Tor! By Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger. A not at all boring history of German football (both domestic and international). Written with great humour (yes) and will help dispell some cliches about Germans in general. Will surprise you with its lack of arrogance and the once chaotic nature of German football. The behind the scenes shananigans of the West German 1974 World Cup triumph alone will leave you wondering how the hell they managed to win anything (just had good players I guess) and the tale of their amazing 1954 World Cup Final victory against Hungary would appeal to most Charlton fans, because it was real David and Goliath stuff. A surprising snippet reveals that Rudi Voeller was one of the few players liked/loved by fans of all German clubs......whilst Lothar Matthaus was viewed by the same fans in quite the opposite fashion! They thought he was an arrogant twat.
Brilliant Orange by David Winner gives you an often quirky look at quirky Dutch football and the often quirky Dutch themselves. Random Dutch football subjects and traits are brilliantly linked together in a very humorous style with perhaps the feature being the Dutch failure in the 74 World Cup Final and the perceived reasons therefore. Everyone in Holland has a view on that one but the most revealing, unsurprisingly, come from the players themselves who displayed an arrogance we British, would associate more with the Germans. Chapters on the evolvement of "Total Voetbal" are especially fascinating for the purist as are the stories of Ajax's rise to conquer the European scene in the 70's. Whilst taking time out in Amsterdam a while back, I took Brilliant Orange with me as a companion and it didn't let me down. A great book to read in dimly lit, smoke filled Brown Cafes in the dead of winter, whilst half listening to animated gutteral Amsterdam conversations at the bar. Een echt goede lezing!
Can't believe no one's mentioned Steve Claridge's Tale's From The Boot Camp. Some of the stories are fascinating like when Guy Butters goads Claridge. Also reading about the money in the game was fascinating at the time. I think when he went to Luton he was on about 1,600 quid a week: which would have put him on more than Cascarino claimed. More interesting is the signing on fees he got. He barely played for Palace but got one in the region of thousands whereby he paid a large chunk up front for a flat in South London; everytime he moved he seemed to do the same.
The Lance Armstrong book is incredibly moving and inspirational. The fact that the cycling bits are an absolute load of bollox considering he was pumped full of EPO is neither here nor there; all his contemporaries did it so I have no hatred towards him like many others. The singularity, agressiveness, bitter motivation all prove how he had an excellent character to survive in an insanely political sport.
Other biking books are Paul Kimmage's Rough Ride, just for it's brutal honesty something that Lance is incapable of. But best of all is Matt Rendell's book on Marco Pantani. A book breathtaking in scope which disects not only the enigma that is Pantani but the legal revolution that occurred in Italy for twenty odd years. When you read about how endemic doping in cycling moved from haphazzard to the highly scientific and highly funded approach during the 80's and into Pantanni's era, it's fascinating how pathetic the bodies in football approach doping. And the only person in 2000 stay with Pantanni in the mountains? Armstrong.
Reading Stanley Matthews Auto biography at the moment, His accounts of watching football change and the underhand way that they had to earn their money by being registered as an employee of a directors company, The way the FA have always been bumbling old codgers who know nowt, nice hearing Charlton mentioned every cople of Chapters albeit on the end of a hiding
Great guy great book wish i had seen him play he sounds a fantastic player
This is a wonderful list of books and I very much appreciate the recommendations in the thread.
I just finished Keith Peacock's book on a flight back from Florida and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Agree with jimmymelrose on the portions of the book that were most interesting -- particularly the section on his short run with the Tampa Bay Rowdies over here.
Also recently read McGinniss's Miracle of Castel di Sangro and if the obsessive need for an American writer to explain the game is irritating, stay away from Chuck Culpepper's "Bloody Confused," an American sports journalists diary of the season he spent following Pompey. As an uninitiated American, I enjoyed the short book, as the coverage concords with our first trips to The Valley (and the subsequent curse the team has carried ever since).
But the best sports book I've read of late is a story about youth soccer/football here by a New York Times journalist named Warren St. John called "Outcasts United" which sets out the story of a football team derived from the diverse refugee population that has been crowded into a small, decaying outer ring suburb of Atlanta. May be too American to be of interest to many here, but is well-written and works hard to portray a number of perspectives. Further, beyond being a compelling narrative, provides a fascinating insight into the tensions created in a southern American metropolis by large scale immigration.
Recently finished Futebol by Alex Bellos - it's very good - very readable, and an excellent insight into South American football and the Brazillian culture in general.
