Saturday, 3pm: 50 Eternal Delights of Modern Football
Daniel Gray - 2017
Sunday lunchtime kick-offs. Absurd ticket prices. Non-black boots. Football's menu of ills is long. Where has the joy gone? Why do we bother? Saturday, 3pm offers a glorious antidote. It is here to remind you that football can still sing to your heart.Warm, heartfelt and witty, here are fifty short essays of prose poetry dedicated to what is good in the game. These are not wallowing nostalgia; they are things that remain sweet and right: seeing a ground from the train, brackets on vidiprinters, ball hitting bar, Jimmy Armfield's voice, listening to the results in a traffic jam, football towns and autograph-hunters. This is fan culture at its finest, words to transport you somewhere else and identify with, words to hide away in a pub and luxuriate in.Saturday, 3pm is a book of love letters to football and a clarion call, helping us find the romance in the game all over again.
With Clough, By Taylor
Peter Thomas Taylor - 2019
I am the shop window and he is the goods in the back.’
Often outrageous and always compelling, Peter Taylor and Brian Clough’s partnership shook the very foundations of the footballing world. They took two peripheral clubs – Derby County and Nottingham Forest – from the sleepy backwaters of East Midlands football to international renown. The first to pay £1 million for a player and the first to win two European Cups and two League Cups in successive seasons, their journey was a whirlwind of trophies, record-breaking transfers, bust-ups and sackings.In a first-hand account told with immense candour, Taylor reveals the highs and lows of their relationship, and details the events that led to their unprecedented success.Originally published in 1980 and available now for the first time in forty years, With Clough, By Taylor is the definitive account of the partnership that revolutionised English football and the trade of the football manager.
This Is The One: Sir Alex Ferguson - The Uncut Story Of A Football Genius
Daniel Taylor - 2007
A year earlier his managerial career had reached its nadir amid speculation he would be forced out of Old Trafford. He was taken to the limit over the Roy Keane scandal, his volatile relationship with the media, the political fallout of Malcolm Glazer's takeover and a miserable six-month run in which the team were humbled in Europe, embarrassed by the Conference side Burton Albion and barracked by their own fans. Ferguson, it is claimed, came close to quitting. But the great man has used his inimitable managing skills and bloody-minded determination to turn it around yet again and remind everyone he is still the most formidable manager in the business.Written over the course of two hugely eventful, diverse and controversial seasons, "This Is The One" offers a unique, warts-and-all portrait of Ferguson from a privileged behind-the-scenes position. As a football writer for the Guardian, Daniel Taylor has been there from day one and seen every side of Ferguson, from the flint-faced authoritarian to the kind, quick-witted man with the heart the size of the Old Trafford trophy room. Entertaining, revelatory, sometimes shocking but always affectionate, this is the close-up look at one of the most talked-about figures in sport, in good times and bad, and culminating in the glory of his ninth tittle win.
The Beautiful Game? Searching for the Soul of Football
David Conn - 2004
An outstanding, thought-provoking study of the state of modern professional football.
Fan Mail
Nick Hornby - 2013
But occasionally over the years he’s found it impossible to turn down a particularly enticing assignment or, in the case of the 2012-13 Premier League, just unable to resist writing about that most spectacular of seasons. Fortunately for those who love great writing about soccer, all these fugitive pieces are collected in Fan Mail. You can follow the fortunes, as Hornby did, of a hopelessly out-of-their-depth Cambridge United in the old Second Division, discover why Perry Groves was an unlikely hero among Arsenal fans, enjoy Hornby trying to explain the World Cup to Americans, and share with him the pain of watching his national team.
The Title: The Story of the First Division
Scott Murray - 2017
They may even have a point. But to build something so successful, so popular, so inescapable, you've got to have mighty strong foundations.Prior to 1992, the old First Division was England's premier prize. Its rich tapestry winds back to 1888 and the formation of the Football League. A grand century-long tradition in danger of being lost in the wake of Premier League year zero.No more! In The Title Scott Murray tells the lively, cherry-picked story of English football through the prism of the First Division. Rich with humour yet underpinned with solid research, this is a glorious meander across our national sport's varied terrain.With as much about Burnley, Wolves, West Brom and Portsmouth as the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United, we learn the less well-known stories the sport has to tell, such as the plight of Glossop, the smallest club to ever play top-flight football, and final day drama involving Huddersfield and Cardiff that knocks Michael Thomas into a cocked hat. We bask in the managerial genius of Tom Watson, the bowler-hatted Victorian Mourinho; celebrate the joy of the Busby Babes; discover the shameless showmanship of George Allison; embark on righteous escapades with Hughie Gallacher; and meet some old favourites in Don Revie, Bill Shankly, Alex Ferguson and Brian Clough.At turns exciting, surprising, witty and bittersweet, The Title is a highly informed, fresh and affectionate love-letter to the English game, and a delight for any football fan.
The Detective Robyn Carter Series: Books 1-3
Carol Wyer - 2019
The first three thrillers from eBook no 1 bestselling author Carol Wyer, introducing you to maverick Detective Robyn Carter.
