LEAGUE ONE LEEDS: A JOURNEY THROUGH THE ABYSS by Rocco Dean

League One Leeds is the story of Leeds United’s three seasons spent in the third tier of English football. An illustrious club who had never fallen so low, their journey through League One would become the most chaotic period in Leeds’s history and the drama started before a ball was kicked.

An unprecedented 15-point deduction that plunged the Whites from promotion favourites to relegation fodder set the tone, as the club’s fortunes undulated wildly over the course of three bizarre seasons.

Record-breaking winning runs, long barren spells, FA Cup defeats at Histon and Hereford, victory at Old Trafford – this is a football story that twists and turns all the way through to a hair-raising finale.

The book is written through the eyes of the author and features exclusive insight from Simon Grayson, Jermaine Beckford, Jonny Howson, Bradley Johnson, David Prutton, Casper Ankergren and Luciano Becchio, whose first-hand experiences are interwoven with his own.

The result: a riveting account of a fascinating period in Leeds United’s history.

 

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. August 2022. Hardcover: 256 pages)

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BLACK AND WHITE STRIPES: THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF NEWCASTLE UNITED MATCHWORN SHIRTS by Gavin Haigh

BLACK AND WHITE STRIPES is a stunning showcase of the world’s greatest collection of matchworn Newcastle United shirts. It tells the story of one man’s lifelong labour of love as a Magpies supporter and collector – and also works brilliantly, both visually and emotionally, as an informal fans’ history of the club spanning the late 1950s to date.

Every Newcastle United fan will be transported back in time by the historic matchworn shirts featured, each of which recalls a season, a past hero, big-match thrills and heartaches. Through the power of the shirts they wore, BLACK AND WHITE STRIPES puts you in touch with memories of Peter Beardsley and Alan Shearer, Gary Speed and Jonjo Shelvey.

Here is the shirt worn by hat-trick hero David Kelly in the 7-1 thrashing of Leicester in 1993, when the lads were presented with the First Division trophy. The Aertex number nine jersey prepared for the Japan Cup in 1983, but never used. Paul Gascoigne’s well-worn away shirt from the 1987/88 season. And many more…

Foreword by Newcastle United legend David Kelly.

 (Publisher: Conker Editions Ltd. August 2022. Paperback: 208 pages)

 

Read our review here: Black and White Stripes

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THE IMMORTALS: TWO NINES AND OTHER CELTIC STORIES by Phillip Vine

The Immortals is a passionate love letter to Celtic FC, by turns ecstatic and distressed, angry and joyous, but always obsessed.

After the disappointment in 2021 of failing to complete the fabled ten-in-a-row league titles, the author took solace in researching causes for celebration from Celtic’s proud past.

His starting point was the rallying cry that ‘two nines are better than one’, and the book’s centrepieces are stories of both of Celtic’s nine-in-a-row triumphs.

On his journey he discovered darkness and despair as well as derring-do and delight, the extremes of emotion inevitable in all love affairs. He uncovered the evils of the Irish Holocaust and the poverty of Glasgow’s East End that preceded Celtic’s foundation, the dubious conduct of Celtic’s money-men, as well as the ‘miracles’ of the immortals among the club’s founding fathers, its dynasties, managers and players.

The book takes us on a pilgrimage through time with faithful hope for the future.

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. August 2022. Hardcover: 352 pages)

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ERIC AND DAVE: A LIFETIME OF FOOTBALL AND FRIENDSHIP by Spencer Vignes

Meet Eric Gill and Dave Hollins, once feted as two of the finest goalkeepers in Britain. Between them they have more stories to tell spanning the past ten decades than there are holes in a football net.

Their unique friendship started as a rivalry, two men wrestling over the same goalkeeper jersey at Brighton & Hove Albion in the 1950s.

Seventy years later they remain the best of pals, having lived long, eventful lives bookended by the horrors of World War Two and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Journey back to when footballers earned £20 a week and goalkeepers wore string gloves, as Eric and Dave recall how they dodged Hitler’s bombs before pitting their wits against some of sport’s most iconic names: a list that includes Stanley Matthews, Pele and George Best not to mention their shared nemesis, Brian Clough.

Touching, inspiring and searingly honest, Eric and Dave is a salutary reminder that youth is not a time of life but a state of mind.

