With rare and unrivaled access, bestselling coauthor of Soccernomics and longtime Financial Times journalist Simon Kuper tells the story of how FC Barcelona became the most successful club in the world-and how that era is now ending FC Barcelona is not just the world's highest grossing sports club, it is simply one of the most influential organizations on the planet. At last count, it had approximately 214 million social media followers, more than any other sports club except Real Madrid CF-and by one earlier measure, more than all thirty-two NFL teams combined. It has more in common with multinational megacompanies like Netflix or small nation-states than it does with most soccer teams. No wonder its motto is "More than a club." But it was not always so. In the past three decades, Barcelona went from a regional team to a global powerhouse, becoming a model of sustained excellence and beautiful soccer, and a consistent winner of championships. Simon Kuper unravels exactly how this transformation took place, paying special attention to the club's two biggest stars, Johan Cruyff and Lionel Messi, who is arguably the greatest soccer player of all time. Messi joined Barca at age thirteen and, more than anyone, has been the engine and standard-bearer of Barcelona's glory. But his era is coming to an end-and with it, a once-in-a-lifetime golden run. This book charts Barca's rise and fall. Like many world-beating organizations, FC Barcelona closely guards its secrets, granting few outsiders access to the Camp Nou, its legendary home stadium. But after decades of writing about the sport and the club, Kuper was given access to the inner sanctum and the people behind the scenes who strive daily to keep Barcelona at the top. Erudite, personal, and capturing all the latest upheavals, his portrait of this incredible institution goes beyond soccer to understand FC Barcelona as a unique social, cultural, and political phenomenon.

'On the pitch he was a magician' - Arsene Wenger The first full autobiography from former footballer and England manager Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle was one of the most celebrated footballers of his generation. A wonderfully talented No. 10 - he formed part of the great Spurs teams of the early 1980s and cut his teeth in the blood and thunder of an England team that prioritised aggression over creativity. Often seen as a player 'out of time', Glenn was a playmaker in the purest sense. A creator and a goal scorer, he rose through the Tottenham youth academy - playing under Keith Burkinshaw and crossing paths with the likes of club legends Bill Nicholson and Danny Blanchflower - before going on to play in Monaco under the tutelage of Arsene Wenger. In Playmaker, he looks back on his rise as a prodigious young footballer and talks at length about his career that took him from cleaning the cockerel at White Hart Lane to managing the England football team at a World Cup. From scoring in an FA Cup final to winning the league in France; from revitalising Chelsea in the early 1990s, to managing the fall-out after David Beckham's infamous sending off at the 1998 World Cup; from surviving a near fatal cardiac arrest at the age of 61, to continuing to work within the game he loves - Playmaker is a life lead through football, and an autobiography of one of the game's most admired, thoughtful and respected personalities.

This book covers Joan Newton Cuneo's life and her role (from 1905 to 1915) as the premier female racer in the United States and spokeswoman for women drivers and good roads. Beginning with her family history and marriage to Andrew Cuneo, it traces their life in New York society, the birth of their children, and Joan's growing interest in automobile touring and racing and partnership with Louis Disbrow, her racing mechanic. The book covers Joan's experiences in three Glidden Tours, including her notes on the experience, her first races, and her rivals. It also looks at the growth and change of automobile culture and the battle for control of racing between the AAA, ACA, and the AAMA, which ends in the banishing of women racers shortly after Joan's greatest racing victories at New Orleans (in 1909). The book then follows Joan's attempts to continue racing, the end of her marriage, her move to the Upper Peninsula, and her remarriage and death. The book also includes a chapter on her female rivals in racing and touring.

The quintessentially English cricket commentator, writer, oenophile, bon viveur, collector and national treasure, fondly known as "Blowers", tells his riveting life story. Born in Norfolk and educated at Eton and Cambridge, Henry Calthorpe Blofeld OBE, nicknamed "Blowers" by the late Brian Johnston, is best known as a cricket commentator for Test Match Special on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. His distinctively rich, cut glass voice and his vividly eccentric observations of life on and off the pitch, have made him a household name, not only in Britain but around the world, wherever cricket is played. Blowers has been close the the heart of the game for over fifty years and his career has taken him to the far corners of the earth. This autobiography, stuffed to the gunwhales with delicious anecdotes, brings his astonishingly colourful story bang up to date.

