THE GHOSTS OF INCHMERY ROAD by Mat Guy

Sometimes, after a night match, once the crowds and players have gone and the floodlights snap off, they come out once more: swaying crowds on the terraces looking on expectantly, silently applauding at long-gone players in oversized shirts and shorts, passing and running, chasing the ball across the pitch. People, for whom it meant just as much as it does to us today. They dissolve back into darkness. Then the nightwatchman starts on his rounds.

The nightwatchman (or woman) guards not just the football ground but also the soul of the club that is at the heart of the town and has done so for a century or more. They preserve and tell the stories that make the club more than just a football team on the road to nowhere: stories of deaths and births, of tragedy and joy echoing down the years – the ghosts of the past that will never leave this sacred place. Charlie Truckle’s tenure is coming to an end – what will happen to the Town’s legacy then?

(Publisher: 1889 Books. October 2023. Paperback: 216 pages)

 

Buy the book here: The Ghosts of Inchmery Road

Category: Book Shelf | LEAVE A COMMENT

THE HOMECOMING: THE LIONESSES AND BEYOND (FOOTBALL SHORTS) by Jane Purdon

The Homecoming is Jane Purdon’s passionate, heartfelt account of the summer of 2022, when the Lionesses dazzled the nation and brought football home.

It’s also Jane’s personal story.

Since falling in love with football aged seven, Jane has been an activist, administrator and leader in the beautiful game, most recently as CEO of Women in Football.

Her journey takes in her early days as a Sunderland fan, her first kicks of the ball in her late teens, her pioneering work in the early 1990s to promote women’s involvement in football, and her subsequent career at the heart of the football establishment.

In 1992, Jane wrote, ‘The England women’s team winning the European Championship – now that is not a fairy-tale, it could just happen.’. Thirty years later that fairy-tale came true.

Jane reflects on what’s happened to women’s football in the aftermath of the Lionesses’ historic victory and what needs to happen next.

(Publisher: Football Shorts. May 2023. Paperback: 160 pages)

 

Buy the book here: The Homecoming

Category: Book Shelf | LEAVE A COMMENT

JARROD BLACK: CHASING PACK by Texi Smith

Aussie footballer Jarrod Black’s life in the English Football League is going well after his exciting adventures in Newcastle, but there’s no time to get complacent.

The opportunity to play Harlowe Croft in the long-running action movie series has arisen and with it the chance to relocate to Australia.

At the same time, our man finds out that dangerous criminals are on the loose and looking for him.

Jarrod sets off, ready to balance football and a new adventure, not knowing the danger – or the excitement – that might be waiting around the corner.

(Publisher: Popcorn Press. December 2022. Paperback: 302 pages)

 

Buy the book here: Chasing Pack

Category: Book Shelf | LEAVE A COMMENT

WHEN DAVE WENT UP: THE INSIDE STORY OF WIMBLEDON’S 1988 FA CUP WIN by Gary Jordan

When Dave Went Up is the fairy-tale story of Wimbledon’s famous 1988 FA Cup win over Liverpool, and how a small team overcame the giants of English football.

More than just a recollection of the final itself, the book takes us through the tournament round by round, from the third round to the semi-final, and everything in between.

We all know that Lawrie Sanchez got the winning goal, but did you know he was in the wrong place for the free kick? The story shows what great team spirit and sheer hard work can achieve. With tales from the key players in the side, the staff, the fans, plus some of the opposition, this is the definitive account of how Wimbledon FC won the FA Cup.

Along the way you’ll discover how the Dons fell in love with the competition, with background info on their run in the 1974/75 season, when Dickie Guy become a household name overnight after saving a penalty against Leeds United.

If you don’t know about the Dons’ connection with the famous old cup, you certainly will after reading this fascinating book.

(Publisher:  Pitch Publishing Ltd. May 2023. Hardcover: 320 pages)

 

Buy the book here: When Dave Went Up

Category: Book Shelf | LEAVE A COMMENT

60 YEARS OF THE WORLD CUP: REFLECTIONS ON FOOTBALL’S GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH by Brian Barwick

60 Years of the World Cup is a personal, nostalgic, fun and frank reflection on the author’s six-decade association with football’s biggest showpiece.

Brian Barwick journeyed just five miles to his first World Cup match during the iconic 1966 tournament held in England, but later travelled the globe witnessing first-hand some of football’s greatest and most controversial moments. As a major national TV sport producer and executive, he was also responsible for how the tournament was broadcast to tens of millions of viewers on the BBC and ITV.

A stint as CEO of the FA brought him the unique experience of being personally associated with the triumphs and tribulations of trying to win the World Cup.

During his 60-year relationship with football’s greatest prize, he witnessed many of the tournament’s most famous matches, most gifted players and coaches, and iconic and controversial moments, meeting colourful personalities, making programmes that broke TV audience records and even helping an operatic aria to become a worldwide smash-hit!

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. May 2023. Hardcover: 256 pages)

 

Buy the book here: 60 Years of the World Cup

Category: Book Shelf | LEAVE A COMMENT

FEAR AND LOATHING AT GOODISON PARK: EVERTON UNDER DAVID MOYES by Lou Reed Foster

Fear and Loathing at Goodison Park chronicles the David Moyes era at Everton when a fallen giant of the English game fought to re-establish itself among football’s elite.

