Between October 1961 and October 1962, the Yankees and the Mets shared the city for the first time, their front offices located on opposite sides of Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan, and their playing fields--Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds--situated on opposite sides of the Macombs Dam Bridge. This book tells the story of the first year of their life together as New York City rivals. The emerging rivalry between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets was about more than just games won or money earned. As personified by Mets manager Casey Stengel and Yankees right-fielder Roger Maris, it was also a struggle over the future of the game. Bill Morales holds a doctorate in history from Rutgers University and has lectured at the Baseball Hall of Fame Symposium in Cooperstown, New York. He has taught at Rutgers University, Nassau Community College, and is professor of history at Bergen Community College.

There wasn't much to cheer about for Manchester City fans during the mid-1980s. With the club's coffers empty following a disastrous series of signings at the start of the decade, City seemed in decline as attendances dwindled and interest waned. The only relief from the gloom came in the form of a talented crop of youngsters that arrived at the club from 1983 onwards. Fourteen teenagers who would go on to accomplish something supporters had waited 33 years to achieve. Producing one's own players has always been an emblem of pride for football supporters. Established in 1953, the FA Youth Cup has always been the litmus test of a club's youth policy. Until 1986 Manchester City had reached the final twice but actually winning the trophy had proved to be a step too far. Teenage Kicks is the story of how 'The Class of 1986' won the prestigious trophy for the first time in the club's history and using both exclusive and archive interviews, it describes how the team came together and details what became of each of the fourteen teenagers from that point onwards.

Got, Not Got: The Lost World of Ipswich Town is an Aladdin's cave of memories and memorabilia, guaranteed to whisk you back to Portman Road's fondly remembered 'Golden Age' of mud and magic - as well as a Blues-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 - Tractor Boys stickers and petrol freebies, league ladders, big-match programmes and much more - revisiting lost football culture, treasures and pleasures that are 100 per cent Ipswich Town. If you're a lifelong Ipswich fan, one of the army of obsessive soccer kids at any time from the arrival of Bobby Robson to the early days of the Premier League, then this is the book to recall the mavericks - Mariner, Muhren and Mills, Holland, Beattie and Butcher - and the marvels of the Lost World of Football.

As Marcelo Bielsa's interpreter, Salim Lamrani was his right-hand man throughout his first season in charge of Leeds United. As a privileged witness to that remarkable 2018/19 campaign, Lamrani tells the inside story of how the club came within a hair's breadth of returning to the Premier League before winning promotion in the very next season to end a 16-year exile. Lamrani lays bare the secrets behind Bielsa's methods, starting with the demands he makes in an intense pre-season, through to the Argentinian tactician's unwavering loyalty to a highly effective style of play - a style based on possession, collective coverage, rapid transitions, changes of tempo and constant attack. For him, beauty is non-negotiable. Thanks to Bielsa, the players of Leeds United were the actors in an unforgettable epic, which made an indelible mark on millions of supporters. Taking us match by match through Bielsa's first year in English football, Lamrani weaves a fascinating narrative and paints an intimate portrait of a unique football genius.

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.

The National Football League (NFL) is the most influential, popular, and prosperous professional sports league in America. As such this book focuses on the development and maturity of the organization and its members, but most importantly, how each of them performed in seasons and postseasons and then to what extent they have succeeded as a business enterprise despite competition for market share from other types of entertainment. Each chapter contains two core themes as sections-Team Performances and Franchise Business. The former highlights which and how teams won division and conference titles and championships like Super Bowls while the latter lists and compares financial data including their revenue, gate receipts, and operating income. By linking and comparing the historical performances of NFL teams to financial information about them as business organizations, this book provides a unique contribution to the literature on the sports industry. This book connects franchise popularity and all-time records with recent estimated market value, net worth, and other financial data. In sum, National Football League Franchises explains why particular teams located in large, midsized, or small markets win more games and titles than others. In addition, it provides ways to individually, and by division and/or conference, to compare teams from a financial perspective.

