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On this page:
Books all football fans should read before they die ,
classic football book reviews
and our list of what we've been reading over the months.
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| Books all football fans should read before they die |
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| Click here for our list of 'must read's. |
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| Classic football book reviews |
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 The Beautiful Game? Searching for the Heart and Soul of Football David Conn (2004) |
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| What we've been reading over the months |
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2010
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2008
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| Andy Waple: Steel City Derbies |
Fine read about one of the England's most under-rated derby's. Interesting takes's on all the city's most famous clashes, from
the Blades classic 4:3 victory in 1951, to Wednesday's famous 4-0 win (dubbed the Boxing Day Massacre) in 1979 to the
FA Cup semi-final encounter in 1993.
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| Dylan Younger: Newcastle's Cult Heroes: The Toon's 20 Greatest Icons |
A good read and the only problem with this is it's name - it should just be the 20 Icons of Newcastle. The likes of
Milburn, MacDonald, Shearer, Keegan, Gallagher, Beardsley and Gazza are hardly cult - they're mainstream stars of football.
A list of 20 less known ones would be quite interesting too. Still worth a flick through though.
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2008
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| Andy Waple: Steel City Derbies |
Fine read about one of the England's most under-rated derby's. Interesting takes's on all the city's most famous clashes, from
the Blades classic 4:3 victory in 1951, to Wednesday's famous 4-0 win (dubbed the Boxing Day Massacre) in 1979 to the
FA Cup semi-final encounter in 1993.
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| Dylan Younger: Newcastle's Cult Heroes: The Toon's 20 Greatest Icons |
A good read and the only problem with this is it's name - it should just be the 20 Icons of Newcastle. The likes of
Milburn, MacDonald, Shearer, Keegan, Gallagher, Beardsley and Gazza are hardly cult - they're mainstream stars of football.
A list of 20 less known ones would be quite interesting too. Still worth a flick through though.
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December 2007
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November 2007
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October 2007
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September 2007
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August 2007
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July 2007
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June 2007
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May 2007
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 David Clayton: Manchester City's Cult Heroes |
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When you read a title like 'Cult Heroes' the thing that gets on my wick most of the time
is that they're not cult heroes in the true sense, but often the genuine legends, so it's
good to see a book featuring some genuine cult heroes, from a club that's almost made
for them. Peter 'the Great' Doherty (no, not that one), Paul Lake, Gerry Gow, Ian Bishop,
Niall Quinn, Uwe Rosler are among those who feature. Even that never to be forgotten man
mountain Andy Morrison gets a section, which is great to see alongside footballing legends
such as Mike Summerbee and Dennis Tueart. Well worth a read, even if you're not a City fan.
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April 2007
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| Peter Swan: Setting the Record Straight |
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This is an excellent book, charting the life of the classy centre-half, best known for his
part in the infamous Sheffield Wednesday match-betting scandal of the early 60's.
Sent to prison and banned from football for life, as you read the book you cant help feeling
sympathy for the guy, who was an England regular at the time and would have been in his
footballing prime at the time of the 1966 World Cup. Its a really interesting book, and it
highlights how easy the modern-day footballer has it in comparison. For anyone who's recently
started to think that Neil Warnock is acually not as bad as everyone makes out, look out for a
bit towards the end of the book, where Swan goes to a benefit dinner for a former Sheff Utd
player. Without ruining it, lets just say that you'll probably start disliking him again.
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March 2007
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| Andrew Ward: Football's Strangest Matches |
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If you like your cult football then you'll like this collection of bizarre tales involving
various football matches from over the years. It's easy reading and one of those great books
that you can just tuck into every now and then when you get a spare ten or fifteen minutes.
Many good laughs throughout.
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February 2007
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| David Conn: The Beautiful Game? Searching for the Heart and Soul of Football |
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A classic. For a full review
click here .
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January 2007
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| Paul McGrath: Back from the Brink |
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It's obviously going to appeal more to fans of Villa, Man U and the Republic, but this book is
still to be recommended to any football fan, even non-football fans. Its all in here - from being
an orphan in Dublin, to reaching the top heights of football, the alcoholic lows, the struggles
with injury, marriages and then life after football. Its a genuinely candid, emotional, honest
read, and a real antidote to some of the recent attempts by current players, the latest of which,
the laughable 'My Defence' by Ashley Cole, has to be seen/read to be believed, written as it is in the form "he weren't", "I aint" etc etc.
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September 2006
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| Gordon Strachan: My life in football |
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Sharp and witty as a tv pundit and during his pre/post match interviews,
Strachan's humour also comes across really well in the book.
The book is a really honest, frank and funny account of his career and the game in general.
Recommended to everyone, not just to fans of the teams he's played for.
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June 2006
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| Football Heroes |
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This book is mint. A must have for any fans of the old sticker albums, its been described
as like looking at a Panini album whilst under the influence. Which is pretty much spot on.
Have a look at it here...
www.footballheroes.org
and you can buy it here...
www.beachy.co.uk
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