The worlds best soccer players are incredibly fit, fast, lean, and strong. Achieving this level of athleticism requires a rigorous soccer fitness training program applying the most effective drills, exercises, and core training methods. In Soccer: Functional Core Training, the authors present numerous drills for this training. Based on the latest the findings in sports science and on the authors long-term coaching experience, they present an extensive practical guide to help you improve your teams performance through core training, soccer specific exercises, and drills. The exercises can be used for amateurs and professional players, youth and adults alike. Your players can learn how to score the most exciting and acrobatic goals, how to tackle without fouling, and how to avoid injuries. The drills in the book create typical match situations to help your team prepare for the game and stay motivated. Many of the fitness exercises require no extra equipment and rely only on bodyweight, thus targeting many different muscles at once. The book is easy to use on the pitch and the ideal tool to turn youth players into the next Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, or Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Against the Elements is an enthralling account of football's most captivating underdog story. With a population of just 350,000, Iceland stunned the sporting world when it went toe-to-toe with the elite at Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup. So how was such a tiny nation, sited on the edge of the Arctic circle, able to take on the giants of world football? Matt McGinn draws on 50 exclusive interviews with the key protagonists to unpick how it happened. Does an Icelandic 'Viking' mentality exist? Can smallness be an advantage? Is there a template for other countries to follow? McGinn experienced Iceland's World Cup campaign in different parts of the country - from five days spent on a fishing trawler, to Iceland's bustling capital of Reykjavik, to the jagged volcanic island of Heimaey. Part travelogue, part thematic investigation, Against the Elements searches for the truth behind the Iceland football team's remarkable, unprecedented rise, bringing to life the people, places and values of the nation that produced this astonishing team.

Association football is now the global sport, consumed in various ways by millions of people across the world. Throughout its history, football has been a catalyst as much for social cohesion, unity, excitement and integration as it can be for division, exclusion and discrimination. A Sociology of Football in a Global Context examines the historical, political, economic, social and cultural complexities of the game across Europe, Africa, Asia and North and South America. It analyses the key developments and sociological debates within football through a topic-based approach that concentrates on the history of football and its global diffusion; the role of violence; the global governance of the game by FIFA; race, racism and whiteness; gender and homophobia; the changing nature of fans; the media and football's financial revolution; the transformation of players into global celebrities; and the growth of football leagues across the world. Using a range of examples from all over the world, each chapter highlights the different social and cultural changes football has seen, most notably since the 1990s, when its relationship with the mass media and other transnational networks became more important and financially lucrative.

As a football fan, there are those seasons which remain indelibly inscribed in the memory. Simply unforgettable. The 2006/07 season remains one of those for fans of West Ham United. A season that began with such promise: Alan Pardew signed two genuine world-class players ahead of the kick-off, but little did the Argentinian pair of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano know they joined a season-long relegation battle. Roll forward to the business end, and with nine matches left to play the Hammers looked doomed. Seven wins from those nine made it arguably the greatest escape in English top-flight history. A season so memorable for all the wrong reasons: going two months without a goal; 11 games without a win; snatching defeat from the jaws of victory against your biggest rivals. Then having survived, on the final day by winning at Old Trafford, extra-time in the courts, with the rest of football saying you had cheated, and the table did lie. The Greatest Escape is the story of the highs, lows and controversies that were the 2006/07 season.

'The whistle blows and I set off for the one kick I know will stay with me for the rest of my life, maybe even define my life...' Michael Carrick was the heartbeat of Manchester United. For more than a decade he was the player that made them tick. Loved by his managers, lauded by his fellow professionals, worshipped by the Old Trafford faithful, yet regularly misunderstood by the wider public, Carrick was a player like no other. Intelligent, calm, thoughtful - in many ways the opposite of the archetypal English midfielder - Carrick has always been his own man and is typically forthright. In his book he reveals what it's really like to win relentlessly under legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, shows us the hidden secrets of the famous Carrington training ground, invites us to experience the camaraderie and clashes inside the United dressing room, and lets us feels what it's like to walk out on the Old Trafford pitch alongside some of the biggest names in the game - from Ronaldo to Scholes to Giggs, Rooney and the rest. A deeply personal book, Between the Lines reveals for the first time Michael's battles with mental health, his struggles with the national side, as well as the redemption he has found with his family and his team. From growing up in the north-east to winning the Champions League and five Premier League titles with Manchester United, via West Ham and Tottenham, Carrick's story reveals him to be his own man: fearless, thoughtful, intelligent and honest. *All of Michael Carrick's proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to the Michael Carrick Foundation, dedicated to providing financial support to community services that will give underprivileged children living in the North and North East better opportunities so that they feel safe, valued and inspired.*

