A dozen Wolverhampton Wanderers legends come together to tell the stories behind their favourite ever games for the club - enabling Wolves 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 old gold shirt...Bert Williams and Sammy Smyth recall 1949 FA Cup glory, recounting stories of the spirited semi against Manchester United, topped off by Wembley victory over Leicester; Bill Slater opts for the international friendly against Honved that saw Wolves crowned unofficial 'Champions of the World' in 1956. John Richards waxes lyrical about his Wolves debut at the Hawthorns, while Derek Parkin selects the 1980 League Cup Final against Forest. Molineux legends Roy Swinbourne, Ron Flowers and Steve Bull also turn in characteristic star performances, winding back the clock to relive treasured memories of the Match of Their Lives for the Wolves.

Plymouth Argyle On This Day revisits all the most magical and memorable moments from the club's rollercoaster past, mixing in a maelstrom of quirky anecdotes and legendary characters to produce an irresistibly dippable Pilgrims diary - with an entry for every day of the year. From the club's Victorian foundation as Argyle FC through to the 21st century, the green-and-white faithful have witnessed League Cup and FA Cup semi-finals, Second and Third Division titles, play-off thrills and relegation battles - all featured here. Timeless greats such as Paul Mariner, Kevin Hodges and Sammy Black, Jack Chisholm, Tommy Tynan and Mickey Evans all loom larger than life. Revisit 16th May 1963, when a record crowd of 100,000 watched Argyle play Legia Warsaw in Poland. 14th April 1984: the Pilgrims take on Watford looking to book a date at Wembley. Or 3rd May 1930, when Third Division (South) title celebrations involved a giant pasty!

The Arsenal Companion collects together all the vital information you never knew you needed to know about Arsenal FC. In these pages you will find irresistible anecdotes and the most mindblowing stats and facts. Heard the one about the glam rock single, 'A Love Song For My Lady', recorded by Charlie George as 'Charlie Gorgeous'? How about the linesman's injury that led to commentator Jimmy Hill running the line at Highbury? Do you know which former full-back managed the club for the shortest ever spell? Which 80s star advertised fitted kitchens and a white leather suit for Top Man? Or which 60s stopper was known as 'Sponge' due to his ability to soak up pressure? All these stories and hundreds more appear in a brilliantly researched collection of trivia, essential for any fan who holds the riches of red-and-white history close to their heart. Featuring a foreword by Frank McLintock.

"Alex Speier spins a compelling narrative about how great scouting and player development created a perennial contender in baseball's toughest division, without losing sight of the people at the heart of his story." -- Keith Law The captivating inside story of the historic 2018 Boston Red Sox, as told through the assembly and ascendancy of their talented young core--the culmination of nearly a decade of reporting from one of the most respected baseball writers in the country. The 2018 season was a coronation for the Boston Red Sox. The best team in Major League Baseball--indeed, one of the best teams ever--the Sox won 108 regular season games and then romped through the postseason, going 11-3 against the three next-strongest teams baseball had to offer. As Boston Globe baseball reporter Alex Speier reveals, the Sox' success wasn't a fluke--nor was it guaranteed. It was the result of careful, patient planning and shrewd decision-making that allowed Boston to develop a golden generation of prospects--and then build upon that talented core to assemble a juggernaut. Speier has covered the key players--Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Jackie Bradley Jr., and many others--since the beginning of their professional careers, as they rose through the minor leagues and ultimately became the heart of this historic championship squad. Drawing upon hundreds of interviews and years of reporting, Homegrown is the definitive look at the construction of an extraordinary team. It is a story that offers startling insights for baseball fans of any team, and anyone looking for the secret to building a successful organization. Why do many highly touted prospects fail, while others rise out of obscurity to become transcendent? How can franchises help their young talent, in whom they've often invested tens of millions of dollars, reach their full potential? And how can management balance long-term aims with the constant pressure to win now? Part insider's account of one of the greatest baseball teams ever, part meditation on how to build a winner, Homegrown offers an illuminating look into how the best of the best are built.

