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 epic exploration of football in the twenty-first century through the prism of sociology, politics, and economics, by David Goldblatt, the critically acclaimed author of The Ball is Round.

'David Goldblatt is not merely the best football historian writing today, he is possibly the best there has ever been' - Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times

In the twenty-first century football is first. First among sports themselves, but it now commands the allegiance, interest and engagement of more people in more places than any other phenomenon. In the three most populous nations on the earth – China, India and the United States where just twenty years ago football existed on the periphery of society – it has now arrived for good. Nations, peoples and neighbourhoods across the globe imagine and invent themselves through playing and following the game.

In The Age of Football, David Goldblatt charts football’s global cultural ascent, its economic transformation and deep politicization, taking in prison football in Uganda and amputee football in Angola, the role of football fans in the Arab Spring, the footballing presidencies of Bolivia’s Evo Morales and Turkey’s Recep Erdogan, China’s declared intention to both host and win the World Cup by 2050, and the FIFA corruption scandal.

Following the intersection of the game with money, power and identity, like no sports historian before, Goldblatt’s sweeping story is remarkable in its scope, breathtaking in its depth of knowledge, and is a brilliantly original perspective of the twenty-first century. It is the account of how football has come to define every facet of our social, economic and cultural lives and at what cost, shaping who we think we are and who we want to be.

The Little Book of Arsenal is a hotshot collection of words of wit and wisdom by and about the managers, players and officials who have graced Highbury and the Emirates. From Herbert Chapman to Arsene Wenger, via the likes of George Graham, from one Double to another, and from Ted Drake, Thierry Henry, Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, here are more than 165 hot-shot quotations for the avid Gooner. Enjoy the humour and poignancy as The Little Book of Arsenal takes you through the highs and lows of the club's fortunes on the pitch and savour some great moments. As England rugby International and broadcaster Stuart Barnes says: 'I did not have a choice, but I am so glad I was born an Arsenal supporter.'

Inside you'll find: a punchy, rabidly red-eyed review of every single match and goal, from the Reading false start to the Wigan and Moscow highs. It is an entertaining, minute-by-minute guide to the matches that really mattered - Liverpool, Arsenal, Barcelona, Wigan and Chelsea.It contains all the season's best quotes from everyone from Ferguson and Crerand to the dreaded Scousers. And, uniquely, it also contains a round-up of all the news, jokes, gossip and rumours affecting both United and our fiercest rivals between matches. Most season reviews follow the same old blueprint of stats and dry match reports. "Destination Moscow" is a book for everyone who lives and breathes United, not just on match day but every single day

"Olympic Obsession" brings to life the personalities behind British rowing's incredible success story at the Sydney Games. Set to a compelling narrative, the book unfolds against the story of Martin Cross, himself an Olympic champion, turned BBC commentator. Cross' unique relationship with the sport over the last 30 years allows him to take us under the skin of the likes of Sir Steven Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent, and Miriam Batten. What is Redgrave really like to be with? Cross, Pinsent and a resentful Andy Holmes have their say. Why was Foster the only one who seemed to smile during the BBC's fly-on-the-wall "Tales of Gold" documentary? How was it that the British eight's gold medal depended on a man given only a few months to live in March 1997? Cross answers all these questions and many more, through a fascinating story that begins over 25 years ago. With a foreword written by BBC Radio Five Live's controversial commentator Alan Green, "Olympic Obsession" will appeal to all sports lovers, as Cross takes us from the 'highs' of winning Olympic gold, through the depths of personal failure, to giving a flavour of the heady brew that results when sport and politics are mixed at the highest levels. But the Inside Story of Britain's Most Successful Sport is much more than just 'another book on sport'. The intensity, passion and depth of the many relationships sensitively described here by Cross will sound a powerful note in any reader's heart. As you turn the pages, take care: you may find the inspiration in this book infectious.

Der Band beschaftigt sich mit dem Trend der Digitalisierung, der auch den Sportbereich betrifft. Die Auswirkungen koennen disruptiv - zerstoererisch - sein. Der Sport in seiner Vielfalt wird in verschiedener Weise von den Entwicklungen beruhrt und muss Wege finden, damit umzugehen. Die Beitrage betrachten die mit der Digitalisierung verbundenen Fuhrungsanforderungen in Sportvereinen und eroeffnen unter Bezugnahme auf den Sport in der Gesellschaft verschiedene Perspektiven zu diesem Thema. Die Beitrage untersuchen die Situation in Sportvereinen und -verbanden, in Bereichen des Profisports sowie in einigen ausgewahlten Sportarten. Sie eroertern juristische Aspekte, Beitrage zum E-Sport sowie die Einbindung von Sport in der Smart City. Der Band stellt moegliche Zukunftsvision dar und oeffnet den Blick daruber hinaus.

