Imagine Pep Guardiola quitting Manchester City to take over at Rochdale. Or Jose Mourinho walking out on United to join Southend. That sort of thing just wouldn't happen, would it? Except that in 1973, it did. At that time Brian Clough was managerial gold dust, having taken Derby County to the Football League title and to the semi-finals of the European Cup. After those feats, he and his sidekick Peter Taylor could have managed anywhere. And yet the most famous men in British football decided to take the reins at Brighton & Hove Albion, sixth bottom of the old Third Division, for what would prove a controversial and ultimately unsuccessful spell that would test their friendship to breaking point. The move to a sleepy backwater football club made little sense then and, forty years on, it remains a mystery. It seems especially odd considering Clough's aversion to the south and refusal to relocate his home from Derby. Featuring candid interviews with the men who played under Clough and Taylor at Brighton, Bloody Southerners attempts to make sense of the strangest managerial appointment in English post-war football. What shines through in page after page of never-before-heard stories is the profound complexity of both characters.

Far and away the most popular sport in the world, football has a special place in Middle Eastern societies, and for Middle Eastern states. With Qatar hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, this region has been cast into the global footballing spotlight, raising issues of geopolitical competition, consumer culture and social justice. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this book examines the complex questions raised by the phenomenon of football as a significant cultural force in the Middle East, as well as its linkages to broader political and socioeconomic processes. The establishment of football as a national sport offers significant insight into the region's historical experiences with colonialism and struggles for independence, as well as the sport's vital role in local and regional politics today--whether at the forefront of popular mobilisations, or as an instrument of authoritarian control. Football has also served as an arena of contestation in the formation of national identity, the struggle for gender equality, and the development of the media landscape. The twelve contributions to this volume draw on extensive engagement with the existing body of literature, and introduce original research questions that promise to open new directions for the study of football in the Middle East.

Now in paperback, this is a superbly presented collection of photographs of Manchester United from its early days until 1992, newly selected from over 10,000 images in the Daily Mirror's archive. These evocative pictures, many previously unpublished, bring to life the important events in United's history: the triumphs of the first trophies, the tragedy of the Munich disaster, the successes that followed. There are glorious images of United icons such as Edwardian superstar Billy Meredith, Sir Matt Busby and his first captain, Johnny Carey, lost 'Babes' Duncan Edwards and Tommy Taylor, and the stars of United's first European Cup-winning side -George Best, Denis Law, Bobby Charlton, Paddy Crerand and Nobby Stiles.

Spice Up Your Life: Liverpool, the Nineties and Roy Evans is the fascinating story of arguably the most significant decade in the long history of Liverpool FC. After the Reds' most dominant and successful decade in the 1980s, the early 90s saw a rapid decline in the club's fortunes under the stewardship of Liverpool icon Graeme Souness, who was sacked in January 1994. Spice Up Your Life charts the gradual renaissance at Anfield under Souness's replacement and long-term boot-room member Roy Evans, the much-adored 3-5-2 formation, the infamous 'Spice Boys' moniker and the revitalisation of a football club that looked to be in freefall. The book explores the emergence of many of Anfield's youngest and brightest stars - from Steve McManaman to Jamie Redknapp, Robbie Fowler to Michael Owen - and credits Evans, as the last Liverpool manager from the legendary boot room, for bringing the Merseyside club back to prominence and ready to retake its perch at the top of English football.

Show Me The Way To Plough Lane is the ultimate story of football fan power. It is the story of how Wimbledon reclaimed its football club and brought it back to the heart of its community after years of nomadic existence. It retraces the club's history from its genesis on Wimbledon Common to Plough Lane, the place Wimbledon FC called home for the best part of a century. After rumours of mergers and relocations, the club ground-shared after the Taylor Report. A decade passed with the fans sold lie after lie until the club was ripped from its community and re-sited many miles away. Not only was the club homeless, it was now dead. A group of fans who were at the heart of protests against the move decided to start again - from the very bottom if necessary. And they vowed to bring football back to Wimbledon, to where it all started. After an absence of almost 30 years, the side finally returned home - just a long ball away from where the original ground sat, in Plough Lane.

Soccer is undeniably the most popular sport in the world. While we know much about its high-profile players and their increasing wealth and global influence, we know little about referees and the ways in which refereeing has changed throughout the history of the sport. This book provides an in-depth exploration of the evolution of the match official. It presents a comparative analysis of elite Association football referees in England, Spain and Italy, as well as offering insights into the involvement of UEFA and FIFA in referee training. Drawing on archive material, the book documents the historical development of refereeing and sheds new light on the practice of elite refereeing in the present day. Including exclusive interviews with elite and ex-elite referees, as well as with professional soccer managers and members of the broadcast media, it considers the current role of match officials and the challenges and controversies they encounter. Elite Soccer Referees: Officiating in the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A is fascinating reading for all students and scholars with an interest in soccer, sport history, sport policy, sport management and the sociology of sport.

