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.

'Compelling from start to finish...Downie does full justice to an extraordinary life' Pete Davies, author of All Played Out. A stunning new biography of Socrates, the iconic captain of the greatest Brazil side never to win the World Cup. Socrates was always special. A hugely talented athlete who graduated in medicine yet drank and smoked to excess. The attacking midfielder stood out - and not just because of his 6'4" frame. Fans were enthralled by his inch-perfect passes, his coolness in front of goal and his back heel, the trademark move that singled him out as the most unique footballer of his generation. Off the pitch, he was just as original, with a dedication to politics and social causes that no player has ever emulated. His biggest impact came as leader of Corinthians Democracy - a movement that gave everyone from the kitman to the president an equal say in the running of the club. At a time when Brazil was ruled by a military dictatorship, it was truly revolutionary. Passionate and principled, entertaining and erudite, Socrates was as contradictory as he was complex. He was a socialist who voted for a return of Brazil's monarchy, a fiercely independent individual who was the ultimate team player, and a romantic who married four times and fathered six children. Armed with Socrates' unpublished memoir and hours of newly discovered interviews, Andrew Downie has put together the most comprehensive and compelling account of this iconic figure. Based on conversations with family members, close friends and former team-mates, this is a brilliant biography of a man who always stood up for what he believed in, whatever the cost. 'Brilliantly written and researched. Amazing life.' Alex Bellos, author of Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life

'Illuminated by finely turned phrases and vivid insights' - Richard Williams, Guardian Sports Books of the Year. Thierry Henry - gifted, charismatic and a genuinely world-class footballer - has passed into Arsenal legend as the hero of a team that finally ended Manchester United's dominance. But as he approached the autumn of his career, Thierry's crown began to slip - from the infamous 'Hand of Gaul' incident to a dismal World Cup 2010 campaign. Suddenly, a player who Arsene Wenger once dubbed 'the greatest striker ever', a man who had spent his career at the very top of the game, began to learn how lonely such a position could be. Drawing from numerous interviews and impeccable sources, as well as his own observations over the course of Henry's entire career, award-winning author Philippe Auclair has produced the most complete portrait of the Arsenal hero ever to be written. Clear-eyed, lyrical and passionately argued, Thierry Henry: Lonely at the Top is as raw, shocking and thought-provoking as it is celebratory of Henry's outstanding flair and talent.

In the vein of "Hotel Babylon" and "Confessions of a GP," "The Secret Player" will fascinate football fans with its wealth of insider knowledge and willingness to talk, albeit anonymously, about the inner workings of the game. Based on the hugely popular 'The Player' columns in "FourFourTwo "magazine, the book gives a warts-and-all insight into the daily life of professional footballers. Month by month, it chronicles the oscillating rhythms of the season, from the trudge of pre-season to the "squeaky-bum time" of promotion and relegation. The player himself has played at all levels of English football--from Premier League to a season of non-League--and represented England.

This book highlights the latest advances in coach education and development through collaborative research co-ordinated by the English Football Association, the only national governing body of sport to run a coaching research programme. Advances in Coach Education and Development presents the first set of studies generated by this programme that display how research has informed policy and practice within the FA. Divided into three parts, each investigates an aspect of this programme such as the FA's coaching education and development provision, its commitment to developing the developer, and how its coaches put their knowledge into practice. Each chapter includes sections that examine current issues, suggest considerations for other governing bodies and pose key questions including: What can other governing bodies learn from the FA's programme? What is the best way to capture and compare different coaching systems? How can other organisations optimise success within their coach education and development programmes? How can future research continue to unpack and understand the complex role of coach educators? Bringing together a unique set of studies covering every level of football, from elite to grassroots, this book is essential reading for any serious sports coaching student, researcher or coach educator.

Ask any Everton fan whose allegiance stretches back to the 1950s to name their favourite player and the answer will be familiar and enthusiastically uttered: Dave Hickson. Hickson, the only man to turn out for all three Merseyside teams, captivated the city during the decade with his outrageously brave centre forward play. A swashbuckling cavalier, he played like a human battering ram, running through opposing defences with the verve of a Boy's Own hero. With his trademark blond quiff, he looked the part too. In the final months of his life, Hickson finally sat down to record his life story. From being scouted by the legendary Dixie Dean, playing in front of 70,000 plus crowds and vanquishing the mighty Manchester United, to being kicked out of an FA Cup semi final and playing under Bill Shankly this is a compelling and evocative tale of one of football's bygone era. Hickson lovingly recalls a world in which heroes lived alongside their fans and on a Saturday gave everything to bring them pride and joy. With contributions from friends and former teammates, The Cannonball Kid is a beautiful and absorbing story that, like the great man himself, is full of good humour, charm and class.

