Soccer Books:

[robertmac43]

Hey guys, I have been reading a lot of soccer books over the past couple of months and I was hoping people would have some suggestions for books to add to the reading list.

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[Duchene2MacKinnon]

How soccer explains the world is a good one

 

[Mr Plow]

Inverting the Pyramid

 

[Stray Wasp]

In terms of books treating one aspect or another of the sport's history I'd always recommend:

All Played Out by Pete Davies
Brilliant Orange by David Winner
Football Against the Enemy by Simon Kuper
Morbo by Phil Ball
tor! by Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger
The History of the World Cup by Brian Glanville

 

[Bondurant]

In terms of books treating one aspect or another of the sport's history I'd always recommend:

All Played Out by Pete Davies
Brilliant Orange by David Winner
Football Against the Enemy by Simon Kuper
Morbo by Phil Ball
tor! by Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger
The History of the World Cup by Brian Glanville

Brilliant Orange is...brilliant. One of my favorite sports books. Anything by Kuper is fantastic.

For a dose of American flavor I highly recommend Soccer in a Football World (name of author escapes me but I think he passed away a few years back).

 

[IamNotADancer]

https://www.amazon.com/Blowing-Whistle-Toni-Schumacher/dp/0491033060

This book got Schumacher fired from his club. He talks very openly about drug use among footballers.
Bear in mind, this all takes place in the 80's, so what was quite controversial back then might be pretty tame compared to today. Still a great read.

 

[Corto]

I'll never stop recommending this:

Sid Lowe:"Fear and Loathing in La Liga"

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Calcio: The History of Italian Football by John Foot is really good.

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

 

[N o o d l e s]

I loved:

“Bloody Confused” by Chuck Culpepper. Really cool book about the EPL and lower English leagues and cups. Is written by an American who moved to England knowing nothing about soccer and his experience. I found it super entertaining and it was a very quick read (you could get it done in a day or two).

 

[koyvoo]

What’s the opinion on Declan Hill’s - “The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime”?

 

[Bondurant]

What’s the opinion on Declan Hill’s - “The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime”?

Good read.

 

[Uncle Rotter]

Desmond Morris The Soccer Tribe

 

[robertmac43]

Has anyone read "Why Everything you Know About Soccer is Wrong" ?

Currently reading through it right now I do not know what to make of some of the claims by Chris Anderson and David Sally/ Especially the first chapter which essentially pins soccer as a coin flip game where luck accounts for 50% of a teams ability to win and skill the other 50%.

Just seems like a lackluster claim to me and I was wondering if anyone has read the book and has any insight on it.

 

[YNWA14]

My Turn by Johan Cruyff

 

[SSF]

Fall of the House of FIFA is a good read.

 

[robertmac43]

Sorry for the bump.

Just wondering if anyone knows of any good books on Non-League football in England or anything along those lines.

 

[John Price]

 

[HajdukSplit]

Most have been mentioned already but I also like “A Season with Verona” by Tim Parks

Parks is an English professor living in Verona and he basically writes about a Hellas Verona season in the early 2000s where he goes to every home and away match and each chapter is basically each round of the season (the last page of each chapter is the Serie A results and table for that week).

It’s interesting because Hellas was in a relegation scrap the entire season so every result matters, he writes about the travel experiences all over Italy on buses/trains and the Italian ultras culture (Hellas ultras are hardcore right wing and prone to racism even towards their own players and also very anti-southern Italy). Overall a good read and I usually see at least one copy in the sports section at Barnes and Noble

 

[Yorkshire Leaf]

Sorry for the bump.

Just wondering if anyone knows of any good books on Non-League football in England or anything along those lines.

The Bottom Corner - Nige Tassell, worth a read but a lot of the references won’t mean much to those outside of England.

As for general football books anything by David Conn is worth a read, particularly The Beautiful Game?

 

[robertmac43]

For those who want a quick(ish) read that is quite insightful, check out 21st Club's Changing the Conversation. It's 2 volumes on "insights for football club boardrooms" and is based on their blog.

Informative and fun to read! I highly recommend!

 

[robertmac43]

The Bottom Corner - Nige Tassell, worth a read but a lot of the references won’t mean much to those outside of England.

I'm moving across the pond to England next year so getting educated on the references would not hurt.

 

[sabremike]

Among the Thugs and both the Sir Alex and Keno autobiographies.

 

[robertmac43]

Big Sam also has a good autobiography for those interested in the manager point of view.

 

[SSF]

I find it very hard to believe that Sam Allardyce would have written an autobiography.