An excellent recap, with wonderful access and forensic detail on the Premier League's rise to global alpha status... All told with an arch sense of humour The Guardian How did English football - once known for its stale pies, bad book-keeping and hooligans - become a commercial powerhouse and the world's premium popular entertainment? This was a business empire built in only twenty-five years on ambition, experimentation and gambler's luck. Lead by a motley cast of executives, Russian oligarchs, Arab Sheikhs, Asian Titans, American Tycoons, battle-hardened managers, ruthless agents and the Murdoch media - the Premier League has been carved up, rebranded and exported to phenomenal 185 countries. The United Nations only recognizes 193. But the extraordinary profit of bringing England's ageing industrial towns to a compulsive global attention has come at a cost. Today, as players are sold for hundreds of millions and clubs are valued in the billions, local fans are being priced out - and the clubs' local identities are fading. The Premier League has become the classic business fable for our globalised world. Drawing on dozens of exclusive and revelatory interviews from the Boardrooms - including Liverpool's John W. Henry, Tottenham's Daniel Levy, Martin Edwards and David Gill at Manchester United, Arsene Wenger and Stan Kroenke at Arsenal, Manchester City's sporting director Txiki Begiristain, and executives at Chelsea, West Ham, Leicester City and Aston Villa - this is the definitive bustand boom account of how the Premier League product took over the world.

Matt Warshaw knows more about surfing than any other person on the planet. After five years of research and writing, Warshaw has crafted an unprecedented history of the sport and the culture it has spawned. At nearly 500 pages, with 250,000 words and more than 250 rare photographs, The History of Surfing reveals and defines this sport with a voice that is authoritative, funny, and wholly original. The obsessive nature of this endeavor is matched only by the obsessive nature of surfers, who will pore through these pages with passion and opinion. A true category killer, here is the definitive history of surfing.

When You're Smiling is the story of a football team's journey from also-rans to champions and a football fan's journey from boy to man, through laughter, loss and home defeats. Monday, 2 May 2016 was a day Matt Bozeat thought he would never see. It was the day Leicester City, the team he had supported through thin and thinner all his life, were crowned Premier League champions. The story of the 5,000-1 outsiders winning one of European football's top prizes put a smile on the face of millions worldwide. Three days earlier, Matt had experienced an even greater miracle. When You're Smiling is a nostalgia-filled treat brimming with memories of football and the wider world in the 1980s and 90s. It's a book about belonging and thinking your dreams will never come true - and then they do come true.

Feeling Leeds gazes into the curious world of the dislocated supporter, the football fan not born and bred in the shadow of their club's ground. Raiford Guins is one such fan. His book recounts the highs and lows of supporting a team from afar - from paying $20 to watch Leeds United matches in Florida via dodgy satellite feeds in the early 1990s, to ringing Elland Road when it was the only way to get midweek results before the internet, to working out league tables with out-of-date copies of Shoot!, to celebrating madly while fuelling his car and watching Leeds clinch a late winner against Villa in December 2018 on his iPhone. Trivial to the supporter who can easily walk to their ground, such moments form the backbone of belonging for those with an ocean between themselves and the turnstiles. Feeling Leeds is the story of one supporter's commitment to cultivating an emotional connection to Leeds United for nearly 40 years. It is written by and for supporters worldwide for whom every day is an away day.

League One Leeds is the story of Leeds United's three seasons spent in the third tier of English football. An illustrious club who had never fallen so low, their journey through League One would become the most chaotic period in Leeds's history and the drama started before a ball was kicked. An unprecedented 15-point deduction that plunged the Whites from promotion favourites to relegation fodder set the tone, as the club's fortunes undulated wildly over the course of three bizarre seasons. Record-breaking winning runs, long barren spells, FA Cup defeats at Histon and Hereford, victory at Old Trafford - this is a football story that twists and turns all the way through to a hair-raising finale. The book is written through the eyes of the author and features exclusive insight from Simon Grayson, Jermaine Beckford, Jonny Howson, Bradley Johnson, David Prutton, Casper Ankergren and Luciano Becchio, whose first-hand experiences are interwoven with his own. The result: a riveting account of a fascinating period in Leeds United's history.

