Zola Mahobe came from Soweto and turned himself into a jet-setting multimillionaire. He was a habitual bank robber. The founding father of present-day Mamelodi Sundowns transformed the soccer club to the elite of the first division.

He meets Snowy Moshoeshoe who becomes his lover and partner in crime. After convincing Moshoeshoe to leave her nursing job to take up a job at Standard Bank Mahobe’s businesses start to grow.

Dikgang Moseneke shares the story of how Mahobe often invited him and Willie Seriti to games. He often told them: ‘I am a man with many challenges. I like to travel with my lawyers and my gunman next to me.’

Mahobe and Moshoeshoe continue pilfering millions from Standard Bank for five years. The bank discovers their scheme and Mahobe is arrested in Botswana.

The untold story of Mahobe is one of the biggest stories to come out of apartheid South Africa and compares with that of the notorious bank-robbing Stander Gang. This book is impossible to put down.

Eight-year-old Teko Modise didn’t mean to compete with his father, it was just that he was a soccer natural and everyone could see it. His father, in a fit of childlike jealously, kicked him out of the house, and when Teko tried to come back he kicked him out again. So little Teko made a plan. Every day he attended school as normal, and at night he slept out on the streets with other homeless children. This book is the true story of his rise to fame, to becoming ‘the General’, one of the best footballers South Africa has produced, and will allow readers to understand the story behind ‘the Curse’.

At the peak of his career the world seemed filled with Teko. His face was on every major billboard, TV advert and magazine cover in the country. Little boys from suburbs to townships everywhere were lining up at barbershops asking for The Teko haircut. With a house in Sandton and driving an Aston Martin, Modise was about to make history in the upcoming Soccer World Cup of 2010. He had gone beyond being football royalty, he became a super star. The tabloids have called him an abusive lover, a cheating ex-husband, a neglectful father and an alcoholic egotistical footballer. But beyond these headlines is a story about a boy who played his way out of poverty on talent alone.

Be inspired by this story of a young man with a resilient spirit who kept moving forward chasing his dreams, who not only survived, but made it, and made it big. The Teko Modise story is proof that anything is possible.

Business tycoon Patrice Motsepe is never shy to shake up the status quo. He has always followed his instincts to stay ahead of the curve. An icon of corporate South Africa, he is as much known for his leadership in the world of football as for his philanthropy.

He was a top lawyer when he followed his dream of being an entrepreneur, making a deal with Anglo American in the late 1990s that marked the beginning of a series of unique relationships which today define his African Rainbow Minerals empire. As the owner of Mamelodi Sundowns, he led it to becoming one of the most accomplished clubs in Africa. Then came the powerful seats of president at the Confederation of African Football and vice-president of FIFA, football’s global governing body, in 2021. Yet questions linger about his political ambitions because of his close links to the ANC and particularly his brothers-in-law, Cyril Ramaphosa and Jeff Radebe.

In this unauthorised biography, best-selling author and journalist Janet Smith mines public archives, academic papers and international media to find what lies behind this hugely successful, intensely private man, and what may lie ahead.

Wall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg offer a deeply reported account of the intertwined sagas and legacies of two of the greatest soccer players of all time—Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo—examining how their rivalry has grown from a personal competition to a multi-billion-dollar industry, paralleling the stunning rise, overwhelming excesses, and uncertain future of modern international soccer.

For over fifteen years, almost any conversation about international soccer has always come back to two players—Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo—undoubtedly the greatest of their generation but with styles, attitudes, and fanbases that couldn’t be more different. For millions of people around the world “Messi or Ronaldo?” isn’t simply a barroom argument, or an affirmation of fandom, so much as a statement of philosophy, of values, of what global soccer is today and of what it will be tomorrow.

Now Wall Street Journal reporters and co-authors of The Club, Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg, unite the stories of Messi and Ronaldo into a single modern epic of global sports, detailing how one rivalry changed both the game and the business of international soccer—forever. Based on dozens of firsthand accounts and years of original reporting, Messi vs. Ronaldo weaves together the stakes, color, and characters at the heart of each man’s story, going inside the locker rooms and boardrooms where their legends were forged and revealing off-field drama as gripping as anything that happened on it. From their contrasting origin stories to their divergent career arcs and their conflicting reputations, these players have built their successes on opposite paths, yet each, in his own way, offers a riveting tale of triumph and excess. Taken together, their story embodies the astronomical growth of international soccer, how social media has revolutionized the power of sports celebrity, and how the desire to capitalize on the billions of dollars these players represent electrified some of the most storied clubs in Europe—Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Manchester United among them—and cost them almost everything.