[quote][cite]Posted By: Eltham Addick[/cite]the jimmy seed story-by himself.a decent read,some good stories of dealings and what could have been.[/quote]
I found that at a car boot when I was a kid. Had no sleeve or wording on the spine & was in a random pile of books, picked that one out for some reason & couldn't believe it when I saw what it was. An original copy too! A very interesting read! A great insight from someone inside & at the forefront of the machinations of the club in its 1st heyday.
Curbs book is ok, but as said earlier, nothing revealing or remarkable. Comes across slightly cold, like nothing ever really excites or moves him.
I've enjoyed both Garry Nelson books.
Pilchard gave me a copy of the Eamon Dunphy book, good, but quite bleak, preferred Nelsons work, in the diary styling.
A favourite fictional footie book I love is 'Goalkeepers are different' by Brian Glanville. All about a young kid who gets a shot with Liverpool. Inspired me when I was a young goalkeeper.
I still have a vast 'Roy of the Rovers' & 'Tiger' comic collection, along with the 'Commado' style/sized Football Picture library comics. I still enjoy them all immensely(still a big kid!). :-) Brilliant characters & some great/funny/ridiculous but still great, stories over the years:
'Tommys Troubles'(about a kid who loves football & tries-achieving varying levels of success & failure-to build his own football team after finding himself at a school that only plays Rugby).
'Billys Boots'(A boy who is naturally cack at football becomes possessed, with the football ability of a 20's/30's wonder striker, 'Dead-Shot' Keen - a play on Dixie Dean - after finding his old boots & wearing them.
'Hot Shot Hamish & 'Mighty Mouse'. A giant Scottish Hebridean, with a shot like a cannon, & a ridiculously fast & skillful, overweight, part-time medical student, with visual impairment, paired up at an SPL team, with a Scottish hard nut boss called 'Ian McWhacker'. Mental, but hilariously brilliant!
Roy himself & his many tales over the years(player managing a largely unbeatable team over 5 decades, being shot, marriage troubles, having half his team & himself blown up by 'Basranian Terrorists', & losing his famous left foot in a helicopter crash. Oh, & not forgetting, his signing of Steve Norman & Martin Kemp from Spandau Ballet. :-D
Sorry, slightly off-tangent, but still good reads for some fans out there. :-)
Excellent thread! Definitely going to check out some of the book recommendations!
A couple more football books worth noting, all oldies and perhaps all familiar:
Simon Kuper's "Ajax, The Dutch, The War" is a fascinating account of the intersection between football (and sports in general) and Nazi anti-semitism during WWII.
The short stories collected by Nick Hornby in "My Favourite Year" are great (including Graham Brack's on Sunderland's and Charlton's 1962-63 season).
and
Jonathan Wilson's "Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football" was an unexpected delight and what launched my foray into books on the sport.
Not sure if anyone's mentioned this one yet. Came 6th in Four Four Two's Top 50 Football Books list (442 review below). Would certainly recommend it to anyone who liked the Garry Nelson books, not so much for those who like the Lampard/Gerrard/Premier League superstar biographies.
6 Keeper Of Dreams
Ronald Reng 2003
A riveting memoir, Reng’s book tells the strange and fascinating tale of Lars Leese, a goalkeeper plucked from the German minor leagues (and computer software industry) to play for Barnsley in the Premier League but soon returns to obscurity in Germany
The culture shock is immense: Leese puzzles over tactics, watches his team-mates rogering strippers on stage at the Christmas party and tries to handle the claustrophobic hysteria of a small Yorkshire town desperate to bask in football glory. He commits one early, unforgivable sin on the pitch: throwing the ball to a team-mate.
To correct this ‘mistake’, the coach stands on the flank near the halfway line to show Leese where he must always kick the ball to. Among the many delights is the revelation that German keepers shout “Leo!” if they’re going to kick the ball in the air so defenders know to duck.
I would second No substitute I enjoyed that a lot. I have just started reading the second part of Bobby Charlton's autobiography called "My England Years" good for those of us who were around in 1966 lots of insights into the lead up to our victory and some interesting stuff about sir alf. They definitely played for the shirt back in those days. Good read so far quite moving in places.
[cite]Posted By: BrentfordAddick[/cite]The two best football books I can think of are both associated with Millwall. Eamon Dunphy's Only a Game was written in 1976 and has been in print ever since, deservedly so. It was supposed to be a diary of a season but stops when he gets transferred to Charlton in November.
Just read this on the back of this thread and have to say it's the most insightful that I've ever read. I've ploughed through dozens of football books and other than the odd moments they tend to be a bunch of self aggrandising cliches stuck together. No wonder Dunphy's half season diary of failing side is still considered the best and shame on me for not reading it before. Great stuff and dozens of quotes that could apply to many of today's situations.
