LS65 by Billy Morris

It’s Spring 1965, and young Alan Connolly is a man with a plan. Out of jail and out of Glasgow, leaving old wars behind and hoping that the voices in his head allow him to forget the past.

New start, new city. Smart suit, the best scooter and the right connections. LS1 is swinging – Coffee bars and clubs, pills and protection rackets. And at Elland Road, Revie’s United are chasing a league and cup double in their first season back in the top flight.

It’s the right place and the perfect time to build his empire and the only thing that can stop him is his own dangerous ambition and the dark memories that torment him.

(Publisher: Independently published. September 2023. Paperback: 217 pages)

 

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REBIRTH OF THE BLUES: THE RISE OF CHELSEA FOOTBALL CLUB IN THE MID-1980s by Neil Fitzsimon

Rebirth of the Blues is the third instalment in Neil Fitzsimon’s acclaimed trilogy on Chelsea FC.

The book considers one of the most exciting eras in the club’s history – 1977 to 1985. It was a period when Chelsea narrowly escaped relegation into the Third Division in 1983, before being resurrected under the management of John Neal when the likes of Kerry Dixon, Pat Nevin and others catapulted the club to new glories.

The next year, Chelsea took the Second Division by storm with their new brand of quicksilver flowing football to make a triumphant return to the top flight as champions. But Rebirth of the Blues is more than just a chronicle of football history. It’s a gripping memoir of a Chelsea fan growing up in the late 1970s to mid-80s and his experiences of living through the political unrest of Thatcherite Britain when excess and greed were seen as ideals to be admired.

Fitzsimon recalls his tentative first steps with girlfriends, the changing face of the music scene and what it was like to be single and one of the lads.

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

 

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DIVIDED CITIES: THE WORLD’S MOST PASSIONATE SINGLE CITY DERBIES by Kevin Pogorzelski

Rivalry is everywhere in football, from battles on the pitch to boardroom politics, regional and national quarrels and fights for silverware. These conflicts spark countless debates over which are the ‘biggest’ and ‘best’ fixtures in the global game, but those involving teams from the same city are especially intense, both on and off the pitch.

Divided Cities is a game by game account of the good, bad, indifferent but always eventful experiences of journeying to 11 of the world’s most prominent same-city derbies. Along the way, Kevin Pogorzelski explores some of the most wonderful cities on Earth, delving into the rich histories of clubs and meeting the people who live and breathe the local football culture. Pogorzelski does not try to glorify the violence or animosity between ultra groups but stumbles into some tricky situations.

Have you ever thought about embarking on your own football pilgrimage? Then this book is for you.

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. March 2023. Paperback: 320 pages)

 

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WALSALL’S GREATEST: TONY RICHARDS AND THE SADDLERS’ GLORY YEARS by Gary Richards

At the end of the 1953/54 season, Walsall Football Club finished bottom of the Third Division South and applied for re-election to the Football League for a third successive year. Five months later, manager Frank Buckley offered 20-year-old Tony Richards a four week trial.

This is the story of how Richards and his team-mates changed Walsall from a music hall joke into a team challenging for a place in the top tier of English football. In three seasons the club went from playing a Fourth Division league match in front of 2,366 people at Gateshead to facing Liverpool in front of an Anfield crowd of 42,229 in the Second Division.

Including testimony from Walsall players Keith Ball, Ray Wiggin, Trevor Foster, Stan Bennett and Nick Atthey, Walsall’s Greatest is a detailed account of the Saddlers’ Glory Years and the impact of the man voted by the club’s supporters as Walsall’s greatest ever player.

(Publisher: ToneRedDays. April 2022. Paperback: 255 pages)

 

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THREE GAMES IN MAY: AND A TWENTY-YEAR ODYSSEY THAT DEFINED SIR ALEX FERGUSON’S MANCHESTER UNITED by Rob Carless

Three Games in May takes us all the way back to Manchester United’s final three matches of the 1998/99 season.

Prior to these games, United had won nothing that year. However, what unfolded over those 11 days at the end of May would see them complete THE most unique of trebles, and it all came down to the final few seconds of the Champions League Final at the Camp Nou. Drama at its finest!

By chronicling the twenty-year period of 1989 to 2009, including anecdotes from the players, fans, and journalists who witnessed the historic events first-hand, Three Games in May provides a unique perspective on the events leading up to those fateful three games, as well as the three great dynasties that Sir Alex Ferguson built at Old Trafford; a period that began with United’s greatest-ever manager facing the sack!