Benjamin Howard Baker - Sportsman Supreme is the first time that this incredible all-round British sportsman has been immortalised in print. His achievements covered an era in Britain when the whole nature of sport was being transformed - from before the first World War until the 1930s Benjamin Howard Baker is arguably Britain's finest ever all-round sportsman, and yet his life and competitive career has never previously been written about at any length. He twice competed at the Olympic Games as a high jumper and held the British record for a quarter of a century. He also set an English record for the triple jump and was a fine hurdler and very capably threw the discus, hammer and javelin. He played in goal for Chelsea and for the England professional and amateur international teams. He was also a water-polo goalkeeper and came close to England selection in that game. He was a title-winning tennis player. He was a star turn as an exhibition swimmer and diver. He played cricket at the highest club level. He rowed, sailed, boxed, and ran round the streets at night to keep fit long before jogging became a popular pastime. His achievements covered an era in Britain when the whole nature of sport was being transformed - from before World War One until the 1930s - and he remained, remarkably, an amateur throughout, playing League and international football just for the fun of it. His flamboyant goalkeeping antics for Chelsea made him a favourite with the crowds of 60,000 or more who regularly watched him at Stamford Bridge. His favourite party-trick was a high kick which set the chandeliers jangling at the numerous social receptions to which he was invited. He was so famous in his native Liverpool that express trains from London were stopped specially at his nearest station to let him off. He lived to the age of 95, regretting only that he never had the opportunity to try the 'Fosbury Flop' high-jump technique invented more than 40 years after he retired. No such sporting life as Benjamin Howard Baker's will ever be led again.

Burleigh Grimes--forever remembered as the ill-tempered spitballer with the perpetual five o'clock shadow. For nearly two decades, he brought his surly disposition to the pitcher's mound. His life-or-death mentality resulted in a reputation as one of the game's great competitors and a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Along the way he suited up for eight different ball clubs and played alongside a record 36 Hall of Famers. In all, Grimes spent over half a century in professional baseball as a player, manager, coach and scout. This biography covers all aspects of his life. From his early childhood in Clear Lake, Wisconsin, to his twilight years in that same town. In between are World Series highs and lows, brawls, five marriages, a near-death experience and 270 major league victories.

Billy Southworth was the most successful major league baseball manager of the 1940s including the three straight years in which his St. Louis Cardinal teams won more than 100 games. He won three National League pennants with the Cardinals and one with the Boston Braves, and his .597 winning percentage is the fifth highest in baseball history. But Southworth was dogged by demons off the field, including the deaths of three children. On the field, his achievements were minimised by many because they occurred during the war years when the baseball talent level was below par. When he finally got top recognition, being elected to the Hall of Fame in 2007, the honour occurred 38 years after his death.

Joe Louis held the heavyweight boxing championship longer than any other fighter and defended it a record 25 times. During the 1930s and 1940s, the owner of the heavyweight title belt was the most prominent sports competitor not aligned with a team sport. In addition, Louis helped make breakthroughs for African American athletes and bridge the gap of understanding between whites and blacks. During World War II he not only raised money for Army and Navy relief, entertained millions of troops as a morale officer, but became a symbol of American hope and strength. In a famous speech Louis pronounced that the United States would win the war ""Because we're on God's side."" The simple phrase helped energise the populace and some said that Louis ""named the war."" The biography of Louis outlines his rise from poverty in Alabama to becoming the best-known African American of his times and describes how an uneducated man, simple at his core, became so articulate and always ended up on the side of right in the battles he fought, with fist or voice.

