Football Books - Biographies, Autobiographies etc

[Toon Toon Blue army]

This is going to be a long shot, but someone a few months ago recommended a book that sounded good but I never got around to buying and now I can't remember what it was called. It was about the current state of the game in England or something similar, and I think the title was along the lines of "why we are rubbish at football". That was the general tone of the book I was lead to believe anyway.

Any ideas?

[Svlad Cjelli]

This is going to be a long shot, but someone a few months ago recommended a book that sounded good but I never got around to buying and now I can't remember what it was called. It was about the current state of the game in England or something similar, and I think the title was along the lines of "why we are rubbish at football". That was the general tone of the book I was lead to believe anyway.

Any ideas?

[Toon Toon Blue army]

This is going to be a long shot, but someone a few months ago recommended a book that sounded good but I never got around to buying and now I can't remember what it was called. It was about the current state of the game in England or something similar, and I think the title was along the lines of "why we are rubbish at football". That was the general tone of the book I was lead to believe anyway.

Any ideas?

Spot on, much appreciated!

[reading_fan]

I've just read Graham Poll's Seeing Red autobiography on holiday, and found it very interesting - a very open and honest account of his career (with a couple of mentions of RFC in there) and obviously all the stuff surrounding the World Cup. I'd previously read Perluigi Collina's autobiography The Rules of the Game, which was excellent.

I'm now after a new football book to read - any recommendations? I bought Dad the Bert Trautmann biography which I might borrow when he's finished it, but in the mean time what is a good football book you have read and would suggest I try?

What were the references to Reading?

There's this one:
"Similarly, at Reading's old Elm Park ground, there was one home "supporter" who used to station himself at the front of one stand - in line with the edge of the penalty area - because he worked out that was the most advantageous position from which to spit at the linesman. Nice."

The other biggish feature on us was when he reffed our game at Charlton on Easter Monday in the Prem (06/07) and he had booked Song early in the first half, Pardew (then Charlton manager) went in to see him to seemingly ask Poll to make some sort of gesture if Song was close to being sent off, Poll said he wouldn't make a signal, Song got away with a nasty challenge Poll didn't really see second half, Pardew subbed him, and then after the game Pardew claimed in a press conference that Poll would indicate to him that he would send Song off unless he was subbed.

A few other small mentions on games he reffed of ours, but nothing major.

[Starfish]

Tim Parks - A Season With Verona - Does what the title says, a travelogue of a season with Hellas Verona with some of the most vilified fans in Italy. They survived relegation from Serie A in a relegation play off after looking dead and buried with 4 games left. My favourite football book.

I have to admit that I have read very few football books but I really enjoyed this too.

Another book I enjoyed was David Downing's - The Best of Enemies : England v Germany.

[bobbybottler]

+1s for:
Far Corner - anything by Harry Pearson on any subject is worth reading
All Played Out

Simon Kuper's "Football Against The Enemy" is also recommended, the chapter on the animos between the nice Dutchies and the nasty Germans is especially good.

David Winner's "Brilliant Orange" is also very good, particularly when revealing what the Dutch really did in the war (grassed eahc other up to the occupying Nazis) and why Ajax are happy to maintian their imager as a Jewish club.

I can't recall an autobiography by a footballer that I've actually read

*edit*

Garry Nelson's two books - Left Foot Forward and Left Foot In The Grave, both very good.

[Ark Royal]

Lots of really good recommendations here, but this is the best that I have ever read. One of the best English players of the 70s was diagnosed with Parkinson's in the 80s and this book is basically in two halves: the first by Kennedy himself, the second half by the co-author - the neurologist who helped to treat him. An incident in a supermarket where Kennedy basically froze had me in tears. A very, very moving story.

[11.30 from paddington]

Also liked 'The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw,' for obvious reasons.

Great story, but a feckin awful book to read. No flow, nos style, nothing added by the author - just a series of EPo articles stitched together with a few basic words.

Don't get me wrong - it's no literary masterpiece! As you imply, the 'authors' acted more as editors. But as someone who started supporting Reading post-Friday, it was my first insight into our club's cult figure.

I liked the absence of the narrative voice, and the fact it was replaced with interviews with people who knew him (particularly his family). The fact it was interspersed with the E-Po articles alongside the interviews, lent it an unbiased feel, so it felt as if I was able to make my own mind up about him, without being influenced by one person's opinion. A decent introduction to him, I thought.