The Jimmy Greaves We Knew celebrates the life and career of a national treasure through the memories of friends, family, team-mates, the media and fans. They recall a goalscoring great, a TV celebrity - most notably as one half of the legendary Saint and Greavsie - a newspaper columnist, comedian and raconteur who battled alcohol addiction. The modern game also pays tribute to this charismatic, friendly, down-to-earth, witty individual who built a reputation for hitting the back of the net playing for Chelsea, AC Milan, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and England. Greaves set a European record of 357 goals in 516 top-flight games and netted 44 in 57 full international appearances. Tragically, Greaves suffered a stroke in 2015 and died on 19 September 2021, when two of his former clubs, Spurs and Chelsea - plus 60,000 fans - gave him a minute's applause before they played each other at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The love and affection is as strong as ever.

Ken Barnes was widely regarded as one of the finest footballers of his generation never to have won an England cap. During a distinguished playing career with Manchester City, Ken appeared in the FA Cup finals of 1955 and 1956 and later captained the club before retiring in the early 60s. He spent nearly a decade away from Maine Road as a manager of Wrexham and Witton Albion before returning to Maine Road as a coach under Joe Mercer. Ken subsequently went on to serve under every City manager as either a coach or chief scout from Joe Mercer to Joe Royle. As someone who holds forthright views on the game, especially when it comes to the subject of coaching, Ken's views could be dismissed as the 'in my day' rantings of another embittered former pro. Yet one should bear in mind that his integrity and knowledge of the game saw him serve under every Manchester City manager from Joe Mercer to Joe Royle. In his time Ken has seen trends come and go -- from the 'deep lying centre-forward' via 'wingless wonders' to today's 'holding midfielder' and is uniquely placed to give his opinions on them all. Away from football, Ken is described as a 'character'. Make of that what you will. That may be a tale for another day. This is the story of Kens life in football. Im honoured, and privileged, that he asked me to help him tell it.

A dozen Sunderland legends come together to tell the stories behind their favourite ever games for the club - enabling Black Cats fans of all ages to relive these magic moments through the eyes and emotions of the men who were there, playing their hearts out for the red-and-white stripes...Niall Quinn relives the rollercoaster 1998 League Division Two play-off final which went to 4-4 before Charlton pinched it 7-6 on penalties; Jim Montgomery recounts heroic tales of the landmark 1973 FA Cup Final. Ever the crowd pleaser, Gary Rowell waxes lyrical about a 4-1 defeat of Newcastle at St James' Park, while the club's all-time record scorer Bobby Gurney remembers a ten-goal thriller back in 1935! Sunderland greats Marco Gabbiadini, Len Ashurst and Charlie Hurley also turn in characteristic star performances, winding back the clock to relive treasured memories of the Match of Their Lives for the Black Cats.

From the thousands of matches ever played by Manchester United, stretching from their roots as Newton Heath to the present-day colossus that has racked up more league titles and FA Cups to their name than any other club, here are 50 of United's most glorious, epochal and thrilling games of all! Expertly presented in evocative historical context, and described incident-by-incident in atmospheric detail, Manchester United Greatest Games offers a terrace ticket back in time, taking in everything from the dark days of Munich to the unmatched League/FA Cup/Champions League Treble. An irresistible cast list of club legends - Tommy Taylor, Duncan Edwards and Bobby Charlton, George Best, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes - springs to life in a thrilling selection of hard-fought derby matches, landmark European nights, and league and cup exploits. In all, a journey through the highlights of United history which is guaranteed to make any fan's heart swell with pride.

