me of another book not on the list... The Old Firm in the New Age - Bill Murray Good if you're really interested in the rivalry.
Hopefully you will add another in a few months. 23 Days in Korea, An American at the World Cup. I have finished writing it and am in the process of editing it. It should go to the publisher in the next week or too. Look for it in June. Cheers, -- ---Andy Gustafson
Good luck with the rest of the process! I think this will be worth a fresh thread when it comes out. And to the list, I think we need to add Gazza Agonistes, by Ian Hamilton.
Does anyone know the name of the fiction book where an american kid moves to england at a young age, then comes back to the US to help the US get to the WC final, where he messes up for the first time in stoppage time, the US loose, and then the kid goes crazy and kills people? My dad said something about this book to me yesterday but he failed to mention the title
Thanks for the encouraging words. It has been a long and ardous task, but is now near it's end. I hope you all will enjoy my book. There will be over 250 pages and a number of photos. My goal is that if you were in Korea, it will bring back many memories. If you were not, you will feel as if you were after reading 23 Days in Korea. -- ---Andy
Not really. Real basic stuff. Only thing I learned that I didn't already know was that he had trials at Celtic.