With relegation dogfights making way for Champions League qualification and the first cup final since 1995, David Moyes’ tenure was underpinned by stability and a hopefulness that success would soon return to the blue half of Merseyside.

It was, however, a period when the notion of success was redefined, not only for Everton but within the game as a whole.

With the financial gulf widening in a league deluged by an influx of foreign investment and media conglomerates, Moyes’ Everton became synonymous with operating on a shoe-string budget, in an era of multi-million-pound transfers and bloated wages.

With billionaire takeovers reshaping the landscape of English football forever, the people’s club’s hopes of breaking through football’s glass ceiling faded, leaving only fear and loathing at Goodison Park.

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. May 2023. Hardcover: 272 pages)

 

Buy the book here: Fear and Loathing

Category: Book Shelf | LEAVE A COMMENT

THE FORGOTTEN CUP: THE HISTORY OF THE MITROPA CUP, THE MOTHER OF THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE (1927-1940) by Jo Araf

The Forgotten Cup tells the colourful story of the Mitropa Cup, the inter-war equivalent of today’s Champions League.

One of the most prestigious football stages of the era – along with the World Cup, which was first played in 1930 – it was a tournament to determine the kings of Europe at the end of a round-robin competition.

European football at the highest level was dominated by Italian and Danubian teams – Austrian, Hungarian and Czechoslovakian – and would remain so until the end of the Second World War. The top teams of the time have now fallen into oblivion, and the exploits of Europe’s football stars are largely forgotten.

Matthias Sindelar, Karel Pesek ‘Kad’a, Giuseppe Meazza, Gyorgy Sarosi and Josef Bican along with a few others were the icons of a sport that had just turned professional, born out of the frictions of a politically heated era with an atmosphere that reverberated on the pitch. The Forgotten Cup takes us back to that lost age.

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. May 2023. Hardcover: 256 pages)

 

Buy the book here: The Forgotten Cup

Category: Book Shelf | LEAVE A COMMENT

NEVER STOP: HOW ANGE POSTECOGLOU BROUGHT THE FIRE BACK TO CELTIC by Hamish Carton

Never Stop is the story of how Australian manager Ange Postecoglou took Celtic from the edge of despair to the UEFA Champions League, via a domestic ‘double’ in his debut season.

Postecoglou arrived in Glasgow with virtually no reputation on this side of the world, but through his compelling media appearances, enthralling style of football and winning habit, he soon became one of the most iconic Celtic managers since the legendary Jock Stein.

Celtic were in crisis on and off the park in the summer of 2021, with numerous key players, including iconic captain Scott Brown, leaving the club after a season that had seen them finish 25 points behind Rangers. As Postecoglou arrived amid the chaos – and brought talent like Kyogo Furuhashi, Josip Juranovic and Jota with him – Celtic fans also returned to the stadium for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

Postecoglou, his players and the support formed an unbreakable bond that would lead Celtic to the Premiership title and back to the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.

Alongside a full colour photo section to accompany the text, in this book Carton shares the inside story of what makes Postecoglou special, with views from numerous former players, colleagues and close friends.

(Pitch Publishing Ltd. March 2023. Hardcover: 256 pages)

 

Buy the book here: Never Stop

Category: Book Shelf | LEAVE A COMMENT

THE CONQUERORS: HOW CARLO ANCELOTTI MADE AC MILAN WORLD CHAMPIONS by Dev Bajwa

The Conquerors charts the rise, fall and resurgence of AC Milan across one of the club’s most legendary eras.

Fresh from a coaching baptism of fire at either end of the top Italian divisions, former club favourite Carlo Ancelotti returned to a then-disjointed Rossoneri dressing room as first-team manager in 2001.

Out of sorts, out of form and out of touch with the standards set by the side in Ancelotti’s day, AC Milan found a much-needed stabilising influence in the new coach, who helped them through a phase of transition. Though his impact wasn’t immediate, nor without its share of dissenters, Ancelotti would ultimately return the team to its former glory.

The Conquerors is a homage to one of the greatest club sides in football history. It’s a story of incredible talent, iconic moments and the kind of improbable redemption usually reserved for Hollywood movie scripts.

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. April 2023. Hardcover: 352 pages)

 

Buy the book here: The Conquerers

Category: Book Shelf | LEAVE A COMMENT

LIONESSES: GAMECHANGERS by Abdullah Abdullah

England’s emphatic victory at the 2022 Women’s Euros has been called a watershed moment both for the team and for women’s football. But can this talented side prove their mettle on the biggest stage of all and achieve World Cup glory in 2023?

Tactical writer Abdullah Abdullah once again lifts the lid on a women’s footballing institution, this time through an international lens – deconstructing match tactics, analysing player performances and assessing the key improvements made in Sarina Wiegman’s time in charge.

Abdullah explores the standout tactical profiles from the current generation, including Fran Kirby and Lucy Bronze as well as the future crop, like Leah Williamson and wunderkind Lauren Hemp.

This book dives into the specifics of how this iteration of the Lionesses can perform at the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

Will this be the moment they shed their status as perennial challengers and prove they are the best team in the world?

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. April 2023. Paperback: 256 pages)

 

Buy the book here: Lionesses

Category: Book Shelf | LEAVE A COMMENT