Sport > Football (or Soccer)

Incisive, punchy, emotional and humorous, this is a story of obsession. An absolute must-read for those people who spend four years of their lives waiting for each World Cup, not to mention those who have to live with them!

Science and the Beautiful Game What is the perfect way to take a free kick? How do you win a penalty shoot-out? Examines the science and psychology behind the beautiful game, bringing to life stories of football's most memorable matches and international players. How to Score reveals the secret science that lies behind the beautiful game. From international team formations to the psychology of the pitch and the changing room, Ken Bray describes the influences that impact upon play. He answers many of football's hottest ques... read more

Harry Reid's book is an examination of these various guises, a trawl through more than 40 years of Scottish fanhood. He writes with a mixture of wry sentiment and clear-sighted candour about the club he loves, Aberdeen FC, about the Old Firm, about the national team, about the Scottish sporting Press, about Scottish footballers so extravagantly talented that they were hardly real, but also about dogged, decent journeymen who deserve to be remembered too. In his quest to reach the centre of Scotland's footballing soul, Harry Reid in... read more

"Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Football But Were too Afraid to Ask" explains the often-baffling laws of modern sport in a light-hearted and easy-to-understand way to the new fan/spectator or the 'sport widow'. This is a witty, whimsical guide to the rules, tactics, competitions and etiquette of modern football, as if written by a very patient but understanding friend. Football writer Iain Macintosh explains how football works, why is it so popular and what the hell that offside rule is all about. He guides the novice thr... read more

The world's most popular sport, soccer, is also one of the planet's prevalent cultural expressions, celebrated and debated as an art form, observed with ritual and passion. Thus it has inspired literary efforts of every sort, from every corner of the globe, by women and men. The writings gathered in this volume reflect the universal and infinitely varied ways in which soccer connects with human experience. Poetry and prose from Ted Hughes, Charles Simic, Eduardo Galeano, Gunter Grass, Giovanna Pollarolo, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Elv... read more

When was an England versus Germany match scheduled for the anniversary of Hitler's birthday? Which is the only club to have scored and conceded 100 goals in a season? Did you know that Bobby Moore's middle name was Chelsea? Who was the last person to score on his debut for England - but never play for his country again? Can you name the 12 players to have won the league title with two different clubs? The answers to all these questions, and a thousand more besides, can be found - where else? - in "End to End Stuff: The Essential Fo... read more

A sort of Robbie Fowler's "Modern English Usage", this book provides an A to Row Z of the language of football, with over 800 examples of the set phrases we use to talk and write about the beautiful game. First published 2004; this revised edition 2006.

Overachieving and eccentric football manager Brian Clough was on his way to take over at the country's most successful, and most reviled, football club: Leeds United, home to a generation of fiercely competitive but ageing players. The battle he'd face there would make or break the club - or him. David Peace's extraordinarily inventive novel tells the story of a world characterised by fear of failure and hunger for success set in the bleak heart of the 1970s.

THE THINKING FAN'S GUIDE TO THE WORLD CUP, as the title suggests, is a guide to the 2006 World Cup for the thinking fan. An almanac, a guide and a programme all rolled into one, the editors Matt Weiland (Granta) and Sean Wilsey (McSweeney's) have gathered together a remarkable team of 32 talents to write pieces on the 32 qualifying teams. Contributors include Geoff Dyer, Dave Eggers, Peter Ho Davies, Nick Hornby, John Lanchester, Henning Mankell, Tim Parks, Caryl Phillips, and Eric Schlosser. First published May 2006.