Updated with a new epilogue detailing Messi and Argentina’s remarkable victory in the 2022 World Cup, Messi vs. Ronaldo offers a deeply researched look at their legacy and grapples with the impact that their talents have had on the game for better and for worse. Much more than a retelling of the dual accomplishments of these great players, this is truly a biography of a rivalry, one that has become a crucial lens for understanding the past, present, and future of global soccer.

As a young, soccer-mad boy living in rural KwaZulu-Natal, Robert Marawa listened to the commentary of local football derbies on a small, crackling FM radio. As a teenager, he spent hours practising his presenting skills on his family’s home video recorder, reading from newspaper clippings his mother had carefully kept for him while he was at boarding school in Hilton. Marawa’s dream was to be a sportscaster who would be beamed into the homes of South Africa’s footballing fans.

Robert Marawa’s career has exceeded his wildest imagination. ‘Madluphuthu’ has become arguably South Africa’s most popular and most recognisable sports broadcaster. With his quick turn of phrase, his baritone voice and his direct, no-nonsense approach, he has earned a loyal following on radio and television over the past two decades. In Gqimm Shelele, his signature sign-off phrase, Marawa shares his broadcasting journey from hosting World Cups and interviewing presidents to his multiple firings, controversial suspensions and what he believes are the political forces behind attempts to end his career. He confronts the cabal that has repeatedly driven him off air, the tabloid reports about his personal life and his multiple near-death experiences and health scares.

With his trademark passion, Marawa addresses issues of transformation, sports administration, mentorship, political leadership and why Bafana Bafana keeps failing to win. He also shares his insights on what has made him a successful and popular radio and television broadcaster, giving a much-anticipated, behind-the-scenes look at his career.

Sir Alex Ferguson's compelling story is always honest and revealing he reflects on his managerial career that embraced unprecedented European success for Aberdeen and 26 triumphant seasons with Manchester United.

Sir Alex Ferguson's best-selling autobiography has now been updated to offer reflections on events at Manchester United since his retirement as well as his teachings at the Harvard Business School, a night at the Oscars and a boat tour round the Hebrides, where he passed unrecognised.

The extra material adds fresh insights and detail on his final years as United's manager.

Both the psychology of management and the detail of football strategy at the top level can be complex matters but no-one has explained them in a more interesting and accessible way for the general reader than Sir Alex does here.

My Autobiography is revealing, endlessly entertaining and above all inspirational.

Who is Erik ten Hag? Calm and cool-headed, he ignores critics, follows his own methods and relentlessly pursues perfection on the pitch. His uncanny ability to analyse and solve problems - the 'process' as Ten Hag calls it - has unfailingly led to breakthrough. There is no magic. There is only intelligence at work, personal devotion to players and near-obsessive attention to detail.

At Ajax, Ten Hag brooked no dissent and moulded his team into a smoothly operating unit of attack. His team enjoyed an astonishing run, winning three league cups in a row and reaching the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in a quarter of a century. Along the way, they produced some of the brightest and most entertaining football seen in Europe for years.

Maarten Meijer's definitive biography follows Erik ten Hag, from his upbringing in the Dutch countryside to his domestic triumphs and European victories. Meijer's book is the ultimate guide to the man with the momentous task of ending a decade of disappointment at Manchester United, and beginning a new era of great and winning football.

Bring all the excitement and thrills of a football match inside! With this mini desktop game, you can stage your very own World Cup right on your dining room table or office desk. Get into the game with this kit's football pitch mat, two goal posts, a ball, two pairs of football boots for your fingers, and a 32-page book of rules, tips, tactics and trivia. No refs, no crowds, no mud, no dirt, just you and the competition - just how Mini Finger Football was meant to be played.

*THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER* This is the remarkable story of a local lad who grew up in the shadow of Upton Park and became ‘Mr West Ham’: a one-club man who lived the dream. A modern footballing legend, Mark Noble is the embodiment of what it means to be a Hammer, pouring his heart and soul into the club he supported as a boy. Born and raised in Canning Town, Mark joined the West Ham youth squad in 2000 and made his senior-team debut aged just 17. Now, after over 20 years, with a wealth of memories and more than 500 appearances for his boyhood club under his belt, Mark finally looks back at his remarkable career, reflecting on his journey from boot boy to club captain, bossing the midfield, scoring pressure penalties and becoming an inspirational figurehead on and off the pitch. This is the story of a brilliant footballer, a genuine ambassador and a local legend. This is the unforgettable autobiography of Mark Noble.

LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE 'The greatest story in English sport told beautifully by one of its greatest writers' Gary Lineker 'A spellbinding piece of work' Oliver Holt; 'Absolute tour de force' Henry Winter Award-winning writer Paul Hayward delivers a compelling and unmissable account of the story of the England men's football team, published as they prepare for the World Cup in Qatar. On 30 November 1872, England took on Scotland at Hamilton Crescent in Glasgow, a match that is regarded as the first international fixture. More than 5,000 fans watched the two sides play out a 0-0 draw. It was the first of more than a thousand games played by the side, and the beginning of a national love affair that unites the country in a way that few other events can match. In Hayward's brilliant new biography of the team, based on interviews with dozens of past and present players and coaches, including Viv Anderson, Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and current coach Gareth Southgate, we get a vivid portrait of all aspects of the team's story, reliving highlights such as the World Cup victory in 1966 and the time when football came home in Euro 96, as well as the low points when the players were obliged to give the Nazi salute in 1938 and the era when England's hooligan fans brought shame on the nation. From Stanley Matthews and Bobby Moore through to more modern heroes such as Paul Gascoigne, David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Harry Kane, Hayward brings a large cast of characters to life. For anyone who wants to understand England football, and why it means so much to so many, England Football: The Biography is an essential and vital read.

It is an absolute privilege and pleasure to have the opportunity to grow and develop, influence and inspire the intelligent young footballer and it is a tremendously exciting and rewarding process. In reality it can be very challenging and frustrating at times but throughout my journey I have learned many life lessons that I want to share to help you influence and inspire others to grow and develop. Football, the beautiful game has been so good to me, filled with some outstanding memories and experiences...it is my time to give something back. When talking to a fellow and respected grassroots coach about my intent to write this book and share my story, he said "I wish there had been something like that around when I started." That was all the inspiration that I needed. Give yourself the permission to pause to read my story. I hope that it inspires and influences you. Ultimately, enjoy the experience and the privilege of developing the intelligent young footballer.

Peterborough United have a proud and illustrious history in the FA Cup. In this book we cover every cup campaign that The Posh have played in, with match reports from the signi?cant games, plus all the facts and ?gures and many photographs of matches and players that have contributed towards Posh`s deserved title of a Giant Killersa

'Magnificent . . . Goldblatt is the doyen of sports historians and brings to this account his forensic and telling eye for detail'
Mail on Sunday

The epic exploration of society, politics, and economics in the twenty-first century through the prism of football, by the critically acclaimed author of The Ball is Round.

'David Goldblatt is not merely the best football historian writing today, he is possibly the best there has ever been'
Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times

In the twenty-first century football is first. First among sports themselves, but it now commands the allegiance, interest and engagement of more people in more places than any other phenomenon. In the three most populous nations on the earth – China, India and the United States where just twenty years ago football existed on the periphery of society – it has now arrived for good. Nations, peoples and neighbourhoods across the globe imagine and invent themselves through playing and following the game.

In The Age of Football, David Goldblatt charts football’s global cultural ascent, its economic transformation and deep politicisation, taking in prison football in Uganda and amputee football in Angola, the role of football fans in the Arab Spring, the footballing presidencies of Bolivia’s Evo Morales and Turkey’s Recep Erdogan, China’s declared intention to both host and win the World Cup by 2050, and the FIFA corruption scandal.

Following the intersection of the game with money, power and identity, like no previous sports historian, Goldblatt’s sweeping story is remarkable in its scope, breathtaking in its depth of knowledge, and is a brilliantly original perspective of the twenty-first century. It is the account of how football has come to define every facet of our social, economic and cultural lives and at what cost, shaping who we think we are and who we want to be.

