Dont know if this has been done before and perhaps it should be in a different forum. Apologies to the Forum Prefects for disturbing their day if thats the case : please ask Mod to move it if you like.

The "bill leckie thread " got me thinking this and mine are:-
(in no order)

1. Penthouse & Pavement: How To Survive in Football Without Sucking Up To The Old Firm By Bill Leckie"

2. A Season with Verona : By Tim Parks

3.My Father and Other Working Class Football Heroes: By Gary Imlach

Pointless - A season with East Stirlingshire -- Absolute genius 10/10

Penthouse and Pavement -- Leckie's an arse but its a good book 8/10

Fever Pitch -- Read this for the first time ever, was impressive 7/10



I gaurantee that anybody will LOVE Pointless...its bloody hysterical. Im determined to go to Firs Park before it is no more

What's A Season With Verona like? I've considered buying that. I recently bought Paddy Agnew's Forza Italia which is pretty good.

The Football Grounds of Britain - Simon Inglis

Fantastic overview of all of the league grounds in Britain. Unfortunatley the last edition came out in 1996 but i still reckon it is one of the best most complete football books i have ever read. Fantastic.

Engineering Archie - Simon Inglis

Biography of Archibald Leitch the man who designed amongst others; Old Trafford, Villa Park, Ibrox Twice, Highbury etc Great pictures of some of the old gorunds too.

Brilliant Orange - David Winner

Fantastic insight into the culture and mentalities of Dutch football. Its a bit of a heavier read than the others but pretty damn good.

This has come up in the Top Fives Forum.

My three (nice wee number!) would be, in no particular order: Fever Pitch, The Glory Game by Hunter Davies and The Damned Utd by David Peace.

If anyone can get my a copy of Leckie's book I'd be delighted; have been looking for it for a while now but can't get hold of it.

Anyway, my top 3 football books...

Dynamo by Andy Dougan. This was by far the best football book I've ever read. It's basically a historical account of Dynamo Kiev in the war, how the players battled against Nazi occupation despite it clearly not doing them any favours. A great book, but also an incredibly sad book.

Garrincha by Rui Castro. Biography of the great Brazilian winger

Futebol: A Brazilian Way of Life by Alex Bellos. A look at football in Brazil and the different forms it takes throughout the country.

I've read Pointless and thought it was good without being outstanding. My Father And... is a very good book and just misses out on my top three, as does Brilliant Orange - I particularly liked the chapter dedicated to the penalty kick in that book.

Tim Parks ( an English Journalist and Novelist) lives in Verona and follows his local team, HELLAS VERONA (Italy’s Millwall). They claim to be persecuted and hard done-to by corrupt referees, The Italian FA and almost weekly by the police but Tim Park’s biggest grievance is the way the media portrays the club and it’s fans and even the town. Much like the “Nonces” in prisons that are battered and abused by fellow prisoners Verona are Italy’s racist scape goat. Unfairly in Park’s view- I’m not so sure.
He decides to go to every away game in one season with idea of writing a Italian cultural travel book however his journeys along the long slow roads of Italy on the Verona’s nutter's bus ( The Ultras) often travelling over 13 hour round trips with these boys, he learns their ways and is quickly accepted by them. Even when his project was outed by a group of fans, his new comrades didn't blink. It was enough that he was prepared to suffer as they did: "Exasperation is of the essence in football."
It's like Penthouse and Pavement it's its disparaging look at the small club versus the hierarchy of Football ( he hates Juve with such passion!:lol!) .

It also tells the story ( and his dislike )of the Italian Gretna, i.e. AC Chievo and he blows apart the myth that theirs is a small club’s romantic rise up the leagues.

There is a lot about Italian culture but all seen and contrasted or related with through following a small provincial football club .


You’ll know after the first chapter if you will enjoy it, or not.

Just started reading Once in a lifetime- The story of the New York Cosmos by Gavin Newsham.
Will let you know if it's any good.
Football against the enemy was pretty decent.

You can't go wrong with The Glory Game, Only A Game, Addicted (Tony Adams), Fever Pitch, Gary Imlach, and Simon Inglis' book on grounds.

As I said on the Accies web site, "Pointless" is absolutely marvellous - hilarious and also poignant, and the chapter where he almost gets into a fight at Cliftonhill is not only comedic gold but also sums up brilliantly what supporting a (any) provincial team is all about.

If you get the chance to read it, I can also recommend another Simon Inglis book " Football in the Dock", written about past footballing scandals and controversies, in cluding the ES/Clydebank episode. It's not sensationalist rubbish, but well researched, interesting stuff written by a talented writer with a real love for the game. Probably out of print, but may be available on E bay.