Firmly situating South African teams, players, and associations in the international framework in which they have to compete, South Africa and the Global Game: Football, Apartheid, and Beyond presents an interdisciplinary analysis of how and why South Africa underwent a remarkable transformation from a pariah in world sport to the first African host of a World Cup in 2010. Written by an eminent team of scholars, this special issue and book aims to examine the importance of football in South African society, revealing how the black oppression transformed a colonial game into a force for political, cultural and social liberation. It explores how the hosting of the 2010 World Cup aims to enhance the prestige of the post-apartheid nation, to generate economic growth and stimulate Pan-African pride. Among the themes dealt with are race and racism, class and gender dynamics, social identities, mass media and culture, and globalization. This collection of original and insightful essays will appeal to specialists in African Studies, Cultural Studies, and Sport Studies, as well as to non-specialist readers seeking to inform themselves ahead of the 2010 World Cup.

This book was published as a special issue of Soccer and Society.

Blackpool FC Miscellany collects together all the vital information you never knew you needed to know about the Seasiders. In these pages you will find irresistible anecdotes and the most mindblowing stats and facts. Heard the one about the goalie who sported glasses and a blue-and-white bandana? How about the fans in masks and fancy dress, known as the Atomic Boys? Or the first ever live televised League match, watched by 2.3 million viewers? Do you know which Premier League-era favourite was sent off on his debut? Which 1970s disco divas sung the official club song? Or who became the first player to play for Blackpool in all four divisions? All these stories and hundreds more appear in a brilliantly researched collection of trivia - essential for any Seasiders fan who holds the riches of the club's history close to their heart.

Coventry City Miscellany collects together all the vital information you never knew you needed to know about the Sky Blues. In these pages you will find irresistible anecdotes and the most mindblowing stats and facts. Heard the one about the substitute who scored on his debut after just 26 seconds? How about the FA Youth Cup winners who were signed by Kenny Dalglish? Or the media pundit who scored in six successive top-flight matches? Do you know what Des Bremner and Gilles de Bilde have in common with Steve Ogrizovic? Which was the last side to win a League game at Highfield Road? And who was the only Irishman who didn't know where Dublin was? All these stories and hundreds more appear in a brilliantly researched collection of trivia - essential for any Coventry City fan who holds the riches of the club's history close to their heart.

Australian women's football rides high on the sporting landscape now, but this book shows that success has been one-hundred years in the making. It shares stories of triumph in the face of overwhelming odds, and tales of heartbreak and obstacles that seem insurmountable. But it is also about community, endurance and collective success. Eye-opening and celebratory, it tells the story of amateur women kicking a ball around a century ago to Australia's national team being one of the best in the world. The Matildas are forty years old and no longer have to wear hand-me-down men's kits, pay for their own medical insurance and do it all for love not money. But there have been no free kicks along the way as they have faced prejudice and even outright hostility. Never Say Die takes in dusty archives, rainy pitch-side evenings and heart-breaking and heart-warming interviews - including with FIFA and FFA board members, Matildas past and present, W-League coaches and players, state and club administrators. But at its heart are fans from every level of the game who could not love it more. Written by two football fanatics, with access to key figures in Australian women's football, the book shows that the overnight success of Australian women's football has been one hundred years in the making.

FOOTBALL'S BIGGEST CHARACTERS TELL IT LIKE IT IS Who is the Secret Footballer? Well he's back and this time his mates speak out too. Players, agents, coaches and managers give you access to all areas of the Premier League. From deal-making to play-making, from dodgy tactics to drunken antics, they reveal the unforgettable highs and the unforgivable lows. This is football as you've never seen it before. 'What happens behind closed doors at Premiership clubs usually stays firmly shut behind closed doors. Not if the Secret Footballer has anything to do with it.' Loaded **From the bestselling author of I am the Secret Footballer and The Secret Footballer's Guide to the Modern Game.**

The ten most momentous days in the history of Scottish football, by ten of Scotland's best historians and journalists. several of whom are award winners.

