Packed with facts and figures as well as interviews with many of the heroes who starred in the games, this book will provide glorious memories for every Potters fan and entertain and amuse in equal measure Throughout its 150 years of history Stoke City has often been the home of the strange and bizarre as much as the sublime and glorious. This selection of the club's 50 greatest games revisits magnificent victories at Wembley, promotion celebrations, and famous triumphs over the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Leeds United, Arsenal, and Chelsea, as voted for by fans in an official poll. Also featured are fantastic feats of individual goalscoring, great comebacks, last ditch survival efforts, and the occasional crushing disappointment. Also in the mix are the strange tales of the game with no shots, a broken down train, the goalscoring backside, and the man who saved Stoke from relegation a couple of hours after getting married. Incredible victories over Bury, Stockport, Cardiff, Reading, and Luton also provide a wealth of fantastic and fantastical stories.

A warmly written, readable and intelligent history of this famous football club... published just as United have been promoted back to the Premier League. In The Biography of Leeds United, Telegraph journalist and lifelong fan, Rob Bagchi, chronicles a history that will educate, entertain and inform both old and new supporters. Packed with fresh stories about (and from) former players, managers and money men, the book is an affectionate, comprehensive and blackly humorous portrait of a club like no other. Leeds United were founded in 1919 to revive professional football in Yorkshire's biggest city following the expulsion of their fragile and bungling predecessors, Leeds City. Over a century on from their formation, a club that makes a virtue out of its many ups and downs in its own anthem, has endured a turbulent existence of extraordinary, often mercurial, success tempered by crushing disappointment and conflict. This book is a roar of defiance against the recent period of mediocrity served up prior to the past few seasons of revival and, as well as providing vivid recollections of their greatest days, the three league championships, FA Cup, League Cup and floodlit memories of nights of European glory, it offers a broad sweep of the club's often neglected early history. The Biography of Leeds United includes the voices and thoughts of Johnny Giles, Eddie Gray, Scott Sellars, Gordon Strachan, David O'Leary and Gary Kelly and uses them to look deep into the soul of the club and at the spirit that resides with in it. A passionate manifesto that captures the essence of a club that has for the past five decades been in it's own story of great adventures, fleeting splendour, relegation and defiant, hard battles against authority, owners and self-sabotage, this rousing and comprehensive book is written for the supporters and echoes their passionate cry - We Are Leeds! When United mark their centenary in October 2019, vivid recollections of their greatest days, the three league championships, FA Cup, League Cup, and floodlit memories of nights of European glory will be celebrated throughout the vast fanbase, local and international, such triumphs promoted. Elland Road icons John Charles, Billy Bremner, Jack Charlton, Peter Lorimer, Norman Hunter, Eddie Gray, Tony Currie, John Sheridan, Gordan Strachan, David Batty, Eric Cantona, Gary Speed, and Lucas Radebe played for teams that were both revered and reviled, contributing to the club's fame throughout the world. Don Revie's team of the 60s and 70s, that immortal line-up that rolls off the tongue of generations of football fans, propelled the club and city to unprecedented heights. But when they reached the top, they failed to plan and there was nowhere to go but down. The theme of the past five decades has been the struggle to get back, a story of great adventures, fleeting splendour, relegation, and defiant, hard battles against authority, owners, and self-sabotage. So, here we go with Leeds United, a club adorned by hall of fame managers from Major Frank Buckley to Don Revie, Brian Clough, Jock Stein, George Graham, and Marcelo Bielsa, is also an institution that has perennially toiled to pay its own way and in recent years has suffered as a vehicle for the greater good of Peter Ridsdale, Kenneth Bates, Massimo Cellino and others. Yet it survives and now thrives because of the millions of people who love it. In The Biography of Leeds United, Telegraph journalist and lifelong fan Rob Bagchi writes the story of this famous club and chronicles a century of history that will educate, entertain and inform both old and new supporters. Packed with fresh stories about and from former players, managers, and the money men, as well as the fans, this book is an affectionate and insightful portrait of a football club like no other, 'Super Leeds'.

The Official England Annual 2022 is a must-read for all England fans. From profiles of all your favourite Three Lions and Lionesses, to match reviews, this is essential reading for fans of the beautiful game! You can learn about the history of the England national team and discover some of the greatest goals that have been scored over the years, as well as brush up on your knowledge of the managers leading our star players. Plus, even the most ardent fan will find something to challenge their England knowledge with games and quizzes for everyone to enjoy. Come On England!