SABR 50 at 50 celebrates and highlights the Society for American Baseball Research’s wide-ranging contributions to baseball history. Established in 1971 in Cooperstown, New York, SABR has sought to foster and disseminate the research of baseball—with groundbreaking work from statisticians, historians, and independent researchers—and has published dozens of articles with far-reaching and long-lasting impact on the game. Among its current membership are many Major and Minor League Baseball officials, broadcasters, and writers as well as numerous former players. The diversity of SABR members’ interests is reflected in this fiftieth-anniversary volume—from baseball and the arts to statistical analysis to the Deadball Era to women in baseball. SABR 50 at 50 includes the most important and influential research published by members across a multitude of topics, including the sabermetric work of Dick Cramer, Pete Palmer, and Bill James, along with Jerry Malloy on the Negro Leagues, Keith Olbermann on why the shortstop position is number 6, John Thorn and Jules Tygiel on the untold story behind Jackie Robinson’s signing with the Dodgers, and Gai Berlage on the Colorado Silver Bullets women’s team in the 1990s. To provide history and context, each notable research article is accompanied by a short introduction. As SABR celebrates fifty years this collection gathers the organization’s most notable research and baseball history for the serious baseball reader.    

'It's a funny old game.' - JIMMY GREAVES From golden balls to golden balls-ups, this kit bag of double entendres, outrageous quips and quotes is guaranteed to tickle your funny bone. A must for all Man Utd fans. 'SIMPLY RED captures many of the laughs associated with Manchester United.' - KEN DOHERTY 'A must-read not just for United fans, but for every football fan out there!' - SIMON DELANEY

Located in the United States, NBC (National Broadcasting Company) is the biggest and most powerful Olympic network in the world, having won the rights to televise both the Summer and the Winter Olympic Games. By way of attracting more viewers of both sexes and all ages and ethnicities than any other sporting event, and through the production of breathtaking spectacles and absorbing stories, NBC's Olympic telecasts have huge power and potential to shape viewer perceptions. Billings's unique text examines the production, content, and potential effects of NBC's Olympic telecasts. Interviews with key NBC Olympic producers and sportscasters (including NBC Universal Sports and Olympics President Dick Ebersol and primetime anchor Bob Costas) outline the inner workings of the NBC Olympic machine; content analyses from ten years of Olympic telecasts (1996-2006) examine the portrayal of nationality, gender, and ethnicity within NBC's telecast; and survey analyses interrogate the extent to which NBC's storytelling process affects viewer beliefs about identity issues. This mixed-method approach offers valuable insights into what Billings portrays as "the biggest show on television".

The 150th anniversary of the first FA Cup competition, the earliest knockout tournament in the history of football, will be celebrated during the 2021-2022 season. The first set of matches was played on 11 November 1871, with the Engineers reaching the final played at Kennington Oval on 16 March 1872. During the first decade of the competition three teams associated with the military, Royal Engineers, 1st Surrey Rifles and 105th Regiment, were involved in 74 matches. They won more than half of them and scored 154 goals. The Army also produced one of the most respected administrators in the history of football, in the form of Major Francis Marindin, who was involved in the founding of the FA Cup, played in two finals, and refereed a further nine. Military men and units provided a number of firsts' in the early years of football. The Royal Engineers played in the first ever FA Cup final; Lieutenant James Prinsep of the Essex Regiment was the youngest footballer to appear in an FA Cup final until 2004, although he remains the youngest to complete a full match; Lieutenant William Maynard of the 1st Surrey Rifles played for England in the first ever official international match against Scotland; Captain William Kenyon-Slaney of the Grenadier Guards scored the first ever goal in an official international match, while playing for England; and Lieutenant Henry Renny-Tailyour of the Royal Engineers scored the first ever goal for Scotland in the same match. At a time when there has been talk of a financially-motivated breakaway European Super League, James gives the reader the opportunity to look back at a time when football was played for the game itself. Using his vast knowledge concerning Victorian football and military history, _The Early Years of the FA Cup_ explores the fascinating history of the Army's involvement in the early years of the world's most popular sport. With detailed descriptions of the finals and other matches involving the military teams during football's heyday, this book, for the first time, then follows the men as they went on campaigns to build roads and bridges in hostile territory, provide maps for commanders in famous conflicts such as The Zulu War, Afghanistan, the Sudan, and the Boer Wars, and saw active service on the Western Front during the First World War. In some cases they never returned. Often great footballers are referred to as heroes' -in the case of the men who played for the Army teams in the early FA Cup competitions, such an epithet is genuinely true.

