We Are the Damned United: The Real Story of Brian Clough at Leeds United


Phil Rostron - 2009
    While The Damned United was a fictional account of Clough’s short-lived but controversial reign at the club, this book reveals the true story, as told by the players he managed at the time. Vividly recreating the atmosphere of the era, the book features candid contributions from legendary names such as Peter Lorimer, Eddie Gray, and Norman Hunter. They reveal what it was like to make the transition from the relatively smooth management style of former manager Don Revie, who helped the club achieve success in Europe, to a constant crossing of swords with the outspoken Brian Clough, who left the club flailing at the foot of the league upon his premature departure. This explosive account covers all the drama that ensued from the moment Clough was earmarked by the club directors as the favorite to succeed Revie to his exit less than two months later, saddled with the knowledge that he had been the club’s most unsuccessful manager ever. Told from the perspective of those who experienced Clough’s dictatorial managerial methods at Leeds at first hand, We are the Damned United tells it how it really was rather than how it might have been.

Ten-Gallon War: The NFL's Cowboys, the AFL's Texans, and the Feud for Dallas's Pro Football Future


John Eisenberg - 2012
    But in an unlikely series of events, two young oil tycoons started their own professional football franchises in Dallas the very same year: the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, and, as part of a new upstart league designed to thwart the NFL’s hold on the game, the Dallas Texans of the AFL. Almost overnight, a bitter feud was born.The team owners, Lamar Hunt and Clint Murchison, became Mad Men of the gridiron, locked in a battle for the hearts and minds of the Texas pigskin faithful. Their teams took each other to court, fought over players, undermined each other’s promotions, and rooted like hell for the other guys to fail. A true visionary, Hunt of the Texans focused on the fans, putting together a team of local legends and hiring attractive women to drive around town in red convertibles selling tickets. Meanwhile, Murchison and his Cowboys focused on the game, hiring a young star, Tom Landry, in what would be his first-ever year as a head coach, and concentrating on holding their own against the more established teams in the NFL. Ultimately, both teams won the battle, but only one got to stay in Dallas and go on to become one of sports’ most quintessential franchises—“America's Team.”In this highly entertaining narrative, rich in colorful characters and unforgettable stunts, Eisenberg recounts the story of the birth of pro football in Dallas—back when the game began to be part of this country’s DNA.

Favre for the Record


Brett Favre - 1997
    Born the son of an indomitable high school football coach in hardscrabble Kiln, Mississippi, Favre has gone on to become the NFL's most valuable player two years running (a feat equaled only by the legendary Joe Montana) and, after twenty-nine years, has brought the Lombardi Trophy back to Green Bay, Wisconsin. Favre has also paid dearly for his devotion to the brutal game of professional football. Priding himself on his ability to withstand incredible levels of physical pain and to continue playing when most players would head to the sidelines, Favre admitted last year to a dependency on Vicodin pain killers. But he faced his problem like he faces opposing defensive linemen, head-on, and voluntarily admitted himself into the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas for drug counseling. In Favre, Brett shares portions of his daily journal written during treatment and will reveal just what it took to break a debilitating habit. In the end, readers will be inspired by this small town son's sacrifice and struggle to make it to the NFL, his unwavering commitment to honor his profession, and his perseverance to realize his dream on his own terms.