The most distinctive figure in football blows the whistle on the beautiful game. On 30th June 2002 Pierluigi Collina, universally acknowledged to be the world's finest referee, officiated over Brazil and Germany in the World Cup Final. A matter of weeks later he was back on the field refereeing an Italian Cup first round encounter between Sampdoria and Siena. This unique vantage point makes Collina perfectly placed to comment on the game, the stars, the media and the matches he has overseen, including England's world cup victory... read more

The best chants, the funniest nicknames, the greatest headlines and enough little-known facts to keep the average football supporter entertained and entertaining for several seasons. This is the story of the greatest game on earth, from abandoned matches' to Yeovil Town', via celebrity fans, mascots, punditry and superstitions, written from the fan's point of view and with a separate entry for every club in the English and Scottish leagues. Who cares why, if Torquay United's strikers had been more prolific in the 1950s, England may... read more

The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote Rigging and Ticket Scandals No individual has managed to penetrate the secret world of FIFA. Until now. Andrew Jennings, the world's leading sports investigative reporter, has unearthed the stories that FIFA doesn't want told. He blows the whistle on an international cash-for-contracts scandal and reveals how some football officials have been urged to secretly repay the sweeteners they received. He asks why FIFA President delayed acting against troubled marketing company ISL, who wrongly withheld

This is a definitive history of global football.

'I played at primary and secondary school: in corridors, on the playing fields, at the bus stop on the way home; at university (three times a week); and then after that in pub teams, indoor leagues, park pitch free-for-alls, on beaches and lawns, in airport departure lounges and motorway service stations. From schoolboy promise to the beginnings of athletic decay, football - the basic pleasure of kicking a ball, the attachments of teams, friendships, and moments of pointless but irreducible triumph - just refuses to go away.' An... read more

The Brazilian football team at its best exudes a skill, flamboyance and romantic pull. Football is how the world sees Brazil and Brazilians see themselves. The game symbolises racial harmony, flamboyance, youth, innovation and skill, and yet football is also a microcosm of Latin America's largest country and contains all of its contradictions. Travelling extensively from the Uruguayan border to the north-eastern backlands, from the coastal cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo to the Amazon jungle, the author, Alex Bellos, shows h... read more

The Netherlands has been one of the world's most distinctive and sophisticated football cultures. From the birth of Total Football in the sixties, through two decades of World Cup near misses to the exiles who remade clubs like AC Milan, Barcelona, Arsenal and Chelsea in their own image, the Dutch have often been dazzlingly original and influential. The elements of their style (exquisite skills, adventurous attacking tactics, a unique blend of individual creativity and teamwork, weird patterns of self-destruction) reflect and embod... read more

The All Whites 2010 World Cup campaign transfixed a nation. Written off as easy-beats, the New Zealand side proved the soccer world wrong, returning home undefeated, a truly historic accomplishment. One Shot for Glory is a photographic celebration of this exciting time for New Zealand soccer. The images, from official All Whites photographer Andrew Cornaga, feature all of the on-field action as well as behind-the-scenes moments with the team. Join the All Whites as they make their One Shot for Glory!

The first history of Italian football to be written in English, 'Calcio' is a mix of serious analysis and comic storytelling, with vivid descriptions of games, goals, dives, missed penalties, riots and scandals in the richest and toughest league in the world. 'Calcio' tells the story of Italian football from its origins in the 1890's to the present day. It takes us through a history of great players and teams, of style, passion and success, but also of violence, cynicism, catenaccio tactics and corruption. We meet the personaliti... read more

Murray traces the development of soccer from pre- industrial times to the 1994 World Cup, weaving the sport's growth into the culture and politics of the countries where it has been taken up. Known as much for the emotional outbursts and violence of its fans as for its own stars, soccer (or football, as it is known outside the United States) is a global game. Its international controlling body, FIFA, boasts more members than the United Nations. Bill Murray traces the growth of what during pre-industrial times was called "the simpl... read more

Once, football proudly claimed to stand for passion, community, honour, even beauty. Today, football is about money. Its richest club, Manchester United, earned -175 million last year; yet since 1992 36 of the Football League's 72 clubs have been insolvent. The game is in danger of losing its lifeblood - and its soul. David Conn, the game's premier investigative journalist, sets out on a journey through the heart of English football, exploring how our national sport has failed - and who is to blame. Travelling from Highbury's art d... read more