ESPN and the Changing Sports Media Landscape considers the ways the network is reinventing itself as it enters its fifth decade. In their previous book, The ESPN Effect (2015), the editors made the observation that ESPN was a pervasive branded-content provider across multiple media platforms, delivering programs and information 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to influence how sports fans think and feel about the people who play and control these games. ESPN and the Changing Sports Media Landscape asks whether that will hold true in the 2020s and beyond. The past decade has seen momentous changes in the sports media landscape, among them the massive proliferation of mobile platforms as a major source of sports content, astronomical growth in fantasy sport and esport industries, and the increasing entanglement of sports media in contentious sociopolitical debates. The contributors to this book analyze how ESPN has navigated the shifting playing field and speculate on what the next decade might bring for ESPN and the global sports media industry.

ESPN and the Changing Sports Media Landscape considers the ways the network is reinventing itself as it enters its fifth decade. In their previous book, The ESPN Effect (2015), the editors made the observation that ESPN was a pervasive branded-content provider across multiple media platforms, delivering programs and information 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to influence how sports fans think and feel about the people who play and control these games. ESPN and the Changing Sports Media Landscape asks whether that will hold true in the 2020s and beyond. The past decade has seen momentous changes in the sports media landscape, among them the massive proliferation of mobile platforms as a major source of sports content, astronomical growth in fantasy sport and esport industries, and the increasing entanglement of sports media in contentious sociopolitical debates. The contributors to this book analyze how ESPN has navigated the shifting playing field and speculate on what the next decade might bring for ESPN and the global sports media industry.

From Tashkent With Love is a tale of courage, heartbreak and glory spanning four decades. It tells the remarkable story of Cardiff City's football adventures across Europe in the European Cup Winners' Cup. From the thrilling 1.0 victory against the mighty Real Madrid at Ninian Park in 1971, to the heartbreak of a last minute 3.2 home defeat in the semi-final against FC Hamburg in 1968, Cardiff's 24 Cup Winner's Cup games are all recalled by the best-selling author Mario Risoli who interviewed over 70 former players in the writing of this comprehensive book. Their 29-year European odyssey saw the Bluebirds face some of the biggest names in continental football - Sporting Lisbon, Zaragoza, FC Porto and Dynamo Berlin - and included their epic and pulsating 1968 quarter-final tie against the crack Soviet side Torpedo Moscow. With the game switched from icy Moscow to Tashkent, in what is now Uzbekistan, City were forced to make a remarkable 8,000-mile round trip to the borderlands of China and Afghanistan, a journey which still survives as one of the furthest distances travelled by any British club in a European cup competition.

THE #5 TIMES BESTSELLER Ever wondered what it's truly like being an England test cricketer? Why not ask England's greatest ever bowler? Jimmy Anderson invites you into his world of cricket and gives you a very personal insight into what it's like playing at the top level. Through stories of his 16-year international career, Jimmy draws back the curtain on test cricket to reveal bizarre superstitions and rituals, strange training camps, the personalities he's encountered, life on tour and what it's like being a bowler in a batsman's world. Bowl. Sleep. Repeat. is a fascinating, entertaining and deeply personal look at the game of cricket and what life's like beyond the boundary rope.

After the dog days of the last three decades, it seems as if the sleeping giant of White Hart Lane is stirring once more. With the management reigns of Christian Gross, Harry Redknapp and AVB now distant memories, the club is on the march once more under the leadership of Daniel Levy, looking forward to bringing back the glory days. With exciting young English talent, such as Eric Lamela, Deli Alli and Ryan Sessegnon, along with experienced internationals Christian Eriksen, Jan Vertonghen and Son Heung-min, and now under Jose Mourinho's unique management style, there is a belief that success is within their reach. Perhaps more than most, the club has had its share of ups and downs and more than its share of characters. This book is a collection of quotes from those who have passed through London N17 and some who are still there, soundbites that range from the inspired to the insane, from the profound to the surreal. From Danny Blanchflower, Jimmy Greaves, Paul Gascoigne and Sir Alan Sugar, to Daniel, Mauricio and Harry Kane, few clubs can boast so many people with so much to say for themselves. Tottenham Hotspur have a proud tradition and a very loyal support, and this book captures the flavour of both.