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. August 2022. Hardcover: 288 pages)

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GROUNDWORK: THE INSIDE STORY OF JIM SMITH’S DERBY COUNTY by Ryan Hills

When Jim Smith took charge of Derby County in the summer of 1995, he joined a club needing to balance the books after several seasons of failing to reach the Premier League. Little was expected of him.

Yet alongside Steve McClaren, Smith oversaw a transformation that took Derby to a new home, a new division and to the brink of European competition for the first time since the days of Dave Mackay. Smith built a side capable of matching the very best in English football, amassing an array of international talent almost never before seen in the British game, alongside hugely impressive home-grown players.

This is the story of Jim Smith’s Derby County, told with the exclusive insights of Smith’s players, coaching staff, friends and supporters.

Rams legends including Igor Stimac, Stefano Eranio and Steve McClaren speak in depth on what made that Derby County side, while those closest to Jim reveal what the legendary man-manager was like to deal with, both in and out of football.

 

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. August 2022. Hardcover: 336 pages)

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COCKER HOOP: THE BIOGRAPHY OF LES COCKER, KEY MAN FOR RAMSEY AND REVIE by Robert Endeacott and Dave Cocker

Cocker Hoop is the authorised biography of football coaching great Les Cocker. A tenacious and resilient forward, Cocker played for two clubs: Stockport County (196 games, 48 goals) and Accrington Stanley (130 games, 50 goals) before retiring in 1958 to move into coaching.

As one of the first recipients of full coaching badges at England’s Lilleshall, he established himself as a supreme trainer and coach for Leeds United and helped build a famous footballing dynasty alongside Don Revie. His rising reputation attracted the FA’s attention, and Cocker helped the England team achieve their pinnacle success in 1966.

Filled with interviews, anecdotes and revelations from throughout Cocker’s career, Cocker Hoop brings us a personal portrait of the great man and is co-written by his son Dave Cocker and sportswriter and novelist Robert Endeacott.

 

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. July 2022. Hardcover: 256 pages)

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ISLAND HOPPING – THE FOOTBALL GROUNDS OF LANZAROTE by Steven Penny

Enjoy a journey around the clubs, grounds and footballing history of the Island of Eternal Spring.

Features more than 20 grounds on Lanzarote, with details of all its clubs and the history of the sport on the island.

Includes more than 170 colour pictures, guides to the grounds, maps, team shirts, club logos, statistics and mileage charts.

(Publisher: Penny for your Sports Publications. July 2022. Paperback: 120 pages)

 

Read our review here: Island Hopping

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THE OFFICIAL RANGERS STORY by David Mason

The Official Rangers Story celebrates the rich history of Rangers FC, one of the oldest and most successful football clubs in the world.

This is the story of a special city, the story of the birth of football and of a club that is revered by fans throughout the world. It is a story of humble beginnings in 19th-century Glasgow that charts the development of the ‘Association game’ in Scotland.

Drawing on 36 years of research, the author tells of the triumphs – a record number of Scottish championships and victory in Europe – but also of the disasters, like the 1902 and 1971 Ibrox tragedies, each reverberating throughout the UK.

The book explores the importance of men such as Struth, Souness, Smith and Gerrard, who with determination and ambition built this great club and its traditions. Then there were the great players such as Baxter, Gascoigne, and Laudrup.

It is no wonder Rangers has followers worldwide, each carrying the emotional attachment of their fathers and grandfathers before them. To them the club is everything – the beginning and the end.

 

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. August 2022. Hardcover: 304 pages)

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THE REALITY OF THE DREAM: MY UNIQUE JOURNEY FROM NON-LEAGUE TO THE PREMIER LEAGUE by Malcolm Christie

Like most young boys, Malcolm Christie grew up dreaming of becoming a professional footballer.

Rejected by his hometown club Peterborough United and working at Somerfield supermarket, playing amateur football at 19, Malcolm thought the moment had passed him by.

But dreams do come true.

Just months after he was stacking shelves, Malcolm was playing for Derby County in the Premier League. International honours and a big money move to Middlesbrough followed as Malcolm became one of English footballs brightest prospects until a succession of injuries led to a premature end of his promising football career.

The Reality of the Dream chronicles the amazing story of Malcolm Christie’s journey to become the only person in history to go straight from non-league to scoring in the Premier League and representing his country without ever joining a professional academy.

Sad, funny and often emotional, Malcolm’s unique tale provides a brutally honest insight into the reality of life as a footballer, an injured footballer and worse – a retired footballer.

(Publisher: Morgan Lawrence Publishing Services. June 2022. Paperback: 248 pages)

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