A football season ticket is one hell of a commitment! It's okay if you're guaranteed a good time - sexy football and three points a la Manchester City - but supporting a club of West Ham's stature is a marriage of convenience. In Fortune's Always Hiding, Paul Brand takes us through the Hammers' recent history, with a fan's-eye view that reads like 'The Secret Diary of a West Ham Fan Aged 40 and 3/4'. Chronicling a turbulent few years, from the final days at Upton Park to a European semi-final, this captivating account will resonate with anyone whose happiness is unwisely invested in the fortunes of their favourite team. Taking in fit and proper owners, the Leicester fairy tale, VAR, corporate greed, Covid lockdowns and the Three Lions renaissance (which has similarly teased success without delivering), this book is a must for Hammers devotees and anyone else who finds themselves disillusioned with the modern game but in too deep to ever give it up.

More than 20 Arsenal legends join together to offer a unique insight into the most magic moments in the history of one of the world's biggest clubs. Gunners greats from David Seaman to Bob Wilson and Theo Walcott to Charlie George take us behind the dressing-room door, enabling fans of all ages to relive these amazing memories through the eyes and emotions of the men who were there, pulling on the famous red-and-white shirts. Contained in these pages are previously untold stories from fan favourites including Ray Parlour on winning the Premier League title at Old Trafford and scoring the winner in the FA Cup Final in the space of just four days and what Arsene Wenger did to transform the club. Lee Dixon reveals how he and his team-mates toasted their remarkable last-gasp 1989 title win at Anfield by swigging Kenny Dalglish's champagne while George Graham offers a rare look back at his amazing Highbury career as both player and manager. Double winners Frank McLintock and George also relive the never-to-be-forgotten 1970/71 season and super-fan Piers Morgan offers a unique account of following Arsene Wenger's Invincibles.

Two Posts and a Field is a unique look at Liverpool FC through the eyes of Neville Gabie (artist and lifelong fan) and Stephen Done (writer and curator at the LFC Museum). Richly illustrated, it is part travelogue, part exploration of the LFC Museum's hidden treasures and part personal story, as Neville takes us from his childhood listening to games on the radio in South Africa to watching his first match at Anfield in 1973. The book tells the story of Neville and Stephen's roadtrip to find the home and birthplace of Mo Salah in Egypt's Nile Delta and of Avi Cohen, a player who broke the cultural mould when he signed from Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 1980s. It shines a spotlight on the struggles of Liverpool's home-grown talent for racial equality, contrasting Trent Alexander Arnold with Howard Gayle, the first black player to be signed by Liverpool, with the backdrop of the Toxteth riots. The stories are brought to life by Gabie's beautiful goalpost photos, which stretch back 20 years.

*** THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'A heroic outsider - a pleasure to read.' - The Guardian 'A fulsome evocation of football before the Premier League.' - The i 'Such a good storyteller...joyous.' - Financial Times 'Honest, raw, revealing and very funny. How to live a life and career to the full. Insightful book about the most successful outsider inside football ever...' - Henry Winter, Chief Football Writer, The Times 'Pat is a wonderful one-off...and this is the story of why that is.' - John Murray, Chief Sports Correspondent, BBC Radio 5 Live 'Unusually vibrant and elegant with heroic doses of humour, insight and self-effacement, this is an absolute must-read for the football connoisseur.' - Omid Djalili 'The biggest influence of my professional career both on and off the pitch.' - Graeme Le Saux 'I grew up captivated by Pat Nevin the player. As a man he taught me even more about the beauty of the game. One of football's great mavericks, and Chelsea's greatest players. And he can spin a mean tune too.' - Sam Matterface 'I used to walk miles to see Pat Nevin play football and I'd do the same now to read his thoughts. Always challenging, always entertaining.' - Lord Sebastian Coe 'A refreshingly honest and thought-provoking autobiography. As deftly delivered as some of Pat's ball skills in his 1980's heyday.' - ToffeeWeb Pat Nevin never wanted to be a professional footballer. His future was clear, he'd become a teacher like his brothers. There was only one problem with this - Pat was far too good to avoid attention. Raised in Glasgow's East End, Pat loved the game, playing for hours and obsessively following Celtic. But as he grew up, he also loved Joy Division, wearing his Indie 'gloom boom' coat and going on marches - hardly typical footballer behaviour! Placed firmly in the 80s and 90s, before the advent of the Premier League, and often with racism and violence present, Pat Nevin writes with honesty, insight and wry humour. We are transported vividly to Chelsea and Everton, and colourfully diverted by John Peel, Morrissey and nights out at the Hacienda. The Accidental Footballer is a different kind of football memoir. Capturing all the joys of professional football as well as its contradictions and conflicts, it's about being defined by your actions, not your job, and is the perfect reminder of how life can throw you the most extraordinary surprises, when you least expect it.