Football celebrations are a vital part of the beautiful game. Gooaal! The Joy of Football Celebrations is all about what happens in the exhilarating moments after a goal. Where once a firm handshake was the norm - with a brief head nod if it had been a really good goal - today we see backflips, finger-pointing, ear-cuffing, badge-bashing, knee-sliding, camera-mugging, thumb-sucking - and sometimes something entirely original and funny. Often, the celebration is instinctive and all the better for it, but others are carefully planned and designed to make a point. Some are controversial or political, and an unfortunate few have resulted in injuries. Peter Crouch, Wayne Rooney, Paul Gascoigne, Jurgen Klinsmann, Jamie Vardy, Raheem Sterling, Alex Morgan, Bebeto, finger-wagging Jimmy Bullard, golf club-waving Craig Bellamy, line-sniffing Robbie Fowler - all of them are among the 200-plus celebrations featured in this book. You'll discover exactly what went on - and why.

Victorian England in the 1870s and the early years of the FA Cup. Pitches are little better than mud baths. Crossbars and referees' whistles don't exist, while the players all charge around in a rough-and-tumble manner more suited to rugby. But one side dares to be different. Combining silky skills with military muscle, they pass the ball in a spectacular new style of play. And they have a team spirit like no other. They are a 'band of brothers' who fight for Queen and Country - and for each other. They are the Royal Engineers from Chatham in Kent and Foot Soldiers is their extraordinary story. Among their ranks are 'Renny', one of the game's first superstars, and 'The Major', the mastermind behind their astonishing rise. In a four-year quest to land football's greatest prize both men must confront a disastrous fire, monstrous bad luck, the elements at their fiercest and the shocking death of one of the team's favourite players on FA Cup Final day itself.

So comprehensively has Arsene Wenger rebranded Arsenal Football Club that it is possible to forget the 100-plus years of history that came before him. Yet there remain curious parallels that glue together the club's past and present: just as the modern team is built on outsiders, born far from the confines of N5, so too was the original side of 1886, created by economic migrants from the Midlands, the North of England and Scotland, looking to prosper in London. Now for the first time in paperback, and using photographic and written archives of the "Daily Mirror" (including rare and unseen material), "When Football Was Football - Arsenal" takes us on a nostalgia-packed journey through the club's evolution from its beginnings as a south London munitions factory team, through the nurturing of some of the game's fabled characters. From notorious chairman Henry Norris to the great innovator Herbert Chapman, and the players from Brylcreem Boy Denis Compton, wee Alex James, Charlie George and Frank McLintock, up to the fresh-in-the-memory figures of Tony Adams and Ian Wright (perhaps the last bastion of a pre-modern Arsenal). Key images that will engage and delight readers include: 1930 - Arsenal win their first trophy, the FA Cup at Wembley; 1968 - Pat Rice working on a fruit stall; 1982 - "Champagne" Charlie Nicholas living up to his nickname. The book draws a line in the sand at the advent of the Premier League, when Arsenal, and football, were carried along on a wave of ruthless commercialism. Packed with evocative, atmospheric photos depicting bygone eras, "When Football Was Football - Arsenal" reminds us of how things used to be - and leaves the reader to decide which they prefer.

The definitive account of Leicester City's astonishing rise from relegation certainties to Premier League title winners: the greatest achievement in the modern football era. King Power Stadium, countdown to kick off. Out on the pitch a lone brass player sounds the haunting Post Horn Gallop, for 80 years the home players' entrance tune. Spines tingle. Air is gulped into opposition lungs. Game time, time to begin the chase. Burning fox eyes peer down from between the decks of one of the stands. On the stadium's outside wall a royal blue LCD display says #Fearless. Welcome to Leicester City. They were always a club with a difference but in 2015-16 they created a story that in modern football stands unique. Who could believe it: from relegation certainties to champions of England? It was when, on behalf of every small club, dreams were hunted at the King Power, a season where the impossible became merely quarry. 5,000-1 shots when the campaign started, Leicester's transformation has been remarkable. This is the most incredible cast of written-offs, grafters, misfits and journeymen, coming together in a special time and place to simultaneously have the season of their lives. Fearless will document Leicester's hunt of their impossible dream. It will tell the greatest football tale of the Premier League era, in loving detail, with the inside track. Now Leicester have gone all the way and won the title, it's the best story in world sports - for years. Champions of the Premier League. The side who'd been adrift at the bottom 12 months previously, who's started the season as relegation favourites, whose manager was favourite to be the first one sacked once the campaign got underway. A League One side only seven seasons previously. A squad of GBP500,000 and GBP1m men. Leicester. Ridiculous. Miraculous. Fearless.

