Under the Floodlights! is the fascinating story of the League Cup, charting its rich history through 64 seasons, with contributions from the people who were there - players, fans, managers, journalists and match officials.The competition was conceived in 1960 as an alternative to the FA Cup, with midweek cup matches to be played under the floodlights. Initially, though, it was met with indifference by clubs and derision by Fleet Street.The format o...

Sunshine After the Rain chronicles Aston Villa FC's turbulent journey from 2009 to 2023, a period in which one of English football's grandest clubs fell from the Premier League before rising again to reclaim its place among the elite.Following Martin O'Neill's sudden departure on the eve of the 2010/11 season, Villa drifted into decline, culminating in relegation in 2016. Central to this story are the three extraordinary seasons in the Ch...

Definitive story of one of the most extraordinary periods in the history of the Italian national football team, contextualised with a journey through Italy's footballing past.When it comes to international football, Italy dines at the finest tables. Their failure to qualify for consecutive World Cups in 2018 and 2022 sent shockwaves through the footballing world. Yet, incongruously sandwiched between the two failures was success in the European Championship against ...

The entertaining, revealing, and controversial bestselling autobiography of one of the most respected figures in the world of soccer. Carlo Ancelotti is one of only six people to have won the Champions League—European soccer’s most coveted trophy—as both player and coach. After a successful career playing for several of the most important teams in Italy—and for the Italian national team—Ancelotti went on to become one of the most acclaimed and outspoken coaches in European football, managi...

Zinedine Zidane Zidane (name) Real Madrid C.F. Juventus F.C. UEFA Golden Jubilee Poll 1998 FIFA World Cup UEFA Champions League FIFA World Player of the Year FIFA World Cup awards AS Cannes France national under-17 football team France national under-18 football team France national under-21 football team France national football team  

A celebration of the beautiful game and its 100 greatest players, from the pre–World War II exploits of Dixie Dean to the modern-day genius of Kylian Mbappé and Lionel MessiThese players left legacies, redefined the game with trademark skills, and grew into national icons. They have their stats—the goals, the wins, the trophies—but, more importantly, they have their stories.One World Cup winner owned a nightclub that briefly transformed a corner of industri...

Mario Balotelli is already a footballing legend - and he's only 22. Incredibly talented, yet frequently controversial both on and off the pitch, Balotelli lit up the Premier League from the moment he signed for Manchester City in 2010. Born in Italy to Ghanaian parents, he suffered life-threatening health problems as a baby. By the age of three he had recovered, but his parents then entrusted him to a foster family and Mario grew up in the affluent village of Concesio. He began his footbal...

In 'The World Cup, A Very Peculiar History', author David Arscott tackles the big subjects at the heart of the beautiful game, including how the tournament first kicked off, the dirty tactics used throughout the years and the most memorable managers in the history of football. Filled to the brim with quirky quotes, fantastic facts and surprising statistics, this is the perfect accompaniment to any post-match celebration (or commiseration!) during the season. At its heart 'The World Cup, A ...

An all-encompassing, chronological guide to football's World Cup, one of the world's few truly international events, in good time for the June 2018 kick-off in Russia. From its beginnings in 1930 to the modern all-singing, all-dancing self-styled 'greatest show on Earth', every tournament is covered with features on major stars and great games, as well as stories about some less celebrated names and quirky stats and intriguing essays.Holt's focus is very much on what takes place on...

Simon Kuper's New York Times bestseller Soccernomics pioneered a new way of looking at soccer through meticulous empirical analysis and incisive -- and witty -- commentary. Kuper now leaves the numbers and data behind to explore the heart and soul of the world's most popular sport in the new, extraordinarily revealing Soccer Men.Soccer Men goes behind the scenes with soccer's greatest players and coaches. Inquiring into the genius and hubris of t...

Perhaps no football manager has ever had his personal life dissected as thoroughly as Sven-Goran Eriksson. Yet the man that monopolized the British press during five tumultuous years as England manager remains an enigma. Who, precisely, is Sven?Here, in his no-holds-barred autobiography, the secretive Swede takes us on one of the wildest rides in world football. Populated by fake sheikhs, Italian lawyers, Nottingham outlaws and, of course, many of the biggest names in the game, his...

When journalist Paddy Agnew and his girlfriend Dympna touched down in Rome in 1985 in search of adventure, sunshine and the soul of Italian football (well, Paddy was looking for that), they were travelling into the uncharted terrain of a country they did not know and a language they did not speak.It soon became clear that neither Italy nor Italian football would be boring. In that first week in Italy, Michel Platini and Juventus won the Intercontinental Cup, whilst just days later ...