Fergus McCann Versus David Murray charts the changing fortunes of Glasgow's two great footballing rivals as shaped by two business moguls. Both men came to prominence in the 1990s when new methods of governance and finance were taking hold of football. At the start of the decade, under Murray's chairmanship, Rangers were the dominant force and the club went on to win a record-equalling nine consecutive league titles. Their success, however, was built on an extravagant spending strategy, which caused a financial catastrophe. Celtic, by contrast, were struggling in the early 1990s, thanks to a complacent and nepotistic board of directors. But McCann took charge of the club in 1994 and turned things around. The new owner left Parkhead having won the league, rebuilt the stadium and left his shares in the hands of supporters. It was Murray, however, who was lauded in the media throughout his tenure at Ibrox, while McCann was chastised. Ultimately, though, their legacies would be utterly different from those misleading media portrayals.

Manchester City stormed to the clubs fourth Premier League title in 2019, the fourth championship in seven seasons, which is a far cry from the 44-year wait which ended in 2012! It is hard to believe that less than 20 years ago, City were in what is now League One. Their loyal fans spent so many years riding on the wildest roller-coaster in English football, with so many ups and downs that they hardly knew in which division they were competing, but things have changed and now City are among not only England's elite, but also Europe's. This incredible journey is recorded in this updated edition of The Little Book of Man City, a selection of the wit and wisdom of the great characters who have been associated with the club. From managers, such as Malcolm Allison, Kevin Keegan, Roberto Mancini and Pep Guardiola, via garrulous fans such as Radio 1's Mark and Lard and the Gallagher brothers to voluble players such as Francis Lee, Dennis Tueart, Rodney Marsh, Kun Aguero and Vincent Kompany, here are more than 170 funny and biting quotes for the avid fan of 'the only club in Manchester'. As their chaplain once said, 'Imagine where City would be if I hadn't been praying for them all these years.'

The Leeds United Collection takes you on a fascinating multi-coloured journey through the club's history from 1919 to the present day. With stunning photos of unique match-worn Leeds shirts and other paraphernalia, the book tells the Whites' story alongside anecdotes, interviews and quotes from many big names. See home and away shirts worn by Leeds legends from various eras including Billy Bremner and Albert Johanneson, David Batty, Gary Speed, Peter Lorimer, Paul Madeley, Paul Reaney, Norman Hunter, Mick Jones, Allan Clarke, Frank and Eddie Gray, Terry Yorath, John Sheridan, Ian Baird, Fabian Delph, Kalvin Phillips, Pablo Hernandez and many more. These superb images are brought to life with commentary on title- and trophy-winning seasons, plus promotion-winning campaigns. There are also interviews with Eddie Gray, Howard Wilkinson, Pablo Hernandez, Allan Clarke, Tony Currie, Jermaine Beckford, Aidan Butterworth, Simon Grayson, Brian Deane, Rod Wallace, Dominic Matteo and many more. This is a book no true Whites fan should be without.