1. This book gives a strong academic theory base to the practical components and their applications 2. It demonstrates how different cultures approach football coaching 3. In-depth presentation of instruments and processes to assess and measure tactical performance of footballers. 4. Provides insight to applied implications and training ground approaches

For three months every year football clubs buy and sell people. They spend more than £4 billion a year on footballers, and for good reason; the right deal can help you win the game's top prizes while the wrong deal can cost you your job and bankrupt your club. It is a fast-paced, at times murky and cutthroat world worth billions, which largely operated behind closed doors - until Jim White and Kaveh Solhekol stepped in, that is. In Deadline Day, Jim and Kaveh, two of the world's leading transfer experts, take us behind the scenes of this uniquely tense, make-or-break element to the game. They talk of the world's most famous players, managers and agents - Jose Mourinho, Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola amongst others - to get to the heart of the most significant deals in history, as well as the ones that got away. But has the time come for football to slam shut the transfer window for good? Is it, after all, more scandal than strategy? Perceptive, entertaining and dynamically told, Jim and Kaveh reckon with questions integral to the future of the game in this definitive, never-before-told inside story of football's transfer window.

Across the history of football, a select group of teams have achieved iconic status. Sometimes it's through sheer success. For others, their stature is built by star performers. On occasions, it's because a team has gifted a new way of playing to the world. Most rarely it's because of all three. The Ajax teams that conquered Europe with their enthralling 'totaalvoetbal' are one of those rare cases. Those Dutch artists used the pitch as their canvas, the skills of the players provided a palette of gloriously bright colours and their totaalvoetbal inspired the brushstrokes that delivered masterpieces of football creativity. The Dutch Masters is the entrancing tale of how that iconic white shirt with a broad red band down its centre not only became synonymous with the beautiful game of totaalvoetbal, but also symbolised the success of the club that created a new paradigm of play. It's the story of how Ajax came to dominate the European game as the epitome of footballing perfection.

When the Sky Was Blue celebrates Coventry City’s nine-season adventure in the Premier League, from founder members to relegation, through a compelling array of brand-new interviews with managers, players and other key figures from the time. While not the most glamorous club to have played in the division, few can match the Sky Blues for madcap tales. This book tells those stories through the memories of those who were there. Hear how Bobby Gould’s decision to hold pre-season in an army barracks led to near-death experiences and career-ending injury. Savour the glitz and glamour of Ron Atkinson’s whirlwind spell at Highfield Road. Relive Gordon Strachan making Robbie Keane Britain’s most expensive teenager. Oh, and there’s also those heart-stopping relegation battles, FA Cup heartbreak and the time Coventry City became ‘The Entertainers’.

There is only one Arsene Wenger - and for the very first time, in his own words, this is his story. In this definitive autobiography, the world-renowned revolutionary football manager discusses his life and career, sharing his leadership principles for success on and off the field and recalling vivid tales of guiding Arsenal to unprecedented success. One of the most influential figures in world football, Wenger won multiple Premier League titles, a record number of FA Cups, and masterminded Arsenal's historic 'Invincibles' season of 2003-2004 and 49-match unbeaten run. He changed the game in England forever, popularising an attacking approach and changing attitudes towards nutrition, fitness and coaching methods - and towards foreign managers. In My Life in Red and White, Wenger charts his extraordinary career, including his rise in France and Japan where he managed Nancy, Monaco and Nagoya Grampus Eight - clubs that also play in red-and-white - to his twenty-two years in north London at the helm of one of the world's biggest clubs. He reflects on Arsenal's astonishing domestic triumphs and bittersweet European campaigns; signing - and selling - some of the world's most talented players; moving the Gunners to their new home, the Emirates Stadium; and the unrest that led to his departure in 2018 and subsequent role as Chief of Global Football Development for FIFA. This book is a must-read for not only Arsenal supporters but football fans everywhere, as well as business leaders and anyone seeking the tools for success in work and life. It will illuminate the mystique surrounding one of the most revered and respected managers, revealing the wisdom and vision that made him an icon in the world's most popular sport.

The most up-to-date and in-depth book on the business of professional team sports Pro team sports are the biggest and most important sector of international sport business Strong focus on applied analysis and performance measurement, invaluable real-world skills Covers sports, teams and leagues all over the world from the EPL to the NFL Addresses key themes from ownership and competitive balance to media revenue and the role of agents

Arthur Wharton was the world's first black professional footballer and 100 yards world record holder, and was probably the first African to play professional cricket in the Yorkshire and Lancashire leagues. His achievements were accomplished against the backdrop of Africa's forced colonization by European regimes. But while Arthur was beating the best on the tracks and fields of Britain, the peoples of the continent of his birth were being recast as lesser human beings. The tall Ghanaian was an extreme irritation to many white supremacists because his education and sporting triumphs refuted their theories. In the late Victorian era, when Britain's economic and political power reached its zenith and when the dominant ideas of the age labelled all blacks as inferior, it was simply not expedient to proclaim the exploits of an African sportsman. This shaped the way Wharton was forgotten.