Got, Not Got: The Lost World of Liverpool is an Aladdin's cave of memories and memorabilia, guaranteed to whisk you back to Anfield's fondly remembered 'Golden Age' of mud and magic - as well as a Reds-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 - Reds stickers and petrol freebies, league ladders, big-match programmes and much more - revisiting lost football culture, treasures and pleasures that are 100 per cent Liverpool. If you're a lifelong Liverpool fan, one of the army of obsessive soccer kids at any time from when Shanks won his first '60s silverware to the early days of the Premier League, then this is the book to recall the mavericks - Keegan, Dalglish and St John, Rush, Barnes and Souness - and the marvels of the Lost World of Football.

How much do you really know about Manchester City? Put your Blues knowledge to the test with this bumper book of brainteaser quizzes and fascinating facts, beautifully illustrated by one of the world's leading sports artists. It's packed with trivia on all the Man City greats - from Meredith and Trautmann to Summerbee and Bell, from Mercer to Mancini and on to the Guardiola glory years - providing hours of highly dippable fun and entertainment. Mike Summerbee once owned a fashion boutique with which Manchester United star? Can you name City's first Ukrainian-born player? Which former City striker voiced an ugly sister in Spanish versions of the Shrek movies? Whose '23' City squad number was retired following his death on international duty? Which goalkeeper broke a finger in a game against Bury, played on at centre-forward and scored? Trivquiz Manchester City holds the answers to all these questions and hundreds more.

Sixty Years a Red... and Counting! is a unique, affectionate, fun and frank account of Liverpool FC over 60 years from the perspective of a dedicated fan and informed observer of Anfield life. From attending his first game at Anfield in 1961, to watching the Kop sing and sway as the Reds plotted a triumphant course through the 1960s and early 70s under Bill Shankly, to league title glory with Bob Paisley and lifting the European Cup three times, Brian Barwick saw it all. In his role as the FA's chief executive, he was in Istanbul for that unforgettable Champions League final. And like thousands of others he punched the air in his front room when the Reds finally lifted the Premier League trophy in 2020. As a journalist and broadcaster, he gained special insight into Liverpool's triumphs while building a rapport with some of the club's top personalities. This book takes you behind the scenes at Anfield to tell the story of Liverpool's rise from Second Division mediocrity to becoming one of the most recognisable names in world sport.

In February 1992, Newcastle United appointed Kevin Keegan as manager. Keegan, the two-time European Footballer of the Year, had played for the club between 1982 and 1984. He had been out of football since. His appointment as manager was as big a shock as when he arrived as a player. Exactly four years after Keegan's return to the North east of England, Newcastle were top of the Premiership, nine points clear of Manchester United, having played a game less. It would turn out to be one of the most memorable seasons in the modern history of English football. Keegan's side would play a unique brand of football and become known as the Entertainers. They would take part in a game at Anfield that became widely recognised as the best the Premier League has ever seen. Keegan would also famously square up to Sir Alex Ferguson. Touching Distance tells the story of that remarkable season, through the highs and the lows of a truly dramatic campaign. It also traces the seeds of the revival back to Keegan's first spell as a player, to his return and the dramatic impact he had on a football club, its supporters and an entire region. Touching Distance talks to the people who made it happen, the players, the coaching staff and the board and relives a truly momentous period for the club. It is a story of hopes and dreams and when, for Newcastle United, anything seemed possible.

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.

When the 1949–1953 New York Yankees won an astounding five consecutive World Series, they did it without the offensive firepower that characterized so many of their championship teams before and after. The franchise came to rely instead on three aging pitchers, an unlikely trio that won 255 games during the five-year championship run. This book focuses on the close relationship and quiet achievement of Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi and Eddie Lopat. Soon after Robinson and the cross-town Dodgers had publicly confronted the issues of race and ethnicity, these men from very different backgrounds—Creek Indian, Italian and Polish—established a deep communion with each other, became lifelong friends, and over a handful of years re-wrote baseball history.

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.