The period leading up to 1999 had been grim for Stoke City fans - relegation, stagnation, embarrassment and board conflicts were commonplace at the club. As the new millennium approached, fans demanded change, but no one could have predicted what would come next. An Icelandic consortium, brought together by Gudjon Thordarson, set sail for the Potteries with the promise of exciting foreign imports and Premier League football. What followed was a mixture of flashy arrivals, cup successes, broken curses, flop signings and plenty of fallouts, with extraordinary on-field moments along the way. Cult heroes and villains were made as Stoke became a living soap opera for seven remarkable years. Twinned with Reykjavik lifts the lid on that rollercoaster ride with the views of the people who experienced the wild journey. Integral players and fans look back on the key moments that defined the era as the book ponders that vital question: was the Icelandic takeover actually a success for Stoke City?

My Seventy Years of Spurs is veteran sportswriter Norman Giller's unique story of Tottenham Hotspur over the seven decades he has followed the Lilywhites. Norman saw the legendary 'push and run' side lift the league title in 1950/51, then as a press-box reporter he chronicled Tottenham's historic league and FA Cup double in 1960/61. He has been an eyewitness to all their triumphs and tribulations right up to the surreal 2020/21 season. Join him on a trip down White Hart memory lane in the company of each of the 21 managers who have been in charge during his 70 years as a supporter and reporter - from Arthur Rowe in the 1950s to the current master of the new Lane, Jose Mourinho. The book is introduced by Steve Perryman, captain of back-to-back FA Cup-winning Tottenham teams, who holds the club appearances record. My Seventy Years of Spurs provides an intimate and informative insight into the club from a renowned sportswriter who truly knows his Spurs.

Celtic's Cult Heroes is devoted to 20 players who, over the years, have won a special place in the hearts of the Parkhead faithful - not necessarily the greatest footballers, but a unique brotherhood of mavericks and stalwarts, local lads and big signings. The cast list alone is enough to stir up the memories and tug at the heartstrings of any Hoops fan - Stein, Johnstone and Nicholas, Larsson, McInally and Aitken - recalling how these charismatic personalities used to ignite passion on the terraces. Find out which Celtic icon scored direct from a corner, was made to retake it and promptly scored again. Who celebrated his Scottish Cup Final hat-trick with a somersault, and which heroes were affectionately known as 'Yogi Bear' and 'The Golden Crust'. Discover and delight in the magical qualities of these 20 mere mortals elevated to cult status by the green half of Glasgow.

The perfect golf gag gift, funny golf prank, or book for any golfer who always has an excuse for their wayward shots on the tee box There's nothing better than a perfect day on the course, except for maybe the excuses thrown around for a sliced drive or a missed putt. As soon as you shot goes askew... You can blame your job... You can blame the course... You can blame mother nature... Or you can blame your equipment... But Never, Ever, BLAME YOURSELF! The perfect golf gift for men who always have the perfect excuse for their golf misfortunes, 501 Excuses for a Bad Golf Shot is the ideal father's day gift, gag gift, or present for that friend in your golf league whose excuses are always a hole-in-one (even when their shots aren't).

'The History of Motor Sport' examines the evolution of motor sport from its creation in central Europe, throughout the rest of the continent and elsewhere, including in both North and South America.

Put your Manchester United knowledge to the test with the ultimate quiz book for Red Devils' fans. Do you think you know it all about Manchester United? Could you name the colours the team originally played in? The most decorated player in the club's history? Do you know which sides United have beaten most, and vice versa? Or which foreign countries have supplied the most United players? Whatever your area of interest or depth of knowledge, this expertly assembled quiz will have some testing questions for you. From the club's earliest days right through to the Busby Babes, the glory years under Sir Alex Ferguson and beyond, Think You Know It All? Manchester United will challenge your knowledge of players, managers, records and more. Featuring an entertaining mix of questions and puzzles, this is the perfect test for new and veteran United fans alike. Proving you know it all about your club has never been such fun - or so tricky.