Rugby union has undergone immense change in the past two decades - introducing a World Cup, accepting professionalism and creating a global market in players - yet no authoritative English-language general history of the game has been published in that time. Until now. A Game for Hooligans brings the game's colourful story up to date to include the 2007 World Cup. It covers all of the great matches, teams and players but also explores the social, political and economic changes that have affected the course of rugby's development. It is an international history, covering not only Britain and France but also the great rugby powers of the southern hemisphere and other successful rugby nations, including Argentina, Fiji and Japan. Contained within are the answers to many intriguing questions concerning the game, such as why 1895 is the most important date in both rugby-union and rugby-league history and how New Zealand became so good and have remained so good for so long. There is also a wealth of anecdotes, including allegations of devil-worship at a Welsh rugby club and an account of the game's contribution to the Cuban Revolution. This is a must-read for any fan of the oval ball.

Hitting the Mark is the explosive, hard-hitting, no-holds-barred autobiography of 80's and 90's football icon, Mark Hateley. Born into a football family - Mark's father Tony played for among others, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Chelsea - Mark was destined to forge a career in the game. After starting out with Coventry City, Mark spent a year at Portsmouth before earning a lucrative move to Serie A with AC Milan. A fearsome, all-action centre forward with an eye for goal, Mark immediately endeared himself to the fans of I Rosseneri when he scored the winning goal in the Milan derby against Internazionale. Still revered by the infamous Curva Sud today, Mark left Milan in 1987 and joined Monaco. He scored 14 league goals and won the Ligue 1 title in his debut season, but two serious ankle injuries ruled Mark out the game for the best part of a year. Mark reflects honestly on his rehabilitation and the impact his absence from football had on him. When he was fit to return to action, Mark moved to Rangers for a fee of GBP1,000,000. And during his time at Ibrox, he won six league titles, three Scottish League Cups and two Scottish Cups. Mark struck fear into the hearts of Scottish defences and scored over 100 goals for Rangers. He forged a prolific partnership with Ally McCoist and became the first Englishman to be voted Scotland's Player of the Year in 1994. Despite this Mark was overlooked for a place in the England squad. Capped 10 times at U21 level, Mark was the winner of the Golden Player at the 1984 U21 European Championships and announced himself at international level with a goal in the Maracana in 1984. But he only added a further one cap to his senior level total of 32 while with Rangers. In the book, Mark explains why he was overlooked so often and how it galvanised him and made him play at an even higher level for Rangers. Mark joined Queens Park Rangers in September 1995 but returned to Ibrox 18 months later to help the club clinch their ninth successive league title. After a short spell as player-manager of Hull City and an ill-fated move to Ross County, Mark moved into the media and has latterly been an ambassador for Rangers. Featuring an insight into what life was like in the inner sanctum of each of the clubs he played for, Mark talks candidly about the highs and lows of his career, his team-mates and managers and how they helped shape his time in the game. The book also analyses the Hateley family football dynasty. The foreword for the book is by Graeme Souness, and there are contributions from leading lights of world football, including, among others, Arsene Wenger, Paolo Maldini, Sir David Murray and Glenn Hoddle. Mark rarely missed the target during his career and Hitting the Mark is the same, making it a must-read for football fans.

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.

This is a complete history of the England rugby union team - told by the players themselves. Based on a combination of painstaking research into the early years of the England team through exclusive interviews with a vast array of Test match stars from before the Second World War to the present day, world-renowned rugby writers Stephen Jones and Nick Cain delve to the very heart of the English international rugby union experience, painting a unique and utterly compelling picture of the game in the only words that can truly do so: the players' own. This is the definitive story of English Test match rugby - a story etched in blood, sweat and tears; a story of great joy and heart-breaking sorrow; a story of sacrifice, agony, endeavour and triumph. Behind the Rose lifts the lid on what it is to play for England - the trials and tribulations behind the scenes, the glory, the drama and the honour on the field, and the heart-warming tales of friendship and humour off it.Absorbing and illuminating, this is a must-have for all supporters who have ever dreamed of walking the hallowed corridors of Twickenham as a Test match player, preparing themselves for battle in the changing rooms and then marching out to that field of dreams with the deafening roar of the crowd in their ears and the red rose emblazoned on their chest.