Seventeen Manchester United legends come together to tell the stories behind their favourite ever games for the club - enabling Red Devils fans of all ages to relive these magic moments through the eyes and emotions of the men who were there, playing their hearts out for the red shirt...Lee Martin recalls the 1990 FA Cup Final; hat-trick hero Alex Dawson describes the eight-goal semi-final thriller which landed United in the Cup Final so soon after the Munich air disaster. Ever the crowd pleaser, Dwight Yorke waxes lyrical on winning the Treble that unforgettable night in Barcelona - while Gary Pallister basks in the memory of sinking Liverpool at Anfield as United closed in on the 1997 Premier League title. Old Trafford greats Bryan Robson, Martin Buchan and Paul Scholes also turn in characteristic star performances, winding back the clock to relive treasured memories of the Match of Their Lives for United.

Wags, Carlos Tevez, foreign owners, Sky pundits, the 39th game, Mario Balotelli's bathroom ...so much of the acres of news coverage of football these days has so little to do with what actually goes on on the pitch. Jonathan Wilson has made a name for himself focusing on tactics (with the award-winning Inverting the Pyramid) and how events on the pitch have shaped football history (The Anatomy of England). Here, Wilson borrows the formula from the latter title to produce a forensic analysis of ten key Liverpool games that have shaped the club's fortunes over the last century: from the long lost triumphs of Tom Watson (a nineteenth-century Bill Shankly) to 1970s European triumph over the likes of Borussia Monchengladbach, to the mind-blowing 2005 comeback against AC Milan.

By the summer of 1996, Newcastle were officially the second best club in England following a dramatic race for the Premier League title, with the ambition to become even bigger. They would break the transfer world record by signing the England captain Alan Shearer, ahead of rivals Manchester United, for GBP15 million from Blackburn Rovers and had the talismanic figure of Kevin Keegan as their manager. It was expected a golden period to match the start of the 1900s would follow, when Newcastle had been champions of England three times and had reached five FA Cup finals. Instead, by the start of 1997, Keegan had left following a boardroom row. Sir Bobby Robson had accepted and then turned down the chance to replace Keegan as manager and Newcastle had turned to Kenny Dalglish to maintain their assault as a genuine, emerging force in European football. Dalglish himself would be sacked within 18 months and Newcastle would embark on a breathless and reckless period in their history. Tunnel of Love reflects the dramatic highs and gut wrenching lows that covered the 13 year period which followed the failed agony of falling so close to becoming champions of England in 1996, when Keegan's Entertainers were in their pomp. It takes in unforgettable nights at St James' Park - the beating of Barcelona, the apparent taming of Manchester United and the breathtaking tribute to Shearer - for 10 years' service that saw him become the club's all-time leading goalscorer. Yet by its close Newcastle are fighting for their Premier League lives as they head to Villa Park on the final day of the 2008/09 season. Tunnel of Love takes you back on the rollercoaster that got them there.

**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.

Beginning with the Cleveland Indians' hard luck during World War II, this thrilling history follows the team through its historic role in racial integration and its legendary postwar comeback. Rich with player photographs and stories, this book is sure to excite American history buffs and baseball fans alike. In early 1942, baseball team owners across the country scrambled to assemble makeshift rosters from the remaining ballplayers who had not left the sport for the armed forces. The Cleveland Indians suffered a tremendous loss when star pitcher Bob Feller became the first Major Leaguer to enlist, taking his twenty-plus wins per year with him. To make matters worse, the Indians' new player-manager, Lou Boudreau, had no coaching or managing experience. The resulting team was mediocre, and players struggled to keep up morale. Feller's return in late 1945 sparked a spectacular comeback. A year later Bill Veeck bought the franchise and, over the next two years, signed the first American League players to break the color barrier: Larry Doby and Satchel Paige. The 1948 season ended with the Indians and Boston Red Sox tied, resulting in the American League's first playoff game. Thanks in part to rookie Gene Bearden's outstanding pitching, the Indians went on to beat the National League's Boston Braves for their second World Series title.

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.

Liverpool FC: Minute by Minute takes you on a fantastic journey through the Reds' matchday history. Relive all the breathtaking goals, heroic penalty saves, sending offs and other memorable moments in this unique by-the-clock guide. From the Reds' early successes to the glory years of domestic and European dominance, the book covers everything from the Bill Shankly era to the heavy-metal swashbuckling football of Jurgen Klopp's thrilling side. Revisit Liverpool's most spectacular modern feats and learn things you didn't know about the club's glorious past. From goals scored in the opening seconds to those last-gasp extra-time winners that have thrilled generations of fans at Anfield and around the world, Liverpool FC: Minute by Minute is packed with memorable moments. From Keegan to Salah, from Neal to Robertson, from European and Champions League finals to bruising Merseyside derbies, battles with the Manchester giants and incredible goals - the book is filled with thrilling memories from kick-off through to the final whistle.

