eppinggas
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Ian Alexander
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Post by eppinggas on Jan 17, 2023 12:51:53 GMT
Football Against the Enemy (Simon Kuper): A bit dated now as first published in 2005. A lot of the themes still relevant though - football, politics and power all wrapped with one another around the globe. As others have said, well worth a read.
The Greatest Footballer you never saw, the Robin Friday Story (Paulo Hewitt & Paul McGuigan): The story of a lower league George Best. Ex-Hayes, Reading and Cardiff City. He certainly led a wild life, but a tragically short one. Interviews with family, friends and players. With excerpts from the local papers. So in terms of journalism, struck me as quite a lazy approach.
An example of lazy journalism - the book displays a 'top of the leagues snapshot' and lists "Bristol" as third in the old 2nd division. Football books that can't be bothered to differentiate between Rovers and s**tty should be banned.
Fun Fact, Robin Friday played but didn't score in the FA Cup Hayes 1 Bristol Rovers 0 in 1972.
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Post by The Concept on Feb 7, 2023 20:35:21 GMT
"Bristol Rovers Football Club 2021/22 - An Unforgettable Season" by James Alsop.
Got this bought for me at the weekend, from the SC match-day cabin.
A slimline, 48 page, 190mm x 130mm, paperback, that only took a few hours to read on Sunday.
Much more concise than previous season reflections from Martin Bull and John Thomson, but a good read nonetheless.
It was good to be reminded of the games played, certain situations during the year, and remembering where I was at certain points.
Interesting to read the reason James returned to watching Rovers, having been away from the club, due to life, marriage etc., since the mid '90s.
However, it would have been good to find out why Rovers had been James' team, since first going to Eastville in 1978, being from B-o-A.
I know (and know of) several Rovers fans from West Wiltshire (Trowbridge, B-o-A, Chippenham, Devizes, Corsham, Melksham, Freshford), but most of them were from Twerton days, rather than at Eastville.
I think it is selling for £6, or 2 for £10, with £1 going to Nick Anderton's charity.
Pick one up if you can!
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eppinggas
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Ian Alexander
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Post by eppinggas on Feb 19, 2023 15:44:48 GMT
Tor!: The Story of German Football (Uli Hesse). If you like your football, and history, and Germany - then this is an absolute must. It is a comprehensive history of the game and very well written and researched. From the early English inspired days, though the two World Wars, the WC miracle of Bern in 1954, the home WC win in 1974, to the current day. The story of West Germany winning the World Cup in 1954 is an amazing chapter in their history. Semi-professionals, without a national league (the Bundesliga didn't even start until 1962-3 season, just the 74 years after the English Football League) in a country still devastated by war. Beaten 8-3 by Hungary in the group stage (OK - Germany rested a few players), they went on to beat the red hot favourites 3-2 in the final.
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eppinggas
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Ian Alexander
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Post by eppinggas on Jan 17, 2024 15:14:55 GMT
I read "Tor" cover to cover three times last season...
And just finished "Sheisse - we're going up. The Unexpected Rise of Berlin’s Rebel Football Club" (Union Berlin, obviously). Some interesting detail about East Berlin and Union that I wasn't aware of before. The high quality problem they have is how to keep the Clubs identity whilst attracting media attention and support on a worldwide basis. They are fiercely non-political, anti-establishment and anti-capitalist. Culture, tradition and a sense of community are genuinely more important than how successful they are on the pitch. The Alte Forsterie is planned to go from 22,000 to 37,000 capacity for the 2025-26 season. The minimum number of seats is going in, just to satisfy the regulators. Re-developing a ground stuck in the middle of a forest in East Berlin. Financially it would have made more sense to move and start afresh. No chance. The supporters would never agree to it. And they have the final say.
The Bundesliga is just streets ahead of English football in terms of financial stability, supporter engagement, and supporter affordability.
The premiersh1t is just awful. People might as well just support other global brands like Ford or Unilever. The EFL is just a pound shop version of the premiersh1t (with very few exceptions). Even down to the National League and NL North & South fans are treated as customers, and not supporters.
UNVEU.
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bluetornados
Predictions League
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 15,742
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Post by bluetornados on Oct 23, 2024 22:47:32 GMT
I am just about to finish a very good read, Luis Suarez: Crossing the Line - My Story, 288 pages.Luis Suárez was a young boy already in love with football by the time his family moved from the countryside to Uruguay's capital, Montevideo. The guile and trickery of the street kid made an impact with the country's biggest club, Nacional, before he was spotted by Dutch scouts who brought him to Europe. Suárez was lured from Ajax to Merseyside by another iconic number 7, Kenny Dalglish. From that moment, he terrorised Premier League defences, driving a resurgent Liverpool towards their most exciting top-flight season in 24 years. But there is another side to Luis Suárez: the naturally fiery temperament which drives his competitiveness on the pitch. There was the very public incident with Patrice Evra of bitter rivals Manchester United, and the biting of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic. Then during the World Cup finals in Brazil, in a physical encounter against Italy, he bit defender Giorgi Chiellini on the shoulder. Banned from football for four months, derided by the press, he was marched out of the country. In the summer's final twist, he became one of the most expensive footballers of all time, moving from Liverpool to Barcelona. In his first season at the Nou Camp he helped Barca to La Liga and Copa del Rey titles, scoring 16 goals in 27 games. In Crossing the Line, Luis Suárez talks from the heart about his intriguing career, his personal journey from scrapping street kid to performer on football's biggest stage, and the never-say-die attitude that sometimes causes him to overstep the mark. m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81ZT1xMJy-L._SY425_.jpg
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Post by Mrs V Smegma on Oct 24, 2024 17:26:46 GMT
mixam.co.uk/print-on-demand/6703fdce49e243338527dd4cThis one is a thing of beauty even if it is expensive. A great coffee table book. Dave is a good friend of mine and takes stunning photos. The back story around the grounds he selected is also fascinating too
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eppinggas
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Ian Alexander
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Post by eppinggas on Nov 1, 2024 13:16:06 GMT
mixam.co.uk/print-on-demand/6703fdce49e243338527dd4cThis one is a thing of beauty even if it is expensive. A great coffee table book. Dave is a good friend of mine and takes stunning photos. The back story around the grounds he selected is also fascinating too Looks an interesting read. Sadly a bit out of my price range... I guess you're paying a lot for the glossy photos. |
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