Instant New York Times Bestseller "Buzz Bissinger's Friday Night Lights is an American classic. With The Mosquito Bowl, he is back with a true story even more colorful and profound. This book too is destined to become a classic. I devoured it." - John Grisham An extraordinary, untold story of the Second World War in the vein of Unbroken and The Boys in the Boat, from the author of Friday Night Lights and Three Nights in August. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, college football was at the height of its popularity. As the nation geared up for total war, one branch of the service dominated the aspirations of college football stars: the United States Marine Corps. Which is why, on Christmas Eve of 1944, when the 4th and 29th Marine regiments found themselves in the middle of the Pacific Ocean training for what would be the bloodiest battle of the war - the invasion of Okinawa-their ranks included one of the greatest pools of football talent ever assembled: Former All Americans, captains from Wisconsin and Brown and Notre Dame, and nearly twenty men who were either drafted or would ultimately play in the NFL. When the trash-talking between the 4th and 29th over who had the better football team reached a fever pitch, it was decided: The two regiments would play each other in a football game as close to the real thing as you could get in the dirt and coral of Guadalcanal. The bruising and bloody game that followed became known as "The Mosquito Bowl." Within a matter of months, 15 of the 65 players in "The Mosquito Bowl" would be killed at Okinawa, by far the largest number of American athletes ever to die in a single battle. The Mosquito Bowl is the story of these brave and beautiful young men, those who survived and those who did not. It is the story of the families and the landscape that shaped them. It is a story of a far more innocent time in both college athletics and the life of the country, and of the loss of that innocence. Writing with the style and rigor that won him a Pulitzer Prize and have made several of his books modern classics, Buzz Bissinger takes us from the playing fields of America's campuses where boys played at being Marines, to the final time they were allowed to still be boys on that field of dirt and coral, to the darkest and deadliest days that followed at Okinawa.

In the late 1950's John Surtees was the dominate rider in top-level British and European motorcycle racing. A precocious talent, he began riding competitively on Vincents in the early 1950's, then REGs and NSUs and Nortons A precocious talent, he began riding competitively on Vincents in the early 1950's, then REGs and NSUs and Nortons. The technical side of Surtees's career - the bikes he rode and his considerable skills as a mechanic and engineer - is covered in detail. The book gives a fascinating insight into the intense motivation that often gave Surtees the edge over his rivals and laid the foundation for the success that followed. In many ways Surtees is the precursor of later generations of fiercely dedicated, perfectionist riders like Kenny Roberts Snr and Mick Doohan, and the time is right for a reassessment of his contribution to the sport.

This is the autobiography of one of Ireland's greatest ever full-backs - Dave Langan. Brought to England by the legendary Brain Clough, Langan made his name as one of the best young full-backs in Britain. With brutal honesty, Dave Langan tells of his battles on and off the field, as well as his international career with Ireland. Dave Langan, regarded by many as one of Ireland's greatest full-backs, was also a mainstay of the famous Oxford United team that made history in 1986 when they won the Milk Cup. Managed by Maurice Evans, Langan and his teammates, including fellow Irish legends Ray Houghton and John Aldridge, were part of the side which beat QPR 3-0 in the final. Brought to England by the legendary Brian Clough, Langan made his name as one of the best young full-backs in Britain with Derby, before making a then record breaking transfer to Birmingham. With a brutal honesty reminiscent of his playing days Dave Langan tells of his battles on and off the field, as well as his international career with Ireland.

This is an autobiography of former Morton and Celtic footballer and all round fans favourite, Andy Ritchie. Retired by the age of 28, Ritchie still managed to make his mark on Scottish football, not only for his amazing ball skills but also for his larger than life personality and colourful personal life. AT 22 Andy Ritchie had the footballing world at his feet. Scotland's disastrous World Cup campaign in Argentina left the nation crying out for an entertainer and Morton's 'Idle Idol' filled the void. A former Celtic prospect, his spectacular goals, close control, dead ball genius and dazzling skills made him Scotland's player of the year and the nation's top goalscorer three years running. But by the age of 28 Ritchie dumped his boots in a bin and quit football for good. Plagued by depression, panic attacks and attitude problems one of the Scottish game's biggest ever characters tells with brutal honesty of the match-day drinking, the gambling, the indiscipline and the casual drug abuse which cut short his playing days and drove the late Jock Stein to despair. Celtic's chief scout under Tommy Burns, he expresses his regrets at the failure to patch up a rift with his lifelong friend before he died and of the spell of homelessness he survived following a breakdown and the break-up of his marriage.