'The dream was football . . .' John Giles had a gift. At the age of three, he could kick a ball the way it was supposed to be kicked. And he knew that every hour that passed without kicking a ball was an hour wasted. 'It was the same dream that most of the kids had at that time . . .' In A Football Man, Giles tells the story of a dream pursued and realised beyond his wildest imaginings, from his humble beginnings in Ormond Square in 1940s' Dublin,counting down the minutes to his next game of football, to that unforgettable moment when the original football man - his dad, 'Dickie' - announced that his young son, at just fourteen, was on his way to Manchester United. 'What I didn't realise was that my dream would come true.' Full of anecdote, insight and wry humour, Giles recounts his rise through the ranks at Manchester United, before and after the Munich Disaster; the great players he knew, the good and the bad times under Matt Busby; his sensational debut for Ireland which he served as player and manager; his starring role in the brilliant, controversial Leeds United of the '60s and '70s; and his challenge to the portrayal of himself and Brian Clough in The Damned United. He also describes his enduring friendship with the 'kid from across Dublin's Tolka Park', Eamon Dunphy, and his career on RTE2's football panel, where Giles' intelligent and insightful analysis have made him an even more well-loved and respected national figure.

'A masterful work...it could be the best thing to have happened to English football in years' TIME OUT '[A] thought-provoking reappraisal of ten key games in England's football history ... this book should be required reading for all future England squads' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY Having invented the game, everything that has followed for England and its national football team has been something of an anticlimax. There was, of course, the golden summer of 1966, and the great period of English dominance on the world stage, which fell roughly between 1886 and 1900, when England won 35 of their 40 internationals ... But before long foreign teams, with their insistence on progressive 'tactics', began to pose a few questions. And much of what followed for England constituted a series of false dawns. In THE ANATOMY OF ENGLAND Jonathan Wilson seeks to place the bright spots in context. Time and again, progressive coaches have been spurned by England - technique being all very well, but what really matters is pluck and 'organised muscularity', or, to quote Jimmy Hogan's chairman at Aston Villa in 1936: 'I've no time for these theories about football. Just get the ball in the bloody net.' Wilson takes ten key England fixtures and explores how what actually happened on the pitch shaped the future of the English game. Bursting with insight and critical detail, yet imbued with a wry affection, this is a history of England like none before.

WINNER OF THE FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2016 WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 'This football book is about something even more important than the "beautiful game"; it is a story of the human spirit.' - Mick Hume, The Times Adrian Doherty was not a typical footballer. For one thing, he was blessed with extraordinary talent. Those who played alongside and watched him in the Manchester United youth team in the early 1990s insist he was as good as Ryan Giggs - possibly even better. Giggs, who played on the opposite wing, says he is inclined to agree. Doherty was also an eccentric - by football standards, at least. When his colleagues went to Old Trafford to watch the first team on Saturday afternoons, he preferred to take the bus into Manchester to go busking. He wore second-hand clothes, worshipped Bob Dylan, read about theology and French existentialism and wrote songs and poems. One team-mate says "it was like having Bob Dylan in a No 7 shirt". On his 17th birthday, Doherty was offered a five-year contract - unprecedented for a United youngster at that time - and told by Alex Ferguson that he was destined for stardom. But what followed over the next decade is a tale so mysterious, so shocking, so unusual, so amusing but ultimately so tragic, that you are left wondering how on earth it has been untold for so long. The stories of Doherty's contemporaries, that group of Manchester United youngsters who became known as the "Class of '92", are well known. Giggs ended up as the most decorated player in United's history; David Beckham became the most recognisable footballer on the planet; Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and others are household names. The story you don't know is about the player who, having had the world at his feet, died the day before his 27th birthday following an accident in a canal in Holland.