Spot on MOG. Reminded me of Nelse's first book too, but Dunphy goes a stage further in his analysis of fans and players psyches, whereas Nelse said a bit more about himself and what went on, but didn't quite nail that aspect as well. Shame he's not done more, though clips of his stuff on RTE are fun if a bit mad.
Read two award winners recently & didn't really enjoy either.
Marcus Trescothicks autobiography was the better of the two, but it was a bit of a self-pity fest = OK he suffered from severe depression/anxiety but it was all a bit odd - he didnt have much to be depresed about in all honesty. I got the sense that there was alot untold, and those untold bits would be infinitely more interesting thatn his personal spin on the issues behind his depression.
Paul Canoville's book was pretty grim, he ended up invalided out of the game at 25 due to a bad injury, proceeded to battle crack addiction, cancer twice & the struggle i guess to cope with fathering 11 kids by 10 different mothers. he came across as a right, selfish tool. OK he was horrendously racially abused as a young Chelsea player - but how that somehow excuses the horrible way he treated people in later life, I do not know. It was all his mum's fault it seems. Avoid.
[cite]Posted By: Oakster[/cite]Read two award winners recently & didn't really enjoy either.
Marcus Trescothicks autobiography was the better of the two, but it was a bit of a self-pity fest = OK he suffered from severe depression/anxiety but it was all a bit odd - he didnt have much to be depresed about in all honesty. I got the sense that there was alot untold, and those untold bits would be infinitely more interesting thatn his personal spin on the issues behind his depression.
Paul Canoville's book was pretty grim, he ended up invalided out of the game at 25 due to a bad injury, proceeded to battle crack addiction, cancer twice & the struggle i guess to cope with fathering 11 kids by 10 different mothers. he came across as a right, selfish tool. OK he was horrendously racially abused as a young Chelsea player - but how that somehow excuses the horrible way he treated people in later life, I do not know. It was all his mum's fault it seems. Avoid.
"He didn't have much to be depressed about in all honesty"....Mmmmm, Jeezuz H Oakster, what a remarkable lack of insight on your part into what anxiety and depression is about!
[cite]Posted By: Oakster[/cite]Read two award winners recently & didn't really enjoy either.
Marcus Trescothicks autobiography was the better of the two, but it was a bit of a self-pity fest = OK he suffered from severe depression/anxiety but it was all a bit odd - he didnt have much to be depresed about in all honesty. I got the sense that there was alot untold, and those untold bits would be infinitely more interesting thatn his personal spin on the issues behind his depression.
Paul Canoville's book was pretty grim, he ended up invalided out of the game at 25 due to a bad injury, proceeded to battle crack addiction, cancer twice & the struggle i guess to cope with fathering 11 kids by 10 different mothers. he came across as a right, selfish tool. OK he was horrendously racially abused as a young Chelsea player - but how that somehow excuses the horrible way he treated people in later life, I do not know. It was all his mum's fault it seems. Avoid.
"He didn't have much to be depressed about in all honesty"....Mmmmm, Jeezuz H Oakster, what a remarkable lack of insight on your part into what anxiety and depression is about!
I don't mean to come across as callous or insensitive - however as I said having read the book I just felt there was more to the case than met the eye - that's all!
Finished James Montague's "When Friday Comes" last week. Montague, a West Ham supporter, has written a tremendous book that does a great job of projecting football in the Middle East to a Western audience. One of the best books I have read in the last five years, well worthwhile for anyone interested in the region or football around the world.
I really enjoyed this, still have a very old copy somewhere.
Brian Glanville The Rise of Gerry Logan
First published in 1963, The Rise of Gerry Logan is Brian Glanville's classic account of a footballer of brilliant natural gifts and unusual intelligence who moves to London to play for a club, journeys on to Italy to play international football becoming involved in romantic entanglements as he goes.
Excellent book about Australia by the Independent Rugby League writer Dave Hadfield who used the Rugby League World Cup as an excuse to write a book about going round Australia.
Got 'Lucky Break' by champion trainer Paul Nicholls for christmas.Bloody brilliant read.Can't put it down.
Always facinated me how one man can train so many excellent horses at once.
Got "Open" for Christmas (Andre Agassi autobiography). A great read and I found it an inspirational story. Also quite funny at times, especially when he was worried abput his hairpiece falling off.