"Son of My Father" explores the changing relationship between father, son and their beloved football club - Derby County. Along with the changing faces of managers and players: the fads, news and music of the eighties and nineties are brought to life. To the backdrop of driving through clouds to Oldham, to driving rain in Bristol, "Son of My Father" explores the changing relationship between father, son and their football club. From the eyes of a hero-worshipping four-year-old, through to a relationship of mutual admiration and shared understanding, via the angst and traumatic misunderstandings of an adolescent, Matches from Leyton to Liverpool punctuate a story about growing up at the end of the second millennium. The novel includes the family life as well as the football and what it was like supporting Derby County in a house occupied by a brother whose allegiance stood steadfast towards rivals Nottingham Forest. It also covers the friendships that were made at school, just because we supported the same team. Along with the changing faces of managers and players: the fads, news and music of the eighties and nineties are brought to life, as well as the dawning of the new millennium where overnight we all realised that despite the Y2K Bug promising computer meltdown, 1 January 2000 was just the same as 31 December 1999. "Son of My Father" charts the relationship between the author, his Dad and Derby County Football Club, from their first visit together to the Baseball Ground in November 1979 and through two and a half decades spent watching their team.

Gil Merrick, also known as 'Mr Birmingham City', gave his life and soul to Brimingham City serving it as both a player and a manager before the club broke his heart with the manner of his dismissal. This biography looks at how Merrick's time at the club coincided with many of the best days (and nights) in its history; promotions, an FA Cup Final appearance, European success, domestic success, the introduction of European coaching methods and debuts of many great young players. Birmingham City Football Club is acknowledged as 'a sleeping giant', the trouble is that this so-called giant has never awoken since its formation in 1875. Over 130 years of professional football in the heart of the industrial Midlands has produced only one major trophy - The League Cup in 1963 - alongside a million heartaches and disappointments for its fans. Faced with an underachieving football club, Bluenoses have had to look to their heroes to justify their blind faith and continued enthusiasm - Gil Merrick is the greatest hero of all! Gil is held in high esteem because he loved the club as much as the supporters, even though his father was a Villa fan. He gave his life and soul to Birmingham City serving it as both a player and a manager before the club broke his heart with the manner of his dismissal. Loyalty could have been Gil's middle name. Known as 'Mr Birmingham City', his time at the club coincided with many of the best days (and nights) in its history; promotions, an FA Cup Final appearance, European success, domestic success, the introduction of European coaching methods and debuts of many great young players. Who knows how Gil would have fared in today's game where money rules and international players become celebrities. I have little doubt that he would have remained level-headed and taken the trappings of success in his stride, but would he have remained with one club for 25 years? Whatever happens in the future to 'The Blues', whether they ultimately regain Premier League status and conquer Europe, there will never be another club servant to match my hero - Gil Merrick.

Jimmy McMenemy played for Celtic for almost twenty years at a time when Celtic were at the top of Scottish and world football. He remains without doubt one of the great characters of early 20th century Scottish football, and his story deserves to be told. Jimmy McMenemy was one of Celtic and Scotland's truly great players. He played for Celtic for almost twenty years at a time when Celtic were at the top of Scottish and world football, and he was the man that made it all happen for them, generally agreed to be the star of the team that won six League Championships in a row from 1905 until 1910. He also played his part in quite a few triumphs for Scotland, notably against England in 1910 and 1914. Arguably his contribution to the Celtic cause as a player was matched by his contribution in the late 1930s as the trainer of the great Celtic side who won the all-British Empire Exhibition Trophy of 1937.