The Birmingham Black Barons was a nationally known team in baseball's Negro leagues from 1920-1962. Among its storied players were Baseball Hall of Famers Satchel Paige, Willie Mays, and Mule Suttles. The Black Barons played in the final Negro Leagues World Series in 1948 and were a major drawing card when barnstorming throughout the United States and parts of Canada. This book chronicles the team's history and presents the only comprehensive roster of the hundreds of men who wore the Black Barons uniform.

The last twenty years have been tortuous for supporters of Leeds United Football Club. In 2001 they were in the final four of the Champions League; within six years they were condemned to the third tier of English football for the first time. A financial implosion brought a record GBP50 million loss in 2003, United 'enduring the nightmare' rather than 'living the dream'. After a dismal period of ownership by a local consortium brought the sale of the Elland Road stadium, Leeds were twice 'rescued' from financial collapse by the controversial Ken Bates. Amidst this turmoil, Leeds beat Manchester United in a legendary FA Cup clash at Old Trafford in 2010 and won an emotion-soaked promotion from League One. The summer of 2012 was dominated by rumours as a bank from the Middle East courted Bates, but the empty promises ran into the sand and GFH sold out to Massimo Cellino, an egocentric and eccentric Italian corn magnate. His near-the-knuckle business dealings pitched Leeds into more disputes with the Football League as Cellino went through managers like a hot knife through butter. When the Italian sold to Andrea Radrizzani in 2017, Leeds finally had stable leadership and the recruitment of the feted Marcelo Bielsa a year later brought Leeds to new playing heights. Engulfed by the 'Spygate' dispute with Frank Lampard's Derby County, United missed out on promotion by a whisker in 2019 but finally achieved the promotion they so dearly coveted the following season despite nearly being derailed by the pandemic. Bielsa's men took the Premier League by storm with their effervescent football and now look forward to a bright future. Beginning in 2000 as football's finances started to boom, this book tells the tale of how Leeds United tried to capitalise on the financial gravy train and almost perished in the process but retained the loyal and passionate support through thick and thin of one of the most committed fan bases in Europe.

Simplify the complexities of sport governance with an engaging and thought-provoking guide to how authority, policies, rules, and regulations can influence decision making in sport organizations. Governance in Sport: Analysis and Application With Web Resource examines the structure of governance within sport organizations across a breadth of levels and a variety of industry sectors to prepare students to practice principles of good governance and ethical decision making. The content is presented from three broad perspectives: (1) Students will first learn the foundation of legal and managerial practices in sport governance, encompassing ethical behavior, effective leadership, decision making, and policy development within sport organizations. (2) Once the groundwork is established, a geographical framework explores the structures and functions of regulatory agencies for sport at the local, state, national, regional, and global levels. Students will gain an appreciation for how agencies vary, as well as the differences in for-profit, nonprofit, and quasi-public sport organizations at the various levels. (3) Students will examine the nuances of sport governance across selected sectors of the sport industry. Professional sport, amateur sport, sport media, sporting goods and licensing, and fitness, wellness, and health are presented alongside the emerging and rapidly evolving sectors of sport marketing, legalized sport wagering, and esports for a realistic look at how governance is applied across different sectors. To enhance practical application, a related web resource presents 12 in-depth case studies and debates on relevant examples of governance in action within sports organizations. Each case study provides thought-provoking perspectives, authored by industry experts and scholars across sport business and academia. Students will gain real-world understanding of how governance varies across national and international levels by scrutinizing contemporary issues such as the NCAA college basketball corruption scandal, the NFL kneeling policy, Olympic host city selection, and poaching in esports. Critical thinking skills are encouraged with multiple-choice and discussion questions provided at the end of each case study. Additional learning aids also help to connect foundational knowledge to modern-day application. Governance in Action boxes highlight key concepts and provide context in relationship to recent events. Critical thinking questions encourage classroom discussion, and end-of-chapter applied activities help to solidify understanding. Providing an overview of managing sport at all levels and all sectors, Governance in Sport will help students develop an acute understanding of where power resides, how decisions are made, and the impact of those factors on the goals, purpose, and structure of sport organizations. Note: The web resource is included with all new print books and some ebooks. For ebook formats that don't provide access, the web resource is available separately.