A must-read for all Manchester United supporters, Three Games in May demonstrates that there is more to the story than those three trophies and takes the reader on a nostalgic journey through all the trials, tribulations, and, ultimately, the glory.

For every copy sold a donation will be made to Prostate Cancer UK.

(Publisher: Morgan Lawrence Publishing Services. March 2023. Paperback: 232 pages)

 

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FORGOTTEN FOOTBALL CLUBS: FIFTY TEAMS ACROSS THE WORLD, GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN by Philip O’Rourke

The fascinating stories of fifty lost football clubs from around the world, including their history, their successes and their ultimate failures.

Football brings joy to people across the world, and it evokes memories and nostalgia about past glories and events. When a football club folds, these memories and nostalgic moments are often all that is left. Forgotten Football Clubs uncovers these very stories, from clubs founded in the 19th century to others lasting only a few years.

Author Philip O’Rourke interviews fans and experts from the teams’ respective countries to find out why they disappeared and how it happened. Along the way, he analyses their results, what honours they won and casts a spotlight on their key players, managers and any controversies.

Forgotten Football Clubs unearths a diverse range of tales, transporting us from Asia to South America and from Europe to Africa. With such an eclectic mix, these are stories for football fans young and old.

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

 

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WE PAID TO PLAY: REFLECTIONS OF PLAYING FOOTBALL AT SCHOOL AND IN LOCAL LEAGUES by Kenneth McLauchlan

We Paid to Play by Kenneth McLauchlan is an interesting and educated read about the history of English and international football. McLauchlan discusses football from its beginning to current times and from grass roots football to international standard football, across all countries.

With discussion about experts involved in the game from the early days such as Rous and Pentland, the book gives an interesting insight into the world of football. Racism and hooliganism in football are touched upon too – a subject being discussed at the moment in the media.

We Paid to Play is a fascinating read, written by someone who has a clear love of football at all levels. It is an ideal read for anyone even remotely interested in football – everyone will learn something new.

 

(Publisher: Olympia Publishers. June 2022. Paperback: 194 pages)

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THE BOY WHO SAVED BILLY BREMNER by Nicholas Dean

Coventry. 1973. The first day of the school summer holidays. Phillip Knott is 14, a superb natural swimmer and a die-hard Leeds United fan. Phillip has entered a competition in his favourite comic which, incredibly, leads to him receiving a short letter from his all-time favourite footballer and Leeds legend, Billy Bremner. After he is dumped by his girlfriend in favour of an older boy, Phillip writes back to Billy for advice, and gradually an unlikely pen pal friendship develops between the pair, which helps Phillip navigate his difficult home life on a neglected council estate on the outskirts of the city.

Phillip’s dad is a lorry driver, involved in some shady deals and frequently unable to control his temper at home, while his mum is losing her battles with him and with her depression. Philip does his best to protect his younger brother from the arguments and violence and to keep his older sister from shopping his dad and walking out.

The only things that keep Phillip going are his swimming and his letters from Billy, and as Leeds United stretch their unbeaten run from the start of the season to twenty nine games, and Phillip gets to try out for the best swimming team in the city, the pressure on both boy and footballer mounts. But in their unlikely friendship they both find unexpected support and wisdom.

If you loved Spangles but hated your paper round then this is the novel for you. A funny, kind and moving novel which evokes its setting and era with detail and warmth.

 

(Publisher: Independently published. July 2022. Paperback: 532 pages)

 

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THE FULL MORTY: DENNIS MORTIMER – THE STORY OF A HOLTE END KING by Dennis Mortimer with Richard Sydenham

The gripping memoir and tell-all biography of Dennis Mortimer, including his decade at Villa and the team’s European Cup win.

Dennis Mortimer became Aston Villa’s most famous captain when he lifted the Lions’ first League Championship trophy in 71 years. That was in 1981, and he achieved a European Cup win the following year, but his time at the club ended controversially.

After signing for Coventry City as a teenager in the late 1960s, Mortimer lined up against such legends as Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, Franz Beckenbauer and George Best. From there he moved to Villa and became one of manager Ron Saunders’ most trusted players. He was in the dressing room for the most successful period in the club’s history but was frozen out by the chairman before his eventual exit.

He finished his playing career at Brighton & Hove Albion, Sheffield United and Villa’s bitter rivals Birmingham City, then moved into coaching.

In this autobiography, Mortimer lifts the lid on the highs and lows of his time at Villa and shares stories galore about the many characters he met through his life in football.

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. September 2022. Hardcover: 320 pages)

 

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