This is a stimulating and deeply insightful football narrative by Rafa Benitez which focuses on the legendary manager's dramatic six Champions League campaigns with Liverpool. Rafa expertly navigates fans through intriguing European adventures that embrace the triumph and despair of two Champions League finals, three semi-finals and five quarter-finals in what was a golden era for the Anfield club - an era that supporters felt gave them their pride back after years in the wilderness. What sets this book apart is the unique ways in which Rafa allows fans into his high-pressured world, the fascinating glimpses he offers of a top manager's thought processes and decision making during the cut and thrust of a high-octane European campaign.

This book is the first comprehensive study on history, culture, and business of football in Asia. Football has been a symbol of the modern invention, a catalyst of local, national and regional identities, all time favourite among kids and youths, and even a harbinger for cultural globalization and consumerism in Asia. The economic growth and the current proliferation of football culture in Asia make it imperative to examine the complex relationship between the globalization of football and the local appropriation. The essays in the book deal with various topics on football in Asia from history of football in Asia, football and local, national and regional identities, to commercialization of football cultures, global mobility and athletes migration, and then new Asianism and football. This book argues that football in Asia contributes to reconfiguring both national and regional identities among football fans in the active interconnection with the global flows of football and cultural globalization without homogenizing Asian identities into a cosmopolitan one.

This is the textbook to presents football s implication and influence on Asian populace and social changes while using football as a lens assessing the modern development and current diversification of Asia.

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

Penalty kicks play a significant role in determining the outcome of a match. Because of this-and because they don't happen in every game-fans, media, and even athletes and trainers are fascinated by penalty kicks. Over the past 30 years, there have been more than 130 scientific studies which identify the motivational, strategic, anticipatory, and attention- and perception-based factors that can mean a successful or failed penalty kick. This book presents the information from these studies in such a way that it is useful for the athletes, trainers, managers, and even the soccer fans. All the information on penalty kick methods is based on sport psychology and movement science. The authors have also included anecdotes of the biggest and most important penalties in the history of soccer. They connect these actual events with the scientific findings, creating real life examples which make it easier to understand the science. Furthermore, they examine the penalty kick from both the kicker's and the goalkeeper's perspectives to explain shooting and saving techniques from every angle. A successful penalty kick takes more than just luck, and The Penalty Kick demystifies the science so that the reader knows how to win every penalty kick

'A must-read for anyone who's doubted Pep's influence, from handing the power to Barca's homegrown crop to never betraying his childhood romanticism of the game Four Four Two 'Balague's insightful biography presents Guardiola as a relentless perfectionist - a man obsessed with the minutiae of football, often unable to switch off' SPORT This fully updated edition of the international bestseller includes Manchester City's incredible 2017-18 league triumph Pep Guardiola is the most successful and sought-after football coach in the world. After being appointed first-team manager in 2008, he transformed Barcelona into arguably the greatest club side of all time, winning thirteen trophies in four years, and he won the Double twice in his three years in charge of Bayern Munich. He then faced his biggest challenge yet when he joined Manchester City in 2016: to turn them into a team that consistently wins in the most difficult of leagues and a regular challenger in the Champions League. But in only his second year at the club, he had turned a good side into memorable one, leading them to the Premier League title in record-breaking style . . . and doing it the Guardiola way. Guillem Balague has followed Pep's career from the outset and has had direct access to the man and his inner circle for this updated edition. This then is the definitive portrait of Pep Guardiola and his relentless pursuit of footballing perfection.

The Sunday Times Bestseller The exclusive behind-the-scenes story of the Mauricio Pochettino revolution at Spurs, told in his own words Since joining the club in 2014, Mauricio Pochettino has transformed Tottenham from underachievers into genuine title contenders. In the process, he has marked himself out as one of the best managers in the world. He has done so by promoting an attacking, pressing style of football and by nurturing home-grown talent, fully endearing himself to the Spurs faithful along the way. Guillem Balague was granted unprecedented access to Pochettino and his backroom staff for the duration of the 2016-17 season, and was therefore able to draw on extensive interview material with Pochettino, his family, his closest assistants, players such as Dele Alli and Harry Kane, and even a very rare conversation with Daniel Levy to tell the manager's story in his own words. From Pochettino's early years as a player and coach to his transformation of Tottenham into one of the best teams in England, the book uniquely reveals the inner workings of the man and of his footballing philosophy. It also lays bare what it takes to run a modern-day football team competing at the highest level over the course of a single campaign. The result is the most comprehensive and compelling portrait of a manager and of a club in the Premier League era.