Sixteen Stoke City legends tell the stories behind their favourite ever games for the club - enabling Potters 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-and-white stripes...Terry Conroy recounts scoring in the 1972 League Cup Final, and Mark Stein remembers another Wembley win in the 1992 Autoglass Trophy. Denis Smith recalls when Stoke took on the best that Europe had to offer, and came so close to defeating mighty Ajax, while Peter Fox takes the unusual step of selecting a game in which he only played for half an hour - the 4-4 draw with Luton in 1982. Victoria Ground legends Dennis Herod, Tony Allen and Mark Chamberlain also turn in characteristic star performances, winding back the clock to relive treasured memories of the Match of Their Lives for the Potters.

How much do you really know about West Ham United? Put your Hammers 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 West Ham greats - from World Cup heroes Moore, Hurst and Peters to Hammers legends Bonds, Brooking and beyond - providing hours of highly dippable fun and entertainment. Which West Ham manager played in a rock band called Rawbau? Who was West Ham's first non-British manager? A statue erected near the Boleyn Ground, honouring the Hammers' 1966 World Cup heroes, also includes which Everton player? Fan favourite Clyde Best was born in which country? Trivquiz West Ham United holds the answers to all these questions and hundreds more.

It was the summer of 1983. Walsall were preparing for another season in the Third Division when British Airways' advertising people got in touch. The airline were embarking on an innovative promotional campaign and needed the club's help. To show how quickly continental cities could be reached from regional airports, they wanted to feature the team beneath the banner, 'They're only 90minutes away from a place in Europe'. Walsall were the only league club in the West Midlands never to have taken part in a European competition, and even their most ardent supporters didn't expect that to change any time soon. As the new season started, Walsall looked set for relegation, but they soon embarked on a League Cup campaign that saw them defeat Arsenal, stun Liverpool and come closer to reaching Europe than anyone would have dared imagine. Based on interviews with the players and management team from that fondly remembered side, 90 Minutes from Europe is an underdog story to lift the spirits and inspire us all.

The Little Book of England Football is the latest volume in this highly successful series of sports-themed quotes books. It is dedicated to all things wide and wonderful about the Three Lions, focusing on the words of wit and wisdom from former players, such as Bobby Moore, Gazza and Gary Lineker, to the key men in today's set-up including manager Gareth Southgate and captain Harry Kane. Ingerlund! Ingerlund! Ingerlund!

Rangers Minute By Minute takes you on a fantastic journey through the Gers' matchday history. Relive all the breathtaking goals, heroic penalty saves, sending offs and other memorable moments in this unique by-the-clock guide. From Rangers' early years and successes to the days of domestic dominance and a European triumph, the book covers everything from the Jock Wallace and John Greig eras through to the days of Ally McCoist and Steven Gerrard. Revisit Rangers' most spectacular modern feats and learn things you didn't know about the club's proud history. From goals scored in the opening seconds to those last-gasp extra-time winners and Old Firm deciders that have thrilled generations of fans at Ibrox and around the world, Rangers Minute By Minute is packed with memorable moments. Read about the goals that secured many of the 54 SPL titles. From McCoist to Baxter and from Gascoigne to Cooper - all the club legends are here, with thrilling memories from kick-off to the final whistle.

Fully updated to contain Sir Ian McGeechan's reflections on the 2017 Lions tour to New Zealand. 2017 saw the latest contest between the British Lions and New Zealand - the ultimate rugby clash between the northern and southern hemisphere. Ian McGeechan is the 'Ultimate Lion', and no one could have done more than McGeechan to promote the magic of the Lions. McGeechan played for the Lions in their unbeaten 1974 tour of South Africa, and again in the 1977 tour of New Zealand. Subsequently he has been the head coach on four Lions tours. In this unique and fascinating book which celebrates the immensity of rugby at the top level, Ian McGeechan uses his own coaching notes to provide his special insight and background into what it means to be a Lion. By looking at various themes such as selection, how to create the right environment and how to build the players into what he describes as 'Test-match animals' the reader learns how some of the most successful Lions tours in history were built. Writing always with passion for his various themes it is easy to see how he inspired his players to extraordinary physical endeavour. Rich in anecdote as well as facts, McGeechan brings to life many of the rugby legends with whom he played or coached - including Gareth Edwards, Gavin Hastings, Martin Johnson and Paul O'Connell amongst others. Hugely readable The Lions: When the Going Gets Tough splendidly conveys the massive excitement that is generated whenever there is a Lions tour.

