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 remarkable story of the Dick, Kerr Ladies is brought to young readers for the very first time by award winning and CILIP Carnegie nominated Eve Ainsworth. It's 1917, and Britain is at war. Shy teenager Hettie wants to help the war effort, and signs up to work in the local Dick, Kerr & Co. munitions factory. She's nervous, but she has no idea quite how much her life is about to change ... For, inside this factory are young women who are about to make sporting history. Can Hettie find the courage to join them, and in doing so, find her own place in the world? Based on the thrilling true story of the Dick, Kerr Ladies team - football's forgotten legends.

Gunnersaurus, the iconic mascot of Arsenal FC, has gone missing! From crowded stadiums to beach-side five-a-side tournaments, can you find Arsenal's lucky charm and return him safe to Emirates Stadium? With over 200 characters and items to find, plus a host of bonus content and games, this uniquely illustrated search-and-find book is perfect for Arsenal fans young and old!

The ultimate guide to Real Madrid. The Real Madrid Handbook is an entertaining compendium of fascinating facts, match coverage, stories, personalities and trivia from the biggest club team on the planet. Rab MacWilliam traces the history of Real Madrid from the early 20th century, examining its progress in the domestic cup and league, and analyses the impact that the Republic, the Spanish Civil War and the repressive authoritarian aftermath had on the club. He relates how the stunning success in European football in the mid-1950s to the early 1960s was one of the factors that helped to ease Spain's integration into Europe and explores the club's rise to become one of the most skilful and dominant teams in the global game over the last thirty years. Fascinating, informative, irreverent and insightful, The Real Madrid Handbook is the perfect guide to the history of this extraordinary club.

The Masterful, Definitive History of Argentinian Soccer Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona, Alfredo Di Stefano: in every generation Argentina has uncovered a uniquely brilliant soccer talent. Perhaps it's because the country lives and breathes the game, its theories, and its myths. Argentina's rich, volatile history-by turns sublime and ruthlessly pragmatic-is mirrored in the style and swagger of its national and club sides. In Angels with Dirty Faces, Jonathan Wilson chronicles the operatic drama of Argentinian soccer: the appropriation of the British game, the golden age of la nuestra, the exuberant style of playing that developed as Juan Peron led the country, a hardening into the brutal methods of anti-futbol, the fusion of beauty and efficacy under Cesar Luis Menotti, and the emergence of all-time greats. Praise for Inverting the Pyramid "Here, for the first time in decades, is a top-notch soccer book on how soccer is actually played on the field." -Simon Kuper "An outstanding work...The soccer book of the decade." -Sunday Business Post

In 1999, Manchester United completed a unique Treble, winning the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League - but more remarkable than that was how they did it, and the stories behind the historic achievement. Matt Dickinson covered the whole story at the time, and now in 99 compelling chapters brings it all vividly to life. When the season began, Manchester United were up for sale, the club's iconic talisman Eric Cantona had gone, rivals Arsenal were the reigning Double winners, David Beckham was a national hate figure after being sent off during the World Cup, and even manager Alex Ferguson's position was being questioned. Early signs weren't promising, despite record spending to bring in new stars, among them Jaap Stam and Dwight Yorke, but soon things began to change. Driven by the indomitable will of skipper Roy Keane, supported by a nucleus from the Class of 92 - Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, the Nevilles and Paul Scholes - who had grown up at the club, they went on a long unbeaten and unbeatable run, featuring some of the most dramatic games in fans' memories. Matt Dickinson highlights the key moments, speaking to those at the centre of the story and to those whose moment went unnoticed. 1999: Manchester United, the Treble and All That is so much more than a book for United fans; it is an insight into team building, the will to success and a tale of local pride. It reveals the real stories behind the legend that was sealed with a last-minute scrambled goal from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to win the Champions League.

This groundbreaking book provides a critically informed and holistic analysis of the impact and legacy of mega-sporting events through the lens of South Africa's 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup and its associated developmental paradigm. In doing so, it challenges mainstream thinking and mega-event praise singers by providing rigorous political-economic analysis and concrete evidence to show that this sporting spectacular was little more than a front for massive accumulation and extraction of wealth, alongside increased sporting and socio-economic inequality. Contributors to this volume examine the sports accumulation-complex, economic promises, construction companies, trade unions, strikes, international solidarity, the struggle to trade, sex work, climate change, as well as case studies on the building of individual soccer stadiums.

Putco Mafani, from humble beginnings in Bhofolo in the Eastern Cape, has become household name in South Africa. From Radio Ciskei, he went to Umhlobo Wenene FM where he anchored the biggest breakfast show in the country. The former Kaizer Chiefs PRO and sought­after marketing consultant will soon be launching his own radio station.

Things have not always been smooth sailing for Putco. In this memoir, he writes about the hurdles he has had to overcome. He has been detained in solitary confinement, endured a traumatic divorce and found himself unemployed at one stage. He openly talks about some of the mistakes he made as a young person, and also shares his successes and moments of fame and what these taught him.

With contributions from a wide range of people who know and admire Putco, as well as take­home lessons called Putco's Padkos, this book tells an inspirational, authentically South African story.

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.

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

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.

Based on Flaubert's dictionary of received ideas, this book anticipates and the onslaught of regurtitated twaddle, verbiage and pontification that now repose upon the revered arm-chair called 'match analysis'.

Arsenal 101 is an entertaining compendium of Arsenal's fascinating history, facts, games, stories, personalities, legends and footballing adventures. Rab MacWilliam has revisited the club's history from its early years as Woolwich Arsenal at the end of the nineteenth century to its status as one of the leading European teams of the present day. Rab has distilled Arsenal's history into 101 facts, moments and stories, examining many of the key characters, matches, controversies, innovations, and dazzling instances of brilliance that have illuminated the proud history of this great, if occasionally erratic, club. Funny, irreverent, fascinating and insightful, Arsenal 101 is the ideal handbook for Gunners fans of all ages.

The magnificent story of a writer's lifelong obsession with his city and its football club. When 5-year-old Michael Chaplin landed in a strange city of ships in the late 1950s, he looked in vain for something that would anchor him to it, make him feel at home. Then, one Saturday afternoon, it came: the roar of a crowd, and a football team to support. Young Michael became an avid Newcastle United fan, and has remained one-if sometimes disenchanted-for over sixty years. In this football memoir with a difference, the celebrated playwright and screenwriter tells the story of his six-decade love affair with the club, each chapter recreating an iconic Newcastle match: the players who graced the game, the managers in the dug-out, and the backdrop outside the stadium-both the changing face of Newcastle, and the ups and downs of Michael's own life and career. This vivid, thoughtful and entertaining book is an absolute must-read for all Newcastle United supporters, and indeed-given that the club is often described as everyone's second favourite-for football fans everywhere...