Greavsie


Jimmy Greaves - 2003
    One of the game's great characters. A man who faced doen the demons. A top television pundit and columnist. This is the story of James Peter 'Jimmy' Greaves, one of the all-time greats of English football.Jimmy Greaves was born in east London in February 1940, and from humble beginnings began his rise to the top of the game. He scored on his Chelsea debut, aged seventeen, and became the first player to score 100 goals before the age of twenty-one. When Jimmy left Stanford Bridge for AC Milan in 1963, it outraged the Chelsea faithful, but after only four months Jimmy returned to London, to Tottenham Hotspur for £99,999. Scoring a hat-trick on his debut, Jimmy went on to help Spurs win the fA Cup and the European Cup-Winners' Cup. Throughout the 1960s Greavsie was the hero of White Hart Lane.But for all his success at both club and international level (44 goals in 57 games), there were dark struggles to overcome too. An injury picked up in the final group game of the 1966 World Cup meant that Jimmy cast a forlorn figure on the sidelines during England football's finest hour. And after a move to West Ham at the start of the 1970s, Jimmy career would be plagued by alcoholism. But however powerful his addiction, Jimmy was too strong a character to be pulled under. He came through and reinvented himself as a celebrated pundit on the beautiful game.'Greavsie' is a gripping and truthful autobiography, the story of a remarkable life laced with Jimmy's trademark wit. It is a fascinating account of the golden era of football, the characters who populated it, and the goalscoring machine at the centre of it all.

Hillsborough Voices: The Real Story Told by the People Themselves


Kevin Sampson - 2014
    96 people were crushed to death and another 766 injured in a tragedy that was later admitted to have been exacerbated by police failures.Hillsborough Voices does justice to the memory of all those who died and for all those left behind. From the tragic events of the day to what unfolded in the hours, days and eventually years that followed, the book will interweave the voices of those who were there with the families and friends of those who died, and all those who have played key roles in the long search for the truth.The author, Kevin Sampson, has a long history with Hillsborough. Not only was he there as a fan to witness the horror first-hand, he also helped organise the Hillsborough benefit concert at Anfield and has close connections with the justice campaign. He has conducted exhaustive and exclusive interviews both with people who have become familiar public figures and those who will be telling their heart-rending personal stories for the first time – to bring us the full story.The book will be fully endorsed and promoted by the Hillsborough Justice Campaign and will carry the official HJC logo.

What It Takes: Fighting for My Life and My Love of the Game


Mark Herzlich - 2014
    But after being named the conference’s top defensive player his junior season, the budding star was sidelined by a persistent, debilitating pain in his left leg.After months of tests, Herzlich received a shocking diagnosis: He had Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. Doctors put his odds of survival as low as fifteen percent—and no one thought he would be able to run, much less play, again. Then Herzlich learned of a radical alternative treatment that would give him the best chance to regain his strength and maybe even play football again. He had a choice to make, one that would allow him the chance to return to the game he loved, but it came at the risk of his life.Herzlich relied on family, friends, faith, and deep wells of determination to help him through treatment, and his drastic plan worked. Not only could he run, but he was stronger than ever physically, and mentally ready to battle his way to a spot on an NFL roster. When he was passed over by all 32 teams in the draft, he dug deeper and continued his training, winning a spot in the Giants’ training camp, and eventually, on the team.Mark Herzlich fought a battle against cancer, against statistics, and some days against himself. Told with candor and raw emotion, this is a story for anyone who has ever fought to beat the odds, for anyone who has ever been told that what they are about to attempt is next to impossible.Herzlich’s story embodies powerful lessons about what can be achieved through persistence and belief, and he serves as living proof that overcoming the impossible is only the beginning.With a foreword by New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin

Jurgen Klopp


Elmar Neveling - 2011
    It is not a normal club, it is a special club.” Jurgen KloppAs innovative as Arsene Wenger and as crowd-pleasing as Jose Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp is the charismatic German manager who single-handedly overthrew the accepted order in German football, taking Borussia Dortmund from nowhere to back-to-back Bundesliga titles and the Champions League final. He had long been admired in the Premiership and was finally wooed by Liverpool in the belief he could bring back the glory days to the Kop. Klopp is revered as a master tactician with his own unique playing philosophies like counter pressing and spatial geometry. He is loved by his players for his passion and man-management skills, and adored by the media and fans alike for his disarming wit and charm and exciting football on the pitch. Here is the definitive story of Jurgen Klopp - the normal one - and his footballing genius.