Inside Diego is an intimate portrait of the greatest footballer of all time, from the person in football who knew him best. As Diego Maradona's personal trainer, Fernando Signorini spent more than a decade at the superstar's side, witnessing a dizzying array of highs and lows, from helping Diego recuperate from a broken ankle in 1983 to his dramatic exit from the 1994 World Cup after a failed drugs test. Signorini offers a unique perspective on the troubled legend, giving us the lowdown not only on Diego's evolution as an athlete, but on Diego the human being, a far cry from the character we saw on TV screens. He brings us the inside track on Maradona's preparation for three World Cups: Mexico 86, Italia 90 and USA 94. We also get an insider view on his battles with fame, drugs and extramarital paternity, plus his time in charge of the Argentine national team. Brimming with incredible stories and anecdotes, Inside Diego is an intensely personal rollercoaster account of a flawed football genius.

The first book published in either English or Spanish about the cultural significance of Maradona. Covers Maradona as portrayed in fiction literature and cinema, documentary films, non-fiction literature, mass media and music, among other platforms. Includes chapters on Maradona as represented in the culture and media of Argentina, Italy, Mexico, Spain and the UK, highlighting the global appeal of a volume that is already focused on an international figure. By discussing how a sporting icon is constructed, codified, and imagined in popular culture, the book's relevance goes beyond the specific case of Maradona and appeals to any scholars and students interested in the links between sport, culture, and society.

South America is a region that enjoys an unusually high profile as the origin of some of the world's greatest writers and most celebrated footballers. This is the first book to undertake a systematic study of the relationship between football and literature across South America. Beginning with the first football poem published in 1899, it surveys a range of texts that address key issues in the region's social and political history. Drawing on a substantial corpus of short stories, novels and poems, each chapter considers the shifting relationship between football and literature in South America across more than a century of writing. The way in which authors combine football and literature to challenge the dominant narratives of their time suggests that this sport can be seen as a recurring theme through which matters of identity, nationhood, race, gender, violence, politics and aesthetics are played out. This book is fascinating reading for any student, scholar or serious fan of football, as well as for all those interested in the relationship between sports history, literature and society.

An absolutely essential book for every modern football fan, about the development of Premier League tactics, published to coincide with 25 years of the competition. Back in 1992, English football was stuck in the dark ages, emerging from a five-year ban from European competition. The game was physical, bruising and attritional, based on strength over speed, aggression over finesse. It was the era of the midfield general, reducers, big men up front and getting it in the mixer; 4-4-2 was the order of the day. Few teams experimented tactically. And then, almost overnight, it all changed. The creation of the Premier League coincided with one of the most seismic rule changes in football history: the abolition of the back-pass. Suddenly defenders had no-get-out-of-jail-free card, goalkeepers had to be able to field and play the ball and the pace of the game quickened immeasurably. Tactics evolved dramatically, helped by an increased foreign influence. The Mixer is the first book to delve deep into the tactical story of the Premier League, and take a long view of how the game has developed over the last quarter century. From Ferguson's directness to Keegan's relentlessly attacking Newcastle outfit, to Mourinho's cagey, reactive Chelsea, all the way to Ranieri's counter-attacking champions, The Mixer is one of the most entertaining, rich and knowledgeable football books ever written.

Millions watched the 2015 Women's World Cup as the England Lionesses roared in Canada, winning bronze. Their fighting spirit and fabulous skill captured the fascination of the entire country as their campaign unfolded in the small hours of the 2015 summer mornings. On the back of this success, attendances in the FA Women's Super League increased, as interest in women's football accelerated. Top stars talked enthusiastically about the dawn of a new era for women's football. Carrie Dunn spent a year following some of the most famous - and not so famous - female footballers in the country, to see what the future holds for women's football. Can the smaller, lower-profile teams ever compete with the big bucks and big names of the Women's Super League? How are grassroots clubs going to rise to the top when elite divisions of women's football depend on the award of licences? Can the women win a World Cup before the men do? And if they do, what reward and recognition will they get? Roar of the Lionesses tells the tale of an increasingly popular, yet still woefully underrepresented sport.

This is the perfect gift for the travelling football fan, football lovers or for anyone lucky enough to watch European football live. Available as part of our Collect and Scratch range, the Scratch Off European Football Grounds displays 75 stunning stadiums in Europe where the very best football clubs compete or have participated in European championships. Each Stadium is located by a football icon and you can scratch off the label and football kit, revealing the team colours. Follow your team as they play in these locations, and scratch them off the map. Or if you're lucky, scratch off these stadiums as you visit them in Europe as an away supporter this season! Are you a true football fan that can visit all 75 in your lifetime?