Anyway, I agree that there's room for another much better book to be written about the great man though.

Might give the online photo-essay by Roger Titford a go.

There are some decent recommends on this thread...

[Red]

This is going to be a long shot, but someone a few months ago recommended a book that sounded good but I never got around to buying and now I can't remember what it was called. It was about the current state of the game in England or something similar, and I think the title was along the lines of "why we are rubbish at football". That was the general tone of the book I was lead to believe anyway.

Any ideas?

Is this any good? It's been on my bookshelf and I skim read the first chapter but have too many other things on the go at the mo.

Should I bump it up the list?

The impression I get is that it's all a bit "No shit sherlock"

[Red]

The Far Corner - Harry Pearson

+1 for this - absolutely brilliant read.

[Ark Royal]

Also liked 'The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw,' for obvious reasons.

Great story, but a feckin awful book to read. No flow, nos style, nothing added by the author - just a series of EPo articles stitched together with a few basic words.

Don't get me wrong - it's no literary masterpiece! As you imply, the 'authors' acted more as editors. But as someone who started supporting Reading post-Friday, it was my first insight into our club's cult figure.

I liked the absence of the narrative voice, and the fact it was replaced with interviews with people who knew him (particularly his family). The fact it was interspersed with the E-Po articles alongside the interviews, lent it an unbiased feel, so it felt as if I was able to make my own mind up about him, without being influenced by one person's opinion. A decent introduction to him, I thought.

Anyway, I agree that there's room for another much better book to be written about the great man though.

Might give the online photo-essay by Roger Titford a go.

There are some decent recommends on this thread...

I got it and, as always, an excellent piece by Roger. He tries to capture the 70s zeitgeist in a time capsule and succeeds. A different slant on the Friday legend and also included photos that I had not seen before.

[Terminal Boardom]

There is a book I read a couple of years ago which was about the 1996 World Cup Final football. Turned out to be an interesting read.

[Victor Meldrew]

Nearly finished reading Mark Ward (ex-Everton,West Ham,Birmingham etc) auobiography with the cracking title "From right-wing to B-wing".
A good read as was the book written by our old winger Paul Canoville.
Both of them give a flavour of football in the 80s and early 90s and the excesses of those times.
Players would of course never behave badly today,would they?

[papereyes]

The impression I get is that it's all a bit "No shit sherlock"

It is, to some extent, but they also put a method to the madness.

[Wax Jacket]

Tim Parks - A Season With Verona - Does what the title says, a travelogue of a season with Hellas Verona with some of the most vilified fans in Italy. They survived relegation from Serie A in a relegation play off after looking dead and buried with 4 games left. My favourite football book.

honestly I couldn't stand this book, talk about a johnny-come-lately with a hugely inflated sense of his own wonderfulness

[Starfish]

Tim Parks - A Season With Verona - Does what the title says, a travelogue of a season with Hellas Verona with some of the most vilified fans in Italy. They survived relegation from Serie A in a relegation play off after looking dead and buried with 4 games left. My favourite football book.

honestly I couldn't stand this book, talk about a johnny-come-lately with a hugely inflated sense of his own wonderfulness

As I said before, I liked it. And hadn't he been a season ticket holder for 15-20 years when he wrote the book?

[From Despair To Where?]

Tim Parks - A Season With Verona - Does what the title says, a travelogue of a season with Hellas Verona with some of the most vilified fans in Italy. They survived relegation from Serie A in a relegation play off after looking dead and buried with 4 games left. My favourite football book.

honestly I couldn't stand this book, talk about a johnny-come-lately with a hugely inflated sense of his own wonderfulness

As I said before, I liked it. And hadn't he been a season ticket holder for 15-20 years when he wrote the book?

Yep, he was a fairly long standing season ticket holder including seasons in Serie B so hardly a johnny come lately. Don't think he particularly big himself up either. He was constantly aware of his outsider status within the group.

[Wax Jacket]

it was more that he felt he could only 'understand' football when it was removed from his provincial english existence (and replaced with er a provincial italian existence)

i quite liked a lot of the story itself but the authorial voice (as much as I can remember ten years on) just gr8ed massively. and it was backed up by a girl I knew who'd done TEFL with him and said he was a massive dickhead.

[Red]

backed up by a girl I knew who'd done TEFL with him and said he was a massive dickhead.

csb

[Wax Jacket]

it HAPPENED
it's FACT