In this illustrated view of the history of Raith Rovers the author builds up the story of the club by recounting events that happened on every day of the year, even during the summer months. Triumphs, disasters, shipwrecks, crazy Board Room decisions, managers (good and bad), players (brilliant and mediocre) all feature. As do Davie Morris, who captained Scotland when they beat all three Home Nations in 1925; the wizardry of Alec James; the command of the famous half back line of Young, McNaught and Leigh; and the dash and enthusiasm of the team which won the Scottish League Cup. But it is not just about the good days. There are bad days, and loads of mediocre and mundane times too, as well as some accounts of Raith Rovers in war time. The year as a whole reveals the undeniable charm of the institution which means so much to so many - Raith Rovers Football Club - or, as they are referred to in Kirkcaldy, "the" Rovers.

Tom Connolly's journey into non-league football unearthed something bigger than sport. The result is a collection of stunning photographs recording the lives lived on the perimeter of the pitch. For anyone who craves fairness in life and wants fairness in sport, modern elite football offers a confusing, love-hate relationship, one which sent Tom Connolly in search of the game he had fallen in love with as a boy. Like many of the men and women he met on the non-league terraces, he found it in grassroots football. Football fans have always been fair game for vilification and stereotyping. This book is about the human beings to be found in the beautiful game. Telling its story through a collection of remarkable black-and-white and colour photos of the people who make the game what it is, FAIR GAME reminds us that in community-minded non-league football clubs, the heart and soul of sport is alive and well, against all the odds and despite those running and owning the upper reaches of the game.

An incredibly entertaining and perceptive look at the most controversial moment in Premier League history. 25th January 1995 A cold winter's evening. Manchester United away against Crystal Palace at a packed-out Selhurst Park. Eric Cantona, United's mercurial talisman, has been man-marked closely all game by Richard Shaw and become increasingly frustrated. In the 48th minute, Cantona's temper boils over and he kicks out at Shaw. The ref shows him a red card. On his way off the pitch, a Palace fan rushes towards the hoardings to hurl abuse. The Frenchman loses it. He launches into the crowd, aiming a kung-fu kick at the fan's chest. He is forcibly restrained and then taken off down the tunnel. The football world is stunned. Nothing like this has ever happened before. What followed has entered football folklore: the media furore, the seagulls following the trawler, and the longest domestic ban ever handed to a player; it would end up lasting 250 days. As Manchester United's campaign stuttered towards a trophy-less conclusion, surrendering the league on the last day of the season and losing the FA Cup final, Cantona withdrew from the public eye. But, behind closed doors, Ferguson was planning the most remarkable of fresh starts for his star player and for a new-look United. 250 Days tells the story in brilliant detail of one of the most turbulent times in United's recent history. Showing Cantona in a new light, and the genius of Ferguson's man management and vision in close relief, it is an incredibly entertaining and insightful look at the most controversial episode of the Premier League era.

Ever since I recall I have followed football, And ingrained in my heart are the Rangers FC, Through good and the bad, times of happy or sad, It will always be Rangers for me. For when I was a lad, I was led by the hand, Down the Paisley Road West, I will never forget, That beautiful sight, of the red, blue and white, From that day I'd be Rangers for life. And I vowed to my dad if I too have a lad, I would show him the way as he did on that day, And so now here I stand with young Lyle by the hand, After walking down Paisley Road West. For when I was a lad, I was led by the hand, Down the Paisley Road West, I will never forget, That beautiful sight, of the red, blue and white, From that day I'd be Rangers for life. There's a great sense of pride, that I feel deep inside, As I'm watching the 'Gers, with my father and son, And its sure safe to say, at the end of the day, Win or lose we will all follow on. (Lyrics by: Davie Macintosh)

It is the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Rabbi Howell of Sheffield United, the first Romany to play for England, knows his career is peaking and the only way is down. His fate seems to be a return to obscurity, literally and metaphorically, back down the pit, his life ruled by the winding wheel and the domestic pattern set by his wife, Selina, her parents and family. He then meets Ada and risks throwing away career, home, everything. Follow Rab, Selina, Ada and the United through this turbulent, historic year.