Self explanatory.
We may have something similar in Performance, but I'm opening this up for ALL sorts of Football Books. What have you read? What were your thoughts, what do you recommend?


Myself:
Every couple of years I read 'Sheilas, Wogs and Pooftas'.
Also, Fergie's bio, 'The Football Book', 'Soccer funnies', 'Prized Players' was a light but very interesting read.
Also read a hilarious parody of David Becham's life called 'David Feckham' which was the best 1 pound I ever spent :lol: Also read a fictional book when I was about 10 called 'The Under 13s Redbacks' which was a great read as a young guy who was football mad.

Just bought Soccernomics today, and I'm looking forward to that.

Foz on Football

I read Brian Clough's autobiography. It was pretty good and well written. And being a Derby County fan, it included the only times that Derby was any good.
As a kid I remember having 2 books that I read over again, firstly the history of the 1st 100 years of the English Leagues. There were plenty of old pictures, stories and all the tables for each season. The other was "The greatest moments in soccer".
I also read Archie's book.

Got halfway through Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters before I had to return it (bit of a lazy reader lately).

Also bought and read A Decade United (brilliant) and The World Game According to Les Murray (bit mediocre tbh).

Taking Le Tiss was such a disappointment. The most entertaining player ever but his book was like listening to Vinnie Grella and Matty Ryan reading lullabies.

The first half if this book is actually really good.

Currently on Rio Fernidads auto biography, good read.

-PB

Craig Johnston (sp?) is a flog these days but his book was terrific.

His story about how he overheard he was getting the arse and then scored 3(?) goals in his next/last match was great.

I've read heaps of the Aussie one. Les Murray, Robbie Slater, Foz, Sheilas Wogs, Archie Thompson etc etc .

They're always in the bargain bin at the book shop so for $2 or $5 I just grab them. Most of them are pretty lightweight. Robbie Slater's was surprisingly good. Sheilas Wogs is a classic IMO.

The two best I've read are Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson which is a must read for anyone interested in the history of football tactics. Also The Ball is Round by David Goldblatt which is a great read about the history of football around the world.

Fergie's autobiography

Soccernomics is brilliant.

:lol:

Too funny.

Brilliant book, Inverting The Pyramid.

What I like about Bulldog in his book, is that he is quite self-critical.

Agree with you Munrub. It was a good read.

I was quite shocked one of Bullgdog's youth coaches criticised him at the end of his career, saying he was lucky to achieve what he did.

Very churlish of the coach.

Those two and Soccernomics are brilliant. SWP and The Away Game are also good for Australian football history.

I got Archie to autograph his book at the embassy in Amman and he said "Wow, how did you get it here, only about 100 people bought that". When the team left the bus had to wait for about half an hour while they searched for Archie who was off in the garden playing a game of 1 v 50 with all the staff kids and two shameless adults. If they had left he probably would have just played all day.

Edited by crusader: 25/9/2015 12:20:31 PM

I certainly found it to be one of the most interesting.

This is one I had trouble finishing.

I thought it was a bit boring towards the end.

Best autobiography - "Niall Quinn - The Autobiography"

Best fiction (although based on truth) - "The Damned United"

Best fact/documentary - "Soccernomics" and "Foul!"

Just got Foul! on my kindle based on your recommendation. Last few books were "Nothing to envy" "Aquariums of Pyongyang" and "Escape from camp 14". Needed a break from reading about an evil and corrupt regime that answers to no one.

Edited by crusader: 25/9/2015 05:58:26 PM

=d>

And now my kindle has disappeared, I blame you.

A life too short- Robert Enke. Definitely worth reading and has been put into English. It really tells a rollercoaster story and has made me very forgiving of a player's mistakes on the pitch despite their professionalism. I still feel players can make better pass choices but this story is tragic on many levels. The idea of 'if I'm not the best, I must be the worst' was something that drained Enke's life among others.

Fergie autobiography was decent.

Rale Rasic story was great.

Have pre ordered the Cahill book for November. It'll be top or flop I think.

The story so far with Wayne Rooney. It was ok.

The hard way (robbie slater) agree this was suprisingly good.

Pele (one of his many) pretty ordinary.

One fantasitc goal (an autobiography of australian football up until the first season of the a-league (not much has changed as you would think. International stories were pretty interesting)

Frank McKavennie. Scoring: an expert's guide. (Mildly successfull scotsman who played in england prior to the epl. More talk about the chicks he banged. Interesting story about him with twin girls from what i remember) only bought this cause i found it in an english second hand book store and i thought this would be a better souvenir then a phone booth/double decker bus token

And the best book was inverting the pyramid. A history of the tactical evolution of the game. A brilliant read for anybody interested in the finer details of the game.


Edited by bitza: 26/9/2015 06:43:05 PM

Sheilas, Wogs and Poofters was one of the first. I distinctly remember my mum going out to buy it and being too embarrassed to say the title so she asked the staff if they had a copy of "Johnny Warren's book" (cue blank stares from the staff).

Inverting the Pyramid finds the perfect balance between history/culture and tactics.

The Economics of Football - Strongly recommended for anyone who has done at least Uni level maths (even if you did first year maths or economics you will be able to get 90% of the book but it is very statistical)

Lastly, does anyone know of a series called "Western Wildcats Suck"? Came out around the year 2000. I only have 1 book in the series but it was a pretty funny book about a really crap U13 team in Western Sydney. This book should be a FFT cult classic as it contains every Western Sydney stereotype you can imagine (with my favourite being the bogan GK with a mullet who doesn't actually try to save the ball). Now that this has come up I need to track down the rest of the books.

Pele My Life and the Beautiful Game. Alot of pro football players would benefit from reading this. Pele despite his fame and talent was fundamentally a humble man who stressed the importance of a simple unpretentious life.

Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby is an absolute classic - surprised it hasn't already been mentioned. Perfectly describes what life is as a football fan.

Soccernomics and How Soccer Explains the World are both very interesting and expand beyond the sport itself. Eight World Cups is also pretty enjoyable - by George Vecsey, the New York Times sports writer. I've also read Mark Schwarzer's 2006 World Cup Diary, Les Murray's World Game and Outcasts United.

Yet to read Sheilas Wogs and Poofters; I know that I should but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

I gave Fever Pitch to an ex to explain how it is to be a football fan, especially how supporting a terrible team (Parramatta, Southampton) is actually more enjoyable than supporting a successful team.

Two favourites have to be Sheilas, wogs and poofters and Pirlo's book.

Autobiographies: Gerrard, Pirlo, Thompson. Pirlo's my favourite of the three, but they all offer different insights.

Australia United (Tony Wilson): Basically a travel diary of the 2006 World Cup - and an excellent read.

Shielas, Wogs & Poofters: A must read for any Aussie football fan.

Soccernomics: Can be heavy on stats if you're not maths bent, but interesting all the same.

Next up on my list is the A-League book that's recently been released, but it sounds like I need to give the Slater book a crack too.