The Cleveland Indians of 1928 were a far cry from the championship team of 1920. They had begun the decade as the best team in all of baseball, but over the following eight years, their owner died, the great Tris Speaker retired in the face of a looming scandal, and the franchise was in terrible shape. Seeing opportunity in the upheaval, Cleveland real estate mogul Alva Bradley purchased the ball club in 1927, infused it with cash, and filled its roster with star players such as Bob Feller, Earl Averill, and Hal Trosky. He aligned himself with civic leaders to push for a gigantic new stadium that-along with the team that played in it-would be the talk of the baseball world. Then came the stock market crash of 1929. Municipal Stadium was built, despite the collapse of the industrial economy in Rust Belt cities, but the crowds did not follow. Always the shrewd businessman, Bradley had engineered a lease agreement with the city of Cleveland that included an out clause, and he exercised that option after the 1934 season, leaving the 80,000-seat, multimillion-dollar stadium without a tenant. In No Money, No Beer, No Pennants, Scott H. Longert gives us a lively history of the ups and downs of a legendary team and its iconic players as they persevered through internal unrest and the turmoil of the Great Depression, pursuing a pennant that didn't come until 1948. Illustrated with period photographs and filled with anecdotes of the great players, this book will delight fans of baseball and fans of Cleveland.

For many, supporting Manchester United Football Club is much more than the ninety minutes out on the pitch. Away from the stadiums around England and abroad, fans' interest can also extend to collecting items of memorabilia relating to the club and its players. Some simply collect programmes from the games they attend, along with the match ticket if they had one, but there are others so engrossed in the club's long and illustrious history that they have created their own personal Manchester United museum, with countless other items relating to the games and the individuals who have worn the red shirt. Here, Iain McCartney, long-time collector and editor of the Manchester United Review Collectors Club, looks at some of the items that these supporters scour the footballing world for.

A complete history of White Hart Lane, the home of Tottenham Hotspur from 1899 to 2017 and the setting for some of their greatest successes. For a football supporter, a real fan, there is nothing more evocative than the journey to their home ground, a place where they have experienced the highs and lows that the game brings - delight, despair, hope, pain and, occasionally, pure joy. But while those stadiums seem permanent, they are not. In May 2017, White Hart Lane, the backdrop to more than a century of Spurs history, staged its final game. With the active support and endorsement of the club, who have granted him exclusive access to senior figures and historical documents, Martin Lipton pays fitting tribute to the glory days at the Lane. He has talked to, among others, Jimmy Greaves, Martin Chivers, Pat Jennings, Glenn Hoddle, Ossie Ardiles, Chris Waddle, Teddy Sheringham, Jurgen Klinsmann, David Ginola, Gareth Bale and Harry Kane. And he has also interviewed fans, support staff, managers and board members in order to provide the complete and definitive story of White Hart Lane.

This title introduces soccer fans to the history of one of the top MLS clubs, the Portland Timbers. The title features informative sidebars, exciting photos, a timeline, team facts, a glossary, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards.

"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.

From the makers of the UK's best football magazine! MATCH is the UK's bestselling football annual and is top of Christmas wishlists for footy fans everywhere. Inside the Match Annual 2021 you can find the ultimate guide to Euro 2020, epic interviews with the stars, plus the UK and Ireland dream team and also discover everything you need to know about Messi, Ronaldo, Kane, Salah, Mbappe, Maguire, Hazard, Pogba and all the other top footballers. Plus, it's packed with legendary Prem No.7s, craziest hair of 2019, brain-busting quizzes, the greatest Premiership team ever, bonkers pics, footy stars emojis, cool cartoons and loads more! Don't miss it!

Euro 2016 will forever have a special place in the hearts and memories of Wales football supporters, especially the tens of thousands who travelled to France and filled the stadiums with song, joy and colour as they proudly took their place in the spectacular 'Red Wall'. Bryn Law, author of the acclaimed Zombie Nation Awakes, was one of those passionate fans who fulfilled a life-long dream of following the Wales national team to a major tournament and 'Don't Take Me Home' is his diary of that magical month that gripped the whole nation. From arranging time off work to organising travel, accommodation and the all-important match tickets - as well as trying to explain to his patient and long-suffering family that he couldn't be sure exactly when he'd be back - Bryn perfectly describes the steep, tricky and expensive learning-curve faced by thousands of Welsh fans as he criss-crossed France by plane, car, camper van, tram and bus, desperate not to miss a match whilst enjoying the company of his friends and fellow fans. In 'Don't Take Me Home' Welsh fans can relive every game of the Euro 2016 experience from a supporter's perspective. Everyone has their own favourite memory of the tournament and Bryn lovingly recalls every game on that joyful journey: from the amazing scenes in Bordeaux to the 'chin up' disappointment of Lens; the perfect performance in Toulouse to the Celtic party in Paris; and from the sheer euphoria of Lille to the pride and au revoir in Lyon. Bryn Law's emotional, humorous yet insightful diary explains why Welsh fans - whenever they are asked about their experiences at Euro 2016 - smile, wipe away a tear and say 'It was the best month of my life': 'Don't Take Me Home'.