The dramatic claim that Cullis's Wolves team were 'champions of the world' after beating Honved in 1954 sparked the creation of the European Cup tournament. That, in itself, would guarantee his place in soccer history. There is much more, however, to the story of Stan Cullis. He emerged from a bleak childhood to be appointed captain of Wolves in the week of his 20th birthday, and at the age of 22 he became the youngest skipper of the England national side. Cullis was a great player; Ferenc Puskas, the great Hungarian, described him as 'the most classical centre-half of his time'. Cullis became an even greater manager, thanks in part to 'long-ball' tactics that provoked endless controversy. His reputation was worldwide. When Wolves brutally sacked him in 1964 the first offer of a new job came from Italian club Juventus. He turned it down. Stan Cullis fully merited the unique title he loved to live up to; he was the Iron Manager.

Dave's story began at his local club Manchester City. His move to Molinuex, following four and a half years at Maine Road, was finalised on Boxing Day 1964.And it is from there that his story truly begins. He was a key figure in the squad, and ever present in the number 11 shirt when promotion was gained in 1967. He played in two major finals for Wolves, receiving a runners'-up medal in the UEFA Cup Final defeat by Tottenham Hotspur in 1972. He eventually left Molineux for Blackburn Rovers in 1976, but he will always be regarded as one of the finest wingers to play for Wolves and fondly remembered for the class and skill he displayed during the 1960s and 70s. Dave Wagstaffe's autobiography is told with humour and wit and gives the reader a fascinating glimpse into his unique story.

Bill Ivy had a steely determination to succeed, an almost fearless courage, which meant he never backed away from a challenge, and a love of fashion and fast cars. In this fascinating biography of Ivy, Mick Walker highlights that Ivy was certainly not only a great rider, but also a unique personality. Walker documents a fitting tribute to Ivy's life that will interest any motorcycle enthusiast. When Bill Ivy was fatally injured while practising for the East German Grand Prix in July 1969, motorcycle racing lost one of its greatest-ever competitors. As a tribute to Bill, leading motorcycle historian Mick Walker has written "Bill Ivy: The Will to Win". Bill Ivy was certainly not only a great rider, but also a unique personality. He had a steely determination to succeed, an almost fearless courage, which meant he never backed away from a challenge, and a love of fashion and fast cars. Although only 5ft 2in tall, he more than made up for his lack of stature by his immense upper body strength, which meant he could cope with any size of motorcycle from a 50cc Itom to a 750cc Norton-engined Matchless G15 CSR. It was as a member of the Yamaha factory team that he not only became World Champion, but also set the first 100mph TT lap record on a 125cc machine - only a decade after Bob McIntyre had first achieved this feat on a machine with an engine size four times larger! "Bill Ivy: The Will to Win" is a fitting tribute to one of the world's greatest-ever motorcycle racing stars.

The book follows the colorful career of Frank Lane, who as baseball's busiest general manager during the 1950s made the deals that turned the Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Indians from losers into pennant contenders almost overnight. He also worked--or tried to--as general manager of the Kansas City A's (Lane lasted eight months in 1961 under first-year owner Charlie Finley) and for the Milwaukee Brewers, where his boss was Bud Selig. He is best known for having traded 1959 American League home run champion Rocky Colavito to Detroit for the AL's 1959 batting champ, Harvey Kuenn, and for trading Indians manager Joe Gordon to Detroit for Tigers manager Jimmy Dykes. During his brief absence from baseball (1962-1964), he signed on as general manager of the National Basketball Association's second-year expansion team, the Chicago Zephyrs. He became a ""superscout"" for the Baltimore Orioles for several years and, after leaving Milwaukee, had the same job with the Texas Rangers and, finally, the California Angels. He completed well over 500 major- and minor-league transactions in his career. Joe Garagiola put it best: ""They used to say that the toughest job on any club Frank Lane was running belonged to the team photographer.