Nothing amazing but enjoyed "The Unstoppable Goalkeeper
He played in all 6 football confederations, across some 25 clubs, including China, Singapore (where he ended up in prison for match fixing because he got a clean sheet) new zealand, and a spell in England as well. I enjoyed it, but I suck at writing reviews so that's all I got.
Comments
Brilliant Orange by David Winner gives you an often quirky look at quirky Dutch football and the often quirky Dutch themselves. Random Dutch football subjects and traits are brilliantly linked together in a very humorous style with perhaps the feature being the Dutch failure in the 74 World Cup Final and the perceived reasons therefore. Everyone in Holland has a view on that one but the most revealing, unsurprisingly, come from the players themselves who displayed an arrogance we British, would associate more with the Germans. Chapters on the evolvement of "Total Voetbal" are especially fascinating for the purist as are the stories of Ajax's rise to conquer the European scene in the 70's. Whilst taking time out in Amsterdam a while back, I took Brilliant Orange with me as a companion and it didn't let me down. A great book to read in dimly lit, smoke filled Brown Cafes in the dead of winter, whilst half listening to animated gutteral Amsterdam conversations at the bar. Een echt goede lezing!
The Lance Armstrong book is incredibly moving and inspirational. The fact that the cycling bits are an absolute load of bollox considering he was pumped full of EPO is neither here nor there; all his contemporaries did it so I have no hatred towards him like many others. The singularity, agressiveness, bitter motivation all prove how he had an excellent character to survive in an insanely political sport.
Other biking books are Paul Kimmage's Rough Ride, just for it's brutal honesty something that Lance is incapable of. But best of all is Matt Rendell's book on Marco Pantani. A book breathtaking in scope which disects not only the enigma that is Pantani but the legal revolution that occurred in Italy for twenty odd years. When you read about how endemic doping in cycling moved from haphazzard to the highly scientific and highly funded approach during the 80's and into Pantanni's era, it's fascinating how pathetic the bodies in football approach doping. And the only person in 2000 stay with Pantanni in the mountains? Armstrong.
Great guy great book wish i had seen him play he sounds a fantastic player
Left Foot Forward - essential reading for any Addick
Controversial moment here - Shawn Michaels story (yes the WWE star) and Mick Foley have a couple of very good reads which come highly recommended
I just finished Keith Peacock's book on a flight back from Florida and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Agree with jimmymelrose on the portions of the book that were most interesting -- particularly the section on his short run with the Tampa Bay Rowdies over here.
Also recently read McGinniss's Miracle of Castel di Sangro and if the obsessive need for an American writer to explain the game is irritating, stay away from Chuck Culpepper's "Bloody Confused," an American sports journalists diary of the season he spent following Pompey. As an uninitiated American, I enjoyed the short book, as the coverage concords with our first trips to The Valley (and the subsequent curse the team has carried ever since).
But the best sports book I've read of late is a story about youth soccer/football here by a New York Times journalist named Warren St. John called "Outcasts United" which sets out the story of a football team derived from the diverse refugee population that has been crowded into a small, decaying outer ring suburb of Atlanta. May be too American to be of interest to many here, but is well-written and works hard to portray a number of perspectives. Further, beyond being a compelling narrative, provides a fascinating insight into the tensions created in a southern American metropolis by large scale immigration.
I found that at a car boot when I was a kid. Had no sleeve or wording on the spine & was in a random pile of books, picked that one out for some reason & couldn't believe it when I saw what it was. An original copy too! A very interesting read! A great insight from someone inside & at the forefront of the machinations of the club in its 1st heyday.
Curbs book is ok, but as said earlier, nothing revealing or remarkable. Comes across slightly cold, like nothing ever really excites or moves him.
I've enjoyed both Garry Nelson books.
Pilchard gave me a copy of the Eamon Dunphy book, good, but quite bleak, preferred Nelsons work, in the diary styling.
A favourite fictional footie book I love is 'Goalkeepers are different' by Brian Glanville. All about a young kid who gets a shot with Liverpool. Inspired me when I was a young goalkeeper.
I still have a vast 'Roy of the Rovers' & 'Tiger' comic collection, along with the 'Commado' style/sized Football Picture library comics. I still enjoy them all immensely(still a big kid!). :-) Brilliant characters & some great/funny/ridiculous but still great, stories over the years:
'Tommys Troubles'(about a kid who loves football & tries-achieving varying levels of success & failure-to build his own football team after finding himself at a school that only plays Rugby).
'Billys Boots'(A boy who is naturally cack at football becomes possessed, with the football ability of a 20's/30's wonder striker, 'Dead-Shot' Keen - a play on Dixie Dean - after finding his old boots & wearing them.