'One of the World's all-time great leaders'Professor Anita Elberse, Harvard Business SchoolWhat does it take to lead a team to world-class success over a sustained period of time?Sir Alex Ferguson is one of the few leaders who truly knows. In his 38 years in management, Sir Alex won an astonishing 49 trophies and helped grow Manchester United into one of the biggest commercial brands in the world. In this inspirational and straight-talking book, Sir Alex reveals the secrets behind his record-breaking career.LEADING is structured around the key skills that Sir Alex values most highly. It includes subjects we immediately associate with his managerial style: Discipline, Control, Teamwork and Motivation. But it also addresses subjects that are less obvious but no less important when seeking success: Delegation, Data Analysis and Dealing with Failure.Written with the investor Sir Michael Moritz, a longstanding friend of Sir Alex, LEADING is packed with insight, wisdom, humour and honesty. The individual stories inevitably concern themselves with football, and the phenomenal success that came along the way, but the lessons can be applied by anyone. Whether you run a business, teach in a classroom, or work in a small team, LEADING will help you become a better leader.

Not German, I'm Scouse is the hilarious, emotional and compelling life story of German Liverpool supporter Carsten Nippert. As a young boy, Carsten was fascinated by the Reds. His teenage years were marked by despair and frustration as rare TV highlights and an unreliable radio reception offered the only access to his beloved Liverpool. Fear characterised his first visits to Anfield when he encountered vitriolic Mancunians and Kopites whose dialect confused him. His whole life revolved around his unquenchable passion. An emotionally blackmailed mother had to provide a ticket for a European Cup final when her underage son announced he would travel there regardless. She was even tasked, through his will, with scattering his ashes around Anfield if she outlived him. Carsten's adventures took him to Istanbul, outwitting riot police and 'bunking in' in Athens, a sleepless round-trip to Kiev and an unforgettable party in Madrid. Not German, I'm Scouse is the remarkable tale of an unlikely Liverpool fan who became a Scouser at heart.

Eye of the Tiger is the story of one of the most legendary figures in Glasgow Rangers' rich history, a man who epitomised what it meant to be a Ranger. Jock Shaw was a no-nonsense full-back whose fierce, uncompromising tackling earned him the nickname 'Tiger' from club supporters. He joined the Gers from Airdrie in 1938 for GBP2,000 and was a key figure in the Ibrox defence in the immediate post-war years. That defence was dubbed the 'Iron Curtain' because it seemed as unyielding as the barrier that divided Europe at the time. The book charts Jock's extraordinary journey from the coal pit at Bedlay (Annathill) to becoming Rangers' first treble-winning captain. His signing for Rangers started a remarkable association with the club, which lasted over 40 years and saw him serve as team captain, third-team coach and groundsman. He also captained Scotland and shared the distinction of beating England with his brother David. Ian Stewart worked with Tiger Shaw's family to bring you the inside track on his life and career.

A Financial Times Sports Books of the Year 2018

Cristiano and Leo is the fascinating account of the lives and rivalry between two of the best footballers to ever play the game, Ronaldo and Messi by Jimmy Burns, the bestselling author of Maradona: The Hand of God.

The rivalry between Ronaldo and Messi has defined football to a generation of fans – everyone has an opinion on who is the greatest.

Do you prefer Ronaldo whose work ethic and physique have been honed for one purpose – scoring goals. Or Messi, whose superhuman natural talent means he can do the seemingly impossible with a football.

Between them they have scored over 1300 goals, won the Ballon d’Or ten times, and taken the beautiful game to even greater heights. But statistics alone cannot do justice to their skill, athleticism and dedication to stay at the top for so long of one of the most competitive sports in the world.

Cristiano and Leo tells their definitive story, from children kicking a ball halfway around the world from each other to facing each other in the epic clash El Clásico, between Real Madrid and Barcelona. This is the essential book to understand one the most compelling rivalries in sporting history.

