Football Reading Thread

Damjan

Damjan

World Cup Winner
16 July 2011
Arsenal|Juventus|ASSE
I tought it would be a good idea to have a thread where we can share reviews on football books and recommend articles etc.

I'm currently reading Ibrahimovic's book. I think it's a pretty good read, especially since I can relate to some of the crazy Yugoslavian things he dealt with growing up. I haven't finished it yet, I'm now on the part where just joined Ajax. I'll make a longer review once I've read the whole book. ;)

Feel free to share reviews, recommendations, links to articles etc.
 
I would like to give Ibra's book a go, what year was it written?

I've read recently Maradona's book 'Yo soy el Diego', it was a good read actually. I used to love Maradona when i was younger, so that's probably why i'm a little biased.

Can we share those books online?
does it violate forum's TOS?
 
Zlatans book was written in March 2012, so not too long ago. ;)

Not sure about the second thing, but I suppose a PM might be ok. I own a fysical copy of Zlatans book but I wouldn't mind reading some E-books on my Ipod.:)
 
My version was translated to Dutch, but I'm sure it's in English as well.;)
 
I can thoroughly recommend the following books on Italian football:

"A Season with Verona" by Tim Parks (2002).....this book is a must read for any football fan.

"Calcio: A History of Italian Football" by John Foot (2006)

"Forza Italia: A Journey in Search of Italy and Its Football" by Paddy Agnew (2006)

Italian football is fascinating to me. The history, the culture, the politics, the regional rivalries.....it's so interesting.
 
i've read all these books Jamezinho. They are all very good.

The best book about Italian football and one of the best books about football alltogether is "The miracle of Castel di Sangro" by Joe Mc Ginnis. This is a book about the football team of a a tiny village up in the mountains who made it to Serie B. It's about their season in Serie B, where they were favourites to go down but could stay up against all odds and once they secured their place in the penultimate match, they sold the last one...the writer didn't understand that and the book ends in frustration. Very good read.

The second best book i've read about football is "Stamping Grounds" by Billy Connelly. The book is about the qualification round of the 1998 WC, where the writes follows the Lichtenstein national team. The book shows that in football there are only winners. Despite loosing most of their matches, the Lichtenstein players are real heroes...a must read. Since then, i've become a fan of Lichtenstein.

By far the best football book is "A life too short" by Ronald Reng, about Robert Enke. This is more than a sports book. It simply is a magnificent book about a man fighting his depressions in a profession where one can't show weakness. Despite what one should think, this is not a depressing book. Robert Enke was a fantastic guy. Oh and after reading this book it is very hard to like both Louis Van Gaal and Frank De Boer.
 
I'd really like to read all those books, love Italian football, which is quite rare here...
 
Thanks Gerd, Castel di Sangro is a book I've heard so much about but never got round to reading. I'll have to check it out.

Another good book is "Mad for it: From Blackpool to Barcelona: Football's Greatest Rivalries" by Andy Mitten.

I believe he used to write for FourFourTwo. Anyway, it's one of those books you can read in small chunks as each rivalry covers one chapter. I found it quite interesting as it covers some derby games you'd never think of and, as usual, most of these fixtures are deep in social and political history.
 
If anyone has links for football e-books, a pm containing these links would be appreciated. :)
 
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