I've got a soft spot for FourFourTwo footie magazine, subscribing to it when it was first launched back in '94, so their 2008 list of the Top 50 football books caught my eye recently when I was doing in-depth research into the man and myth that was Jimmy Sirrell.
As I'm going through a football book reading kick at the moment, I thought I'd use it as a meme for the blog. The usual ritual; if it's scored out, I've read it.
(50) The Fashion Of Football by Paolo Hewitt and Mark Baxter (2004)
(49) Out Of His Skin: The John Barnes Phenomenon by Dave Hill (1989)
(48) Steaming In by Colin Ward (1989)
(47) The Beautiful Game: A Journey Through Latin American Football by Chris Taylor (1998)
(46) Steak... Diana Ross: Diary Of A Football Nobody by David McVay (2003)
(45) Back Home: The Story Of England In The 1970 World Cup by Jeff Dawson (2001)
(44) The Way It Was by Stanley Matthews (2000)
(43) Barça: A People’s Passion by Jimmy Burns (1999)
(42) The Billy The Fish Football Yearbook Viz Comics (1999)
(41) Left Foot Forward by Garry Nelson (1995)
(40) Walking On Water by Brian Clough (2002)
(39) The Mavericks by Rob Steen (1994)
(38) The Story Of The World Cup by Brian Glanville (1980)
(37) Ajax Barcelona Cruyff: The ABC Of An Obstinate Maestro by Frits Barend and Henk Van Dorp (1999)
(36) The Football Grounds of England and Wales by Simon Inglis (1983)
(35) Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football by Phil Ball (2001)
(34) England v Argentina: World Cups and Other Small Wars by David Downing (2003)
(33) Kicking And Screaming by Rogan Taylor and Andrew Ward (1995)
(32) The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw: The Robin Friday Story by Paolo Hewitt and Paul McGuigan (1998)
(31) El Macca: Four Years With Real Madrid by Steve McManaman and Sarah Edworthy (2004)
(30) Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life by Alex Bellos (2002)
(29) Managing My Life by Alex Ferguson (1999)
(28) White Angels by Jon Carlin (2004)
(27) Ajax, The Dutch, The War by Simon Kuper (2003)
(26) Keane by Roy Keane and Eamonn Dunphy (2002)
(25) Tackling My Demons by Stan Collymore (2004)
(24) A Season With Verona by Tim Parks (2002)
(23) Passovotchka: Moscow Dynamo in Britain 1945 by David Downing (1999)
(22) Those Feet: A Sensual History of English Football by David Winner (2005)
(21) The Football Man by Arthur Hopcraft (1968)
(20) Dynamo: Defending the Honour of Kiev by Andy Dougan (2001)
(19) Football: The Golden Age by John Tennent (2001)
(18) Addicted by Tony Adams (1998)
(17) The Far Corner: A Mazy Dribble through North-East Football by Harry Pearson (1994)
(16) The Beautiful Game? Searching for the Soul of Football by David Conn (2004)
(15) The Boss: The Many Sides Of Alex Ferguson by Michael Crick (2002)
(14) Only a Game? by Eamon Dunphy (1976)
(13) Niall Quinn: The Autobiography by Niall Quinn & Tom Humphries (2002)
(12) The Miracle Of Castel Di Sangro by Joe McGinniss (1999)
(11) The Glory Game by Hunter Davies (1973)
(10) Puskas on Puskas: the life and times of a footballing legend by Rogan Taylor & Klara Jamrich (1998)
(9) Football In Sun And Shadow by Eduardo Galeano (1997)
(8) Tor! by Uli Hesse-Lichtenberger (2003)
(7) Full Time by Tony Cascarino & Paul Kimmage (2000)
(6) Keeper Of Dreams by Ronald Reng (2003)
(5) A Strange Kind Of Glory by Eamon Dunphy (1974)
(4) Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius Of Dutch Football by David Winner (2000)
(3) All Played Out: Full Story Of Italia 90 by Pete Davies (1990)
(2) Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby (1993)
(1) Football Against The Enemy by Simon Kuper (1994)
Only 12/50? This was one book meme where I thought I would be in the high twenties at least. I guess it's only me that holds the 1979 Shoot in such high esteem. I know I'm making a rod for my own back but by this time next year, that total will be at least 26/50. I set myself a target . . . and I fall short. Just like Celtic in the league this year.
PS - Where the hell is Gary Imlach's 2005 classic 'My Father and Other Working Class Football Heroes'? That should be on everyone's list.
As I'm going through a football book reading kick at the moment, I thought I'd use it as a meme for the blog. The usual ritual; if it's scored out, I've read it.
Only 12/50? This was one book meme where I thought I would be in the high twenties at least. I guess it's only me that holds the 1979 Shoot in such high esteem. I know I'm making a rod for my own back but by this time next year, that total will be at least 26/50. I set myself a target . . . and I fall short. Just like Celtic in the league this year.
PS - Where the hell is Gary Imlach's 2005 classic 'My Father and Other Working Class Football Heroes'? That should be on everyone's list.
1 comment:
Jimmy Sirrel, eh? His County sides of the 70s were quite something. I was in Nottingham between 76 and 79 and never went to Trent Bridge once - I was a County Road Sider. (Look at the record books to see what I might be held to have missed.)You know he designed the Sheffield United Club Crest during his brief exile from Meadow Lane? Resnick, John Harvey's Detective, was a Pie too.
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