‘The game isn’t what it seems from the outside. The game isn’t quite what I was expecting. The game doesn’t always work like the people on television think it does. The game is better, worse and stranger than you can imagine, and that is coming from someone who saw it all with their own eyes.’ Ever wondered what really goes on inside a Premier League dressing room, what it’s like to train under Roy Hodgson, Roberto Mancini and Fabio Capello – and what happens when you kick a sandwich at one of them? When it comes to football, former Manchester City and England star Micah Richards has seen it all – and laughed about most of it. In The Game, Micah shares his funniest and frankest stories from on and off the pitch, be it arriving at his first England training session with two left boots, attempting to supervise the infamous Mario Balotelli or winding up Roy Keane on Super Sunday. From how he spent his first Premier League paycheque and how he prepared – financially and mentally – for the day they stopped coming, to the euphoria of lifting the Premier League trophy and the physical and emotional impact of injury, Micah reflects openly on the many wins and losses in professional football. Full of Micah’s signature cheeky wit, this intimate, unmissable memoir goes behind the scenes of the beautiful game and a remarkable life and career.

Sheffield Wednesday Miscellany collects together all the vital information you never knew you needed to know about the Owls. In these pages you will find irresistible anecdotes and the most mindblowing stats and facts. Heard the one about the former player who was wrongly presumed dead for 95 years? How about the time the lads were drawn away from home in the Cup on ten consecutive occasions? Or the ex-Owl whose playing career wound up in Greenland and the Falkland Islands? Do you know which Wednesday winger drove to matches in an ice-cream van? The result of the 'secret' match played under the new Hillsborough floodlights? Or the depth of the floodwater on the pitch in 2007? All these stories and hundreds more appear in a brilliantly researched collection of trivia - essential for any Wednesday fan who holds the riches of the club's history close to their heart.

A Director's Tale is the story of Burnley Football Club in the early 1980s, a time of short-lived success and then turmoil. With special access to the diaries of director Derek Gill, Dave Thomas brings you the unvarnished inside story, revealing what went on behind the scenes amid conflict with chairman John Jackson and manager John Bond. These were torrid times involving, at first, a surprise promotion, then a relegation, then John Bond's departure and another relegation. This was a group of men who were all competent and professional in their own fields - Jackson was a barrister, Gill an accountant - but they became a toxic mix in the boardroom. The Bond season has gone into the Turf Moor history books as one of the most damaging. His name is much derided in Burnley today, but he was only a part of a bigger problem. The Gill diaries provide a unique opportunity to see - warts and all - the workings and machinations of boardroom politics. This is a story of failure and acrimony.

In Entre Nous Grant Farred examines the careers of international football stars Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, along with his own experience playing for an amateur township team in apartheid South Africa, to theorize the relationship between sports and the intertwined experiences of relation, separation, and belonging. Drawing on Jean-Luc Nancy's concept of relation and Heideggerian ontology, Farred outlines how various relationships-the significantly different relationships Messi has with his club team FC Barcelona and the Argentine national team; Farred's shifting modes of relation as he moved between his South African team and his Princeton graduate student team; and Suarez's deep bond with Uruguay's national team coach Oscar Tabarez-demonstrate the ways the politics of relation both exist within and transcend sports. Farred demonstrates that approaching sports philosophically offers particularly insightful means of understanding the nature of being in the world, thereby opening new paths for exploring how the self is constituted in its relation to the other.

Wolves On This Day revisits all the most magical and memorable moments from the club's rollercoaster past, mixing in a maelstrom of quirky anecdotes and legendary characters to produce an irresistibly dippable gold-and-black diary - with an entry for every day of the year. From founder members of the Football League through to the Premier League era, the Wolves faithful have witnessed title triumphs in every division from One to Four, promotions and relegations, breathtaking Cup runs and European nights - all featured here. Timeless greats such as John Richards, Mike Bailey and Steve Bull, Billy Wright, Andy Thompson and Ron Flowers all loom larger than life. Revisit 25th March 1893, when Wolves won the FA Cup before an overflowing crowd in Manchester. 17th May 1972: the UEFA Cup final decider against Spurs! Or 13th December 1954, when Wolves came back to beat Honved, helping to restore national pride into the bargain!