The rivalry between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox involves not just the teams, but the cities, owners, ballparks, fans, and the media. Its roots reach back to before even Babe Ruth and Harry Frazee, yet it is as contemporary as the next Red Sox-Yankees game. This book tells the story of the rivalry from the first game these epic teams played against each other in 1901 through the 2013 season in what former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani called 'the best rivalry in any sport.'

In 1914 the Boston Braves experienced the greatest come-from-behind season in baseball history. A perennially woeful team, the Braves rose from the ashes of last place-fifteen games behind on July 4th-to battle in the World Series against the Philadelphia Athletics, one of the most dominant teams of all time. Baseball fans witnessed one of sport's most spectacular comebacks, and Boston's National League team earned a new designation: "The Miracle Braves." Baseball's Greatest Comeback: The Miracle Braves of 1914 follows the Boston Braves through this rollercoaster year, from their miserable start to their inspiring finish. A collection of likeable, determined, and highly unconventional ballplayers, the Braves endeared themselves to fans who rooted enthusiastically for the team. Sitting in last place midway through the season, the youthful group of castoffs and misfits, many of whom had been rejected by other major league teams, followed the lead of Walter "Rabbit" Maranville, Johnny "The Crab" Evers, and George "Big Daddy" Stallings to turn things around. The Braves battled their way up the standings, finishing the second half of the season with a miraculous 52 and 14 record. They went on to defeat John McGraw's powerful New York Giants for the pennant and found themselves face-to-face with the talented Philadelphia Athletics in the World Series. On the 100th anniversary of this memorable season, the 1914 Boston Braves are still remembered as one of the greatest comeback teams in baseball history. Full of timeless images and memorable characters-including a fanatically superstitious manager, a cheerfully madcap star, and an obsessively driven, yet highly sensitive captain-this book will inform and entertain baseball fans and sports historians alike.

In The Turning Season, Michael Wagg goes in search of hidden histories and footballing ghosts from before the fall of the Berlin Wall. He revisits the 14 clubs that made up the 1989 DDR-Oberliga, East Germany's top flight. From Aue in the Erzgebirge mountains to Rostock on the Baltic Sea, this quirky account of his whistle-stop tour is for fans who know that football clubs are the beating hearts of the places they play for. There are portraits of the lower levels as well as the big league, stories of then and now that celebrate the characters he met pitch-side. There's Mr Schmidt, who's found a magical fix for the scoreboard at Stahl Brandenburg; Karl Drossler, who captained Lokomotive Leipzig against Eusebio's Benfica; and the heroes of Magdeburg's European triumph, last seen dancing in white bath robes, now pulling in to a dusty car park by the River Elbe. The Turning Season turns its gaze on East German football's magnificent peculiarity, with 14 enchanting stories from a lost league in a country that disappeared.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have captured the Stanley Cup five times since 1991-more than any NHL team during the same period. Joining the NHL in 1967 as an expansion team, they waddled their way through years of heavy losses both on and off the ice-bad trades, horrible draft picks, a revolving door of owners, general managers and coaches, and even a bankruptcy. Somehow, they hung on long enough to draft superstar Mario Lemieux in 1984 and eventually claim their first championship, attracting a large fanbase along the way. Packed with colorful recollections from former players, reporters and team officials, this book tells the complete story of the Penguins' first 25 years, chronicling their often hilarious, sometimes tragic transformation from bumbling upstarts to one of hockey's most accomplished franchises.

Organized in 1845, the New York Knickerbockers were the first fully organized base ball club to play the game with written rules similar to those used today. While the Knickerbockers did not invent the game, they played an unparalleled role in stabilizing the playing rules and maintaining standards of conduct in a way that fostered the astonishing proliferation of players and clubs which helped to shape the early development of baseball. Based on years of research and told in the style of oral history, this fictional work features all the principal figures from the Knickerbocker club, including Doc Adams, James Whyte Davis, Alexander Cartwright, William Wheaton, and, Duncan Curry.

