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)

 

Buy the book here:The Boy Who Saved Billy Bremner

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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)

 

Buy the book here: The Full Morty

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BLOOD ON THE CROSSBAR: THE DICTATORSHIP’S WORLD CUP by Rhys Richards

This is the story of the most controversial football World Cup of all time.

When Argentina both hosted and won the World Cup in 1978, just two years after the coup d’état that ousted Isabel Perón, it was against the backdrop of a brutal military dictatorship in the country. Under the leadership of General Jorge Videla, up to 30,000 citizens, categorised as subversives, ‘disappeared’.

Dogged by allegations of bribery, coercion and an historic failed drugs test, this is the story of Argentina’s maiden World Cup triumph and the controversy that simmered behind it.

This isn’t exclusively a tale of footballers and generals, and the risks they took to succeed. It’s a story of the people: Argentinean exiles, Parisian students, brave journalists, the marching mothers of Plaza de Mayo and their missing children – and Dutch stand-up comedians who led international boycotts from thousands of miles away.

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

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SOMETHING IN THE WATER: HOW ENGLISH FOOTBALL FINDS ITS STAR PLAYERS – THE STORY OF ENGLAND’S TALENT HOTBEDS by Callum Murray

Have you ever wondered how football finds its star players?

Uncover the inner workings of English football’s talent hotbeds in this captivating book.

For decades working-class northern towns have churned out players – places like Huyton, a town of just over 33,000 that has produced the likes of Steven Gerrard, David Nugent, Peter Reid, Joey Barton and Tony Hibbert.

However, the emergence of south London as a new talent hotbed is equally as exciting with a new generation of players coming through – Jadon Sancho, Wilf Zaha, Joe Gomez and Joe Aribo among others.

Players produced here are like nothing seen before in England.

Bringing together thoughts, ideas and exclusive interviews with those involved at every level of the game – from the south London estate cages to the Premier League and Europe’s elite – this book unearths the secrets of two of England’s biggest talent hotbeds that represent the past, present and future of English football.

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. August 2022. Hardcover: 224 pages)

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KIT AND CABOODLE: FOOTBALL’S SHIRT STORIES by Matt Riley

Kits are cultural touchstones that tell us more about our club, ourselves and the beautiful game’s custodians than we often realise.

The colours, crests, designs and prices show what makes the game – and us – tick. Kit and Caboodle searches out the stories that our shirts tell us about our support and the society we accept or try to rebel against.

The book alternates short, shirt stories with a deeper dive into themes of ethics, philanthropy and dumb decision making.

We listen to MP Tracey Crouch as she tells us about her Fan Led Review and how shirts show the progress being made to a more equitable football ecosystem.

Shirts also illustrate the rise and mutation of gambling from pools to NFTs and cryptocurrencies, attitudes to the LGBTQ+ community, how clubs like St Pauli are determined to be driven by their values and why Messi’s transfer to PSG Qatar can never be financed by shirt sales.

Unlike anything else we wear, our club shirts envelop us in the history of our team and give us a hint of the future.

(Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd. September 2022. Hardcover: 224 pages)

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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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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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