'I Feel Fine' is a beautifully produced official book, a must-buy for every Reds fan wanting to revel in the colour, culture and pride of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool FC.

These all-inclusive skills resources provide the focused practice students need to apply, reinforce, and review skills in reading, math, and test-taking. Answer key included.

" Coach Dorrance] knows what it takes to win, and that is very rare. He makes another kind of investment in his players beyond just training: he cares about them as people. He knows what motivates certain types of players and ties it all in to team chemistry and camaraderie."

"-Mia Hamm, retired American professional soccer player and first woman inducted into the World Football Hall of Fame (2013). She trained under Anson Dorrance (1989-1993), helping the Tar Heels win four NCAA championships."

"Anson has an excellent understanding of athletes, and his theories on player development are very astute. He has had a truly remarkable career. He would be a great coach in any sport."

"-Dean Smith, retired University of North Carolina men's basketball coach (1961-1997)."Coaching legend" Smith trained several NBA players including Michael Jordan and is a Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinee (1983)."

Do you have what it takes to train champions?

"In Training Soccer Champions," leading NCAA coach Anson Dorrance shares the secrets to creating and maintaining a winning team. Dorrance explains his philosophies, provides practical lessons, and reflects on his experience, offering the invaluable perspective of one of the world's outstanding coaches.

"Training Soccer Champions" digs deep into the psychology of the female athlete and conveys the principles of coaching to benefit average and high-performing teams alike. Field strategy, motivational techniques, team dynamics, and much more are discussed in this must-have guide to coaching. With countless championship titles and numerous awards, Anson Dorrance knows what it takes to win, and now you can too.

Shortlisted for the 2022 Sports Book Awards 'an enjoyable and interesting journey through football' Donald McRae, The Guardian 'This is really good. Raw, funny and revealing on football, on Ferguson, Clough, Dalglish & worth getting for the Roy Keane selfie story alone. Emotional on his ITV exit. Talent like Tyldesley's appeals to all ages.' Henry Winter 'Started reading this and couldn't stop ... wise and entertaining on the big names and games. Clever work.' Paul Hayward 'Clive Tyldesley's brilliant, emotive commentaries became the soundtrack to matches that will stay with the fans for the rest of their lives.' Oliver Holt Football changes everything. It changes how we feel, how we think, how we behave. It turns us into someone else. You love your team first. It's tribal. Except I did love something else. I loved the idea of commentating on my team, on every team. I loved it even more than my team. I ditched the girl next door for the diva on the silver screen. Like all true romances, it was irrational and intoxicating, it was tangled and foolish, it became addictive and occasionally heart-breaking and it kept on changing. Two United goals inside two minutes changed it in 1999. A teenage Evertonian called Rooney twisted the plot in 2002. Three Liverpool goals in less than six minutes changed everything again in 2005. Hello, hello. Moments. Mere blinks of wide eyes. Football happens in heartbeats. Meeting those moments is my job. Seeing them, saying them, spelling out the difference they have just made. It's all I've ever wanted to do. Probably all I can do. Spending time in the company of the 'greats' of football like Sir Alex Ferguson, Bill Shankly, Brian Clough and Sir Kenny Dalglish has changed everything for me, and probably for you too.

This volume draws together scholarship across a number of disciplines - history, sociology, media and cultural studies, political science, Slavonic studies - to examine the significance of the sport of football within Southeastern Europe, with an especial focus on countries of the former Yugoslavia. The volume is timely as there is growing recognition inside and beyond the academy that football is a key cultural site in which the tensions within the region have been, and continue to be, reflected. Important issues such as resurgent nationalism, ethno/religious identity construction, and collective masculine identity are played out in relation to the sport of football. The papers within the volume explore these and other themes in detailed case studies that will be of interest to academics and policy makers concerned with wanting to know more about how football should be considered within agendas focused on reconciliation and a socially inclusive future. This book was previously published as a special issue of Sport in Society.

These all-inclusive skills resources provide the focused practice students need to apply, reinforce, and review skills in reading, math, and test-taking. Answer key included.