For fans of books by Jimmy Bullard, Paul Merson, The Sidemen and the F2 Freestylers Messi might be the most skilful, Ronaldo might have the best shot, but according to FIFA it's 16-stone Adebayo Akinfenwa who's the strongest footballer in the world. With a larger-than-life personality to match, it's no wonder 'The Beast' has become an icon, attracting millions of social media followers, launching his own clothing label, and still banging in the goals for Wycombe Wanderers. With such fame and adoration, it's easy to forget that Bayo is one of the hardest-working footballers around. His mental strength has had to be equal to his physical. Told by English clubs he was 'too big' to play football, he joined Lithuanian team FK Atlantas as a teenager where he faced widespread racial abuse. A career of grafting in the lower leagues of English and Welsh football followed, with spells at Barry Town, Torquay, Swansea, Gillingham, Northampton and AFC Wimbledon. Bayo's charisma and knack of scoring vital goals made him a fan favourite at each. His last ever kick for the Dons was a penalty at Wembley to help win the club promotion. 'I think I'm technically unemployed,' he told an interviewer after the final whistle. 'So any managers hit me up on the WhatsApp and get me a job!' Inspiring, entertaining and full of character, this is the story of how Akinfenwa became a true cult hero and the never-give-up attitude that made him the biggest footballer on the planet.

The Little Book of Man United is a collection of words of wit and wisdom by and about Manchester United's players, managers and officials past and present. Since the arrival of the Premier League, no club in England can match the Red Devils' 13 titles, two UEFA Champions League victories, the FIFA World Club Cup, six triumphs in the FA Cup, three in the League Cup and 11 in the FA Charity/Community Shield - and there was plenty more glory in the club's first 115 years too. From Alan Hansen's falsely prophetic 'You'll never win anything with kids' to Eric Cantona's existentialist aphorism on the theme of seagulls, sardines and trawlers, the book contains more than 170 Red Devilish football quotes. Each quote is attributed to its source and, where appropriate, entries will be accompanied by explanatory asides and/or supporting statistics. Broken down into seven chapters, each one focuses on what makes being a supporter of Manchester United FC such a special experience.

Why is sport so important among participants and spectators when its goals seem so pointless? Stephen Mumford's book introduces the reader to a host of philosophical topics found in sport, and argues that sports activities reflect diverse human experiences - including important values that we continue to contest. The author explores physicality, competition, how sport is best defined, ethics in sport, and issues of inclusion such as disability sports, the gender divide, and transgender athletes. His book is written for anyone who is thoughtful, a sports enthusiast, or both, and will deepen our understanding of sport and its place in our lives. This new series offers short and personal perspectives by expert thinkers on topics that we all encounter in our everyday lives.

Once upon a time football was run by modest local businessmen. Today it is the plaything of billionaire oligarchs, staggeringly wealthy from oil and gas, from royalty, or from murkier sources. But who are these new masters of the universe? Where did all their money come from? And what do they want with our beautiful game? While almost cloaked in secrecy, the billionaire owner has to raise his head above the bunker when it comes to football ownership - a rare Achilles heel that allows access to worlds normally off limits journalists and outsiders. In the Billionaires Club James Montague delves deeper than anyone ever dared, to tell this story for the first time. He criss-crosses the world - from Dhaka to Doha, from China to Crewe, from St Louis to London, from Bangkok to Belgium - to profile this new elite, their network of money and their influence that defies geographic boundaries. The Billionaires Club is part history of club ownership, part in-depth investigation into the money and influence that connects the super-rich around the globe, and part travel book as he follows the ever-shifting trail around the globe in an attempt to reveal the real force behind modern-day football. At its heart The Billionaires Club is a football book, about some of the biggest clubs in the world. But it is also about something bigger: the world around us, the global economy, where the world is headed and how football has become an essential cog in this machine.