So comprehensively has Arsene Wenger rebranded Arsenal Football Club that it is possible to forget the 100-plus years of history that came before him. Yet there remain curious parallels that glue together the club's past and present: just as the modern team is built on outsiders, born far from the confines of N5, so too was the original side of 1886, created by economic migrants from the Midlands, the North of England and Scotland, looking to prosper in London. Now for the first time in paperback, and using photographic and written archives of the "Daily Mirror" (including rare and unseen material), "When Football Was Football - Arsenal" takes us on a nostalgia-packed journey through the club's evolution from its beginnings as a south London munitions factory team, through the nurturing of some of the game's fabled characters. From notorious chairman Henry Norris to the great innovator Herbert Chapman, and the players from Brylcreem Boy Denis Compton, wee Alex James, Charlie George and Frank McLintock, up to the fresh-in-the-memory figures of Tony Adams and Ian Wright (perhaps the last bastion of a pre-modern Arsenal). Key images that will engage and delight readers include: 1930 - Arsenal win their first trophy, the FA Cup at Wembley; 1968 - Pat Rice working on a fruit stall; 1982 - "Champagne" Charlie Nicholas living up to his nickname. The book draws a line in the sand at the advent of the Premier League, when Arsenal, and football, were carried along on a wave of ruthless commercialism. Packed with evocative, atmospheric photos depicting bygone eras, "When Football Was Football - Arsenal" reminds us of how things used to be - and leaves the reader to decide which they prefer.

From its first pitch, baseball has reflected national values and promoted the idea of what it means to be American. Beloved narratives tied the national pastime to beliefs as fundamental to our civic life as racial equality, patriotism, heroism, and virtuous capitalism. Mitchell Nathanson calls foul. Rejecting the myths and much-told tales, he examines how power is as much a part of baseball--and America--as pine tar and eye black. Indeed, the struggles for power within the game paralleled those that defined our nation. Nathanson follows the new Americans who sought club ownership to promote their social status in the increasingly closed caste system of nineteenth-century America. He shows how the rise and public rebuke of the Players Association reflects the collective spirit of working and middle-class America in the mid-twentieth century and the countervailing forces that sought to beat back the emerging movement. He lays bare the debilitating effects of a harsh double standard that required African American players to possess an unimpeachable character merely to take the field--a standard no white player had to meet. Told with passion and righteous outrage, A People's History of Baseball offers an incisive alternative history of America's much-loved--if misunderstood--national pastime.

'A masterful work...it could be the best thing to have happened to English football in years' TIME OUT '[A] thought-provoking reappraisal of ten key games in England's football history ... this book should be required reading for all future England squads' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY Having invented the game, everything that has followed for England and its national football team has been something of an anticlimax. There was, of course, the golden summer of 1966, and the great period of English dominance on the world stage, which fell roughly between 1886 and 1900, when England won 35 of their 40 internationals ... But before long foreign teams, with their insistence on progressive 'tactics', began to pose a few questions. And much of what followed for England constituted a series of false dawns. In THE ANATOMY OF ENGLAND Jonathan Wilson seeks to place the bright spots in context. Time and again, progressive coaches have been spurned by England - technique being all very well, but what really matters is pluck and 'organised muscularity', or, to quote Jimmy Hogan's chairman at Aston Villa in 1936: 'I've no time for these theories about football. Just get the ball in the bloody net.' Wilson takes ten key England fixtures and explores how what actually happened on the pitch shaped the future of the English game. Bursting with insight and critical detail, yet imbued with a wry affection, this is a history of England like none before.

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.