This book describes our current knowledge of soils and turfgrass science as applied to the design, production and management of natural turf. The first five chapters cover general principles while further chapters apply these to specific contexts. These include golf courses and bowling greens, soccer and rugby grounds, cricket grounds, tennis courts, and horse racing tracks. There are also chapters on amenity grass and warm season turfgrass. The book is aimed at students taking courses in turf science and sportsground management, amenity horticulture, and landscape and recreation provision and management. It will also be a standard reference work for practitioners working in sportsground management or landscape architecture.

Got, Not Got: The Lost World of Tottenham Hotspur is an Aladdin's cave of memories and memorabilia, guaranteed to whisk you back to White Hart Lane's fondly remembered 'Golden Age' of mud and magic - as well as a Spurs-mad childhood of miniature tabletop games and imaginary, comic-fuelled worlds. The book recalls a more innocent era of football, lingering longingly over relics from the good old days - Spurs stickers and petrol freebies, league ladders, big-match programmes and much more - revisiting lost football culture, treasures and pleasures that are 100 per cent Tottenham Hotspur. If you're a lifelong Spurs fan, one of the army of obsessive soccer kids at any time from the Bill Nicholson era to the early days of the Premier League, then this is the book to recall the mavericks - Gascoigne, Greaves and Archibald; Hoddle, Mullery and Ardiles - and the marvels of the lost world of football.

In this open access book the cost and revenue overruns of Olympic Games from Sydney 2000 to PyeongChang 2018 from eight years before the Games to Games-time are investigated to provide a base for future host cities. The authors evaluated the development of expenditure and revenues of the organizing committees to operate the event, and the investment of taxpayers' money for Olympic venues (non-OCOG budget). The study is based on data collected worldwide and is currently the most advanced study on cost and revenue changes of Olympic Games.

Sociedad Deportiva Eibar is the Basque side from a passionate football town one-third the size of the Camp Nou. Eibar the Brave tells the amazing Cinderella story of La Liga's smallest club, which has seen Barcelona and Real Madrid playing top-tier football at Ipurua, the 5000-capacity stadium that Eibar calls home. Promotion-party pitch invasions are not uncommon; but the night of 25 May 2014 saw a promotion with a difference, involving a wildly unorthodox club. There weren't enough fans to cover the pitch. The celebration was 45 minutes after the final whistle. The team was wearing their away kit despite having played at home. And Eibar could still potentially be relegated! Having followed Eibar and witnessed the madness first-hand, Euan McTear documents the club's first season in La Liga and discusses all the pieces put into place over the years to make 2014/15 a season like no other.

Two or three of them came over and asked what team I was ...they followed me at a distance and when I looked across the platform I saw the other lads from the train getting a good kicking. I felt uneasy and was obviously next on their list for a hiding. I could not bottle it. I had to front it and act as normal as possible...You don't choose West Ham - it chooses you. Following West Ham United is not about how many pieces of silverware the team can win. For true fans, it's a lifelong, sometimes agonising passion. In 1964, when footballing legend Bobby Moore held the FA cup aloft for West Ham, Micky Smith was in the crowd, experiencing the unique thrill of seeing his club emerge victorious. In 1967, when Manchester United came to the East End, Micky witnessed the birth of the football hooligan. This is the gripping, inside account of run-ins with the police, rivalry between firms and events such as Heysel that changed the face of football as we know it today.

Ben Calder-Smith travelled around the UK for 18 months meeting and interviewing a broad cross-section of former fighters and boxing personalities. He now presents the stories of huge forgotten talents, coulda-been contenders and men who established a foothold in British boxing history, highlighting the highs and lows of their careers in and out of the ring. From the agonies of injury and enforced retirement to a poignant late comeback inspired by personal tragedy; from a British Boxing Board of Control-licensed ringside doctor to a late-blossoming veteran of the ring, Ungloved features unique, varied and personal accounts of the 'noble art' from a bygone age. Memories are relayed with the same passion as was expended in the ring, describing the good, the bad and the ugly with brutal honesty and heart-warming humility. These moving accounts provide living proof that, when knocked down, the human spirit has infinite capacity to bounce back.