This ambitious study of major league managers through the entire history of baseball since the formation of the National League applies a sabermetric approach to gauging the performance and tendencies of such men as Connie Mack, John McGraw, Tommy Lasorda and scores of others. Rather than focusing solely on in-game tactical decisions, it also analyzes broader, off-the-field management issues such as handling players, fans, and media, enforcing team rules, working with the front office, and balancing pressure versus performance to develop a fuller appraisal of each manager's effectiveness and stature among his peers.

Rhapsody in Blue is a joyous celebration of growing up in the late 1960s and early 70s in the aftermath of England's 1966 World Cup victory. It was a time when football and pop culture merged - an era of smoke-filled pubs, when Fray Bentos pies and fry-ups were consumed without guilt and parents had no fear of letting their kids stay out after dark. It was also a time without live TV football, when being a fan meant traipsing through the turnstiles every week. The book vividly recalls how a boy fell in love with Chelsea Football Club, cheering the Blues on week after week, while at the same time becoming immersed in the culture of street football. Neil Fitzsimon skilfully transports us to the Stamford Bridge of his youth, when the likes of Ian Hutchinson and Peter Houseman lit up the pitch. Away from the terraces, he played in his own street team in bitterly contested games against rival street sides. Rhapsody in Blue is a moving and nostalgic tribute to a lost era and way of life.

**Longlisted for The Telegraph Sports Book Awards 2021 - Football Book of the Year** FC St. Pauli is a football club unlike any other. Encompassing music, sport and politics, its fans welcome refugees, fight fascists and take a stand against all forms of discrimination. This book goes behind the skull and crossbones emblem to tell the story of a football club rewriting the rulebook. Since the club's beginnings in Hamburg's red-light district, the chants, banners and atmosphere of the stadium have been dictated by the politics of the streets. Promotions are celebrated and relegations commiserated alongside social struggles, workers' protests and resistance to Nazism. In recent years, people have flocked from all over the world to join the Black Bloc in the stands of the Millerntor Stadium and while in the 1980s the club had a small DIY punk following, now there are almost 30,000 in attendance at games with supporters across the world. In a sporting landscape governed by corporate capitalism, driven by revenue and divorced from community, FC St. Pauli demonstrate that another football is possible.

Magical Magyars tells the remarkable story of the legendary Hungarian football team of the 50s, a side whose breathtaking technical skills and passing-and-movement style of play changed the very way the sport was played. Author David Bailey traces the team's origins and details how communist Hungary, a tiny nation impoverished and subjugated by one of the most brutal Stalinist regimes in the Soviet empire, was able to produce a football team that was the envy of the sporting world, and so very nearly world champions. Captained by the genius that was Ferenc Puskas, the Magical Magyars walked a tightrope between being the regime's darlings and providing the beleaguered Hungarian people with a sense of national pride during their darkest days. The team enthralled, dominated and revolutionised world football - until its own demise was brought about by a revolution of a different kind. Weaving in threads of friendship and betrayal, tactics and politics, the quest for glory and upheaval, here is a football story quite unlike any other.

Reds and Rams: A Story of the East Midlands Derby is the tale of one of the most fiercely fought football rivalries in the world. Hewed from the Victorian industrial revolution, Nottingham Forest and Derby County have contested league games for 130 years. Ever since the 1898 FA Cup Final, the rivalry has ebbed and flowed, with each club enjoying both periods of sustained success and existential threat. The reasons for this deep-rooted antipathy are numerous, yet ultimately it boils down to two football clubs similar in stature, size, history and geography existing cheek by jowl. In essence, they are like two teenage siblings bickering about anything and everything. Throughout, they have traded managers and players, producing deep and lasting enmity. Derby is renowned for its railways, Nottingham for Robin Hood. Each city has its own proud identity and history. The only thing they have ever agreed on is the genius of Brian Clough.