In a world where so many books by and about footballers are little more than bland PR exercises, Full Timebreaks the mould decisively. Stripping away the facade of what we think life must be like for an international football star, Paul Kimmage reveals a different story when it comes to Irish footballer Tony Cascarino. Scarred by his childhood, haunted by indiscretion and troubled by a secret from his past, Cascarino is struggling to find answers as he speeds towards the most terrifying juncture in sport: the end. As Cascarino opens up about his fears, crippling loss of confidence and sexual indiscretion, no wonder The Timesvoted it one of the Top Ten football books of all time and Eamon Dunphy said of it: 'If it were fiction this book could win the Booker Prize.'

Lawrence"Yogi" Berra was never supposed to become a major league ballplayer. That's what his immigrant father told him. That's what Branch Rickey told him, too-right to Berra's face, in fact. Even the lowly St. Louis Browns of his youth said he'd never make it in the big leagues. Yet baseball was his lifeblood. It was the only thing he ever cared about. Heck, it was the only thing he ever thought about. Berra couldn't allow a constant stream of ridicule about his appearance, taunts about his speech, and scorn about his perceived lack of intelligence to keep him from becoming one of the best to ever play the game-at a position requiring the very skills he was told he did not have. Drawing on more than one hundred interviews and four years of reporting, Jon Pessah delivers a transformational portrait of how Berra handled his hard-earned success-on and off the playing field-as well as his failures; how the man who insisted "I really didn't say everything I said!" nonetheless shaped decades of America's culture; and how Berra's humility and grace redefined what it truly means to be a star. Overshadowed on the field by Joe DiMaggio early in his career and later by a youthful Mickey Mantle, Berra emerges as not only the best loved Yankee but one of the most appealingly simple, innately complex, and universally admired men in all of America.

The most definitive and personal answer ever written to the question, "What is Arnold Palmer really like?" A warm, often humorous, look at one of the most popular figures in modern sports.

This is the first full-length biography of Kid Nichols (1869-1953), who won 30 or more games a record seven times and was the youngest pitcher to reach 300 career victories. Much new light is shed on Nichols' early life in Madison, Wisconsin, along with important influences and experiences as a teenager living in Kansas City. His professional career is documented by drawing heavily from publications of the era and Nichols' own words. The high regard in which he was held by fans, teammates and even opponents is contrasted with his contentious relationship with team owners. Nichols' period of restlessness, ambition, and risk-taking following his long stint with Boston's National League team is detailed, as is the campaign to get him into the Hall of Fame. The book includes previously unpublished photos from his descendants' archives, many more than a century old.

'He is skilful. He is outspoken. He is Zlatan' New York Times 'He is an amazing talent, one of the best around' Pep Guardiola Football's most prolific and controversial goalscorer has nothing left to prove on the pitch. There is only one Zlatan. In the decade since his megaselling memoir I am Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he has played at Paris Saint-Germain (2012-2016), Manchester United (2016-2018), LA Galaxy (2018-2019) and Milan (2020-). This outrageous and hilarious follow-up is bursting with personal confessions and revealing anecdotes about the world's best players and managers. Packed with revelations, in Adrenaline we hear for the first time what Zlatan really thinks about his time in the Premier League and what it was like to score that glorious bicycle kick against England. We hear about the club he very nearly signed for, and see his hilarious run-ins with the French media - and the French in general, really. Plus so much more. Zlatan transports you into the world of top-flight football like no one else. Filled with revelations - including Zlatan's life lessons on happiness, friendship and love - you'll be talking about this book a long time after finishing it.

One of early baseball's most popular celebrities, Arlie Latham played for the St. Louis Browns in the 1880s. A brainy hitter and base-runner, he was also the sport's brashest, funniest player, his ""fresh"" personality bringing him as much trouble as reward. He played with the 19th century's greatest names, and was friends with everyone from King Kelly to King George V. He parlayed his stardom into a vaudeville career and the first official major league coaching job. In his fifties he carried the game he loved into world war to cheer Allied troops and in his seventies went to work for the Yankees. Arlie Latham's baseball odyssey is made more compelling by the parade of players, gamblers, boxers, actors, women and mascots that passes through it, providing a unique glimpse into America's game and the people who loved it.