Football Books: News and Reviews

Spitting in the Wind, the latest book by ranter extraordinaire Billy Furious, aka Kriss Knights, represents two decades of “crackpot ramblings” on Newcastle United.

As a collection of fanzine articles (some previously unpublished and others with updated comments added with the benefit of hindsight), it is a haphazard and outspoken volume. At first glance, you could be forgiven for thinking it’s just another one of those badly produced, badly written amateur books in dire need of a proofreader and editor. While some of this may be true, certainly with reference to the production (which Furious’s website admits is “irreverent, sweary, often drunk and lacking in a basic understanding of any punctuation that [isn’t] a exclamation mark”), don’t let that put you off – this Billy bloke has a way with words that had me hooked from the start, and I’m not even a Magpies fan. Read more…

In November, Jonathan Wilson revisited the legend that was Brian Clough in Nobody Ever Says Thank You: The Biography. It claimed to be ‘the final word’ on the man, while the Sunday Times hailed it as “the most comprehensive account we have had of this remarkable man so far”. Read more…

Nostalgia is always popular with football fans, and the rather lengthily titled Those Were The Games: A Nostalgic Look at a Century of Great Football Matches (When Football Was Football), released on October 6, promises a look back at “fascinating football matches from the last 100 years”, including the ‘White Horse’ FA Cup final of 1923.

Tim Quelch’s Underdog: Fifty Years of Trials and Triumphs with Football’s Also-Rans, published on October 14, looks back over a lifetime of watching struggling teams around the country, including some non-league teams. It’s a personal tale that also highlights the changing times and has been hailed as “a major work” by Backpass magazine.

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Hot on the heels of We Are Celtic Supporters comes this ‘official’ story of bitter Glasgow rivals Rangers. Whereas the former was a rather abstract look at the club’s culture and history through a series of interviews with diverse followers, this is a more traditional chronological history – though it still boasts a number of exclusive interviews with the likes of Sandy Jardine and Ally McCoist. Read more…

September 2011 has seen the release of a quite a few notable Manchester United-related autobiographies. First up was Red, by Gary Neville (published September 1). Paul Scholes announced his retirement just months after Neville, at the end of the 2010-11 season, and came similarly hot on his former team-mate’s heels with the rather simply titled My Story (Sep 29). Read more…

We Are Celtic Supporters, by Richard Purden, with a foreword by Rod Stewart (2011)

This book, published in September 2011, examines what created the culture, ideas and beliefs around Celtic football club. Author Richard Purden travels the world to find fans far and wide, from the ordinary to the celebrity. And there are indeed a wealth of the latter – as well as rocker Rod Stewart, who writes the foreword, there are exclusive interviews with famous fans such as Billy Connolly, Jim Kerr and Noel Gallagher. Read more…

Kissing the Badge: How Much Do You Know About 20 Years of the Premier League? by Phil Ascough (2011)

This is a quiz book that offers just that little bit more than mere trivia. It’s perfect for long car or train journeys on away days (especially, of course, if you follow a Premier League team), but it’s also one of those books that’s interesting to dip in and out of whether you feel like testing your fellow footy mates or just yourself. Read more…

When Saturday Comes: The Half Decent Football Book (2005)

This comprehensive A-Z covers all aspects of the beautiful game, from ‘abandoned matches’ to ‘Wrexham FC’ via celebrity fans, mascots, pitch invasions and the Bosman ruling.

Every club in the English League and the Scottish League has a separate entry, Fifa, Uefa, the PFA and the Football Supporters’ Association are covered, and the murkier areas of football such as boardroom politics and match-fixing are explored and explained with When Saturday Comes’ inimitable mix of humour and intelligence. It’s all the discerning fan needs to be reminded why football is still (against the odds) the people’s game.

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Woody and Nord: A Football Friendship, by Gareth Southgate, Andy Woodman and David Walsh (2003)

Gareth Southgate and Andy Woodman have been best friends since they were apprentices at Crystal Palace together.

But while Southgate has gone on to play for a succession of Premiership clubs, Woodman, after being released on the day Palace were promoted, has been shuffled around the lower divisions. This is the story of a friendship that has endured two wildly divergent careers and an insight into the national game, from the staggering money and prestige of the premier League to the precarious living and hard knocks of the Nationwide League.

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Willie Maley: The Man Who Made Celtic, by David Potter (2003)

Celtic owe almost everything to Willie Maley.

He played in their first ever game in 1888 and won Scottish caps in 1893, before becoming Celtic’s manager in 1897. He then set about building Celtic into the best team in Scotland and, from the beginning, envisaged the club as a powerful presence in world football – playing games in England, Europe and the United States. This book chronicles his playing career, the building of the great Edwardian Celtic team, the devastating effect of the Great War and the wealth of talent that he uncovered until his dismissal from office in 1940.

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