Little Girl Lost:
‘Her breath rose and fell in fearful gasps, but it was too late. She could already see what she dreaded most. The back seat was empty.
Her little girl was gone.
When toddler Izzy is snatched from a carpark Detective Robyn Carter finds a worrying connection with a current murder investigation and fears there is a twisted serial killer at work. And unless she gets to them in time, a little girl will die …
Secrets of the Dead:
‘Colourful, plastic boats were scattered in puddles on the floor. In the bathtub lay Linda Upton, fully-clothed, lips a shade of blue, and bloodshot eyes wide open.’ When a young mother is found drowned in the bath, clutching a receipt saying, ‘all debts paid’, Detective Robyn Carter knows it’s just the beginning of a harrowing case. But as she hones in on the killer’s awful motive, one of her own is put into terrible danger …
The Missing Girls:
‘One girl found dead. Another girl gone... Long shadows danced on the tin walls. Inside the trunk lay Carrie Miller, wrapped in plastic, arms folded across her ribcage, lips sealed tight forever...’ When a girl’s body is found at a Midlands storage unit, it is too decomposed for Detective Robyn Carter to read the signs left by the killer. But just as Robyn makes progress and begins to close in on the killer’s shocking hunting ground, another girl goes missing, and this time it’s someone close to her own heart. This gripping series will have you up in the small hours turning the pages. Fans of Angela Marsons, Rachel Caine and Robert Dugoni will love The Detective Robyn Carter Series. Readers are going crazy for Carol Wyer: ‘Absolutely nail biting! … From the first page, I was hooked; I could not put this book down … Halfway through the book, once everything clicked, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor … I would start to read it on a day where you have no other commitments; you won’t want to put this one down!’ 5 stars – Clues and Reviews ‘OMG this book had me hooked from the first to very last page ... It’s impossible to put down, I was falling asleep about 3 in the morning with my kindle still in my hands!’ 5 stars – Goodreads Reviewer ‘Absolutely stunning!... wow it blew me away. Totally my favourite book so far of 2018… I loved everything about it… Amazing… 5 stars, although it is a shame I can’t give it more, it’s easily worth a 7.’ Bonnie’s Book Talk, 5 stars ‘Oh my god what a brilliant book you have to read it … This book grabs you from the first page right till the last page with so many twists and turns you do not know what is coming next … If I could give it more than 5 stars I would.
Cold Blooded Assassin Book 12: Paint it Black (Nick McCarty Assassin)
Bernard Lee DeLeo - 2019
In the meantime, Nick recruits Dom Bello, consigliere of New York City's five families into the fight against the New World Order.
Pretty Little Lies: A Casual Office Romance
Aubreé Pynn - 2021
Hush
Shameek Speight - 2018
Usually the symptoms decrease in the weeks after birth, but when that’s not the case, it’s a clear indication there’s some other mental issues. Bianca Whitted was less then ecstatic initially about her pregnancy, but the love of her love convinced her he had her and their child, so she continued on with her pregnancy, looking forward to the arrival of her bundle of joy. What she didn’t count on was her child’s father doing a 360. Struggling with a broken heart, being a new mother and Postpartum Depression, Bianca’s joy became sadness, then anger. Will she get the help she needs to save her, or will others suffer her wrath before it’s all said and done?
Nantucket Coffee House: The Complete Sweet Romance Series
Sabrina Andrews - 2021
Killing Range
Phil Campion - 2013
All he knows for sure is that he owes a debt to the man he left for dead.As Range plunges ever deeper into the dark and chaotic heart of the terrorists's murderous plot he realises that nothing is what it seems, and that his elite band of warriors are facing a desperate fight like no other.
The Unknown Woman: A Private Investigator Mystery Series of Crime and Suspense (Lee Callaway Book 8)
Thomas Fincham - 2020
Francesca
Gillian Y. Godden - 2019
Tony has his own troubles – a change of image from playboy to respectable married man is needed to further his criminal career. He has women falling at his feet, but none he wants to make his wife. As Francesca is drawn deeper into the dark underworld dealings of Tony and his associates, she has to make alliances of her own to survive. And she’ll do whatever it takes to protect her small son. This is a roller coaster ride of high stakes, dirty tricks, loyalty and love. Strap in – it’s a hell of a trip! Please note: this is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
The Lost Lass of Sheffield
Rosie Swan - 2020
The world outside for an orphan teen on dark Victorian streets is not a kind one.Bradford Pikes has loved Amy since their first childhood games together, but now his sweetheart has disappeared and his love remains unspoken. He knows the dark London streets swallow innocent girls like Amy leaving them bereft of not only family but of hope.Will he find her in time? Save Amy from the forces arrayed against their love? Or will the Sheffield lass be lost forever?The Lost Lass of Sheffield is the debut Victorian romance by Rosie Swan. If you love historical Victorian sagas that celebrate the resilience of the human heart in the face of insurmountable challenges you will love the deep and moving tale of The Lost Lass of Sheffield.