'Hot Shot Hamish & 'Mighty Mouse'. A giant Scottish Hebridean, with a shot like a cannon, & a ridiculously fast & skillful, overweight, part-time medical student, with visual impairment, paired up at an SPL team, with a Scottish hard nut boss called 'Ian McWhacker'. Mental, but hilariously brilliant!
Roy himself & his many tales over the years(player managing a largely unbeatable team over 5 decades, being shot, marriage troubles, having half his team & himself blown up by 'Basranian Terrorists', & losing his famous left foot in a helicopter crash. Oh, & not forgetting, his signing of Steve Norman & Martin Kemp from Spandau Ballet. :-D
Sorry, slightly off-tangent, but still good reads for some fans out there. :-)
Excellent thread! Definitely going to check out some of the book recommendations!
Simon Kuper's "Ajax, The Dutch, The War" is a fascinating account of the intersection between football (and sports in general) and Nazi anti-semitism during WWII.
The short stories collected by Nick Hornby in "My Favourite Year" are great (including Graham Brack's on Sunderland's and Charlton's 1962-63 season).
and
Jonathan Wilson's "Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football" was an unexpected delight and what launched my foray into books on the sport.
Simon Kuper's Football Against the Enemy is brilliant.
6 Keeper Of Dreams
Ronald Reng 2003
A riveting memoir, Reng’s book tells the strange and fascinating tale of Lars Leese, a goalkeeper plucked from the German minor leagues (and computer software industry) to play for Barnsley in the Premier League but soon returns to obscurity in Germany
The culture shock is immense: Leese puzzles over tactics, watches his team-mates rogering strippers on stage at the Christmas party and tries to handle the claustrophobic hysteria of a small Yorkshire town desperate to bask in football glory. He commits one early, unforgivable sin on the pitch: throwing the ball to a team-mate.
To correct this ‘mistake’, the coach stands on the flank near the halfway line to show Leese where he must always kick the ball to. Among the many delights is the revelation that German keepers shout “Leo!” if they’re going to kick the ball in the air so defenders know to duck.
This book is soooo good. Loved it.
I'm just finishing "A Season with Verona" now. Quite good, give it 3/5.
I have just started reading the second part of Bobby Charlton's autobiography called "My England Years"
good for those of us who were around in 1966 lots of insights into the lead up to our victory and some interesting stuff about sir alf.
They definitely played for the shirt back in those days.
Good read so far quite moving in places.
You can see where our Nelse got his ideas from....
Marcus Trescothicks autobiography was the better of the two, but it was a bit of a self-pity fest = OK he suffered from severe depression/anxiety but it was all a bit odd - he didnt have much to be depresed about in all honesty. I got the sense that there was alot untold, and those untold bits would be infinitely more interesting thatn his personal spin on the issues behind his depression.
Paul Canoville's book was pretty grim, he ended up invalided out of the game at 25 due to a bad injury, proceeded to battle crack addiction, cancer twice & the struggle i guess to cope with fathering 11 kids by 10 different mothers. he came across as a right, selfish tool. OK he was horrendously racially abused as a young Chelsea player - but how that somehow excuses the horrible way he treated people in later life, I do not know. It was all his mum's fault it seems. Avoid.
I don't mean to come across as callous or insensitive - however as I said having read the book I just felt there was more to the case than met the eye - that's all!
Brian Glanville
The Rise of Gerry Logan
First published in 1963, The Rise of Gerry Logan is Brian Glanville's classic account of a footballer of brilliant natural gifts and unusual intelligence who moves to London to play for a club, journeys on to Italy to play international football becoming involved in romantic entanglements as he goes.
Excellent book about Australia by the Independent Rugby League writer Dave Hadfield who used the Rugby League World Cup as an excuse to write a book about going round Australia.
Always facinated me how one man can train so many excellent horses at once.
A great read and I found it an inspirational story.
Also quite funny at times, especially when he was worried abput his hairpiece falling off.
Interesting to read his perspective. Graham Gooch is the highest ranked Englishman at 14. they are all players he played with or against.
Currently reading Harry Redknapp's. Not his biggest fan, but been a few old tales that have had me chuckling.
Yes he's arrogant, but I find it funny, and he's not afraid to say anything in the book.
Easy reading, decent book.
He played in all 6 football confederations, across some 25 clubs, including China, Singapore (where he ended up in prison for match fixing because he got a clean sheet) new zealand, and a spell in England as well. I enjoyed it, but I suck at writing reviews so that's all I got.