Football Titles for the First Half of 2015

Football Titles for the First Half of 2015

The first half of 2015 sees a variety of titles being added to Pitch Publishing's ever-growing football list, including biographies, auto-biographies, club-specific titles.

 

Fathers of Football by Keith Baker is already available to buy. It's the long-overlooked story of a number of adventurous Britons who left their homeland before the First World War to inspire and shape the growth of modern football in continental Europe and South America. They founded great clubs, global household names, and revolutionised the game; yet even today they remain largely mystical figures in their homelands, and these unknown prophets are often more honoured abroad than at home. 

 

For those who lament the modern game, and feel somewhere along the way football took a wrong turn, losing touch with fans. The Ugly Game - also available now - is a passionate, funny book of essays, and sets out to put football right by comparing it, often unfavourably, with American football, a sport, perhaps surprisingly, that's showing how money need not destroy fairness and competition.

 

Soccer in Stilettos hits the bookshelves in April, and is a definitive look at the rise of women's football, telling the inspirational story of how the female sport has slowly but surely stepped out of the shadow of its male counterpart to become the truly beautiful game that it is today. With the future of the sport looking brighter than ever, how did football finally show sexism the red card? 

 

Of the club titles, one is already proving popular with Leeds United fans, and flying off the shelves. The Only Place for Us is the A to Z history of Leeds United's Elland Road home, revealing the stories behind its past uses, famous features and characters - plus fires, gypsy curses and escaped pantomime horses. Using archive research, insiders' insights and fascinating photos, Jon Howe retraces the intriguing historical journey of one of Britain's most iconic football grounds. 

 

March also sees the publication of three more club-specific tomes: United in Europe - the complete European record of Manchester United, from author Chris Davies's complete collection of official Uefa teamsheets; Spurs' Unsung Hero - the official biography of Tottenham Hotspur's double winner Terry Dyson; and another addition to the critically acclaimed and hugely popular Got,Not Got series, The Lost World of Ipswich Town .

 

On the autobiography front there are two books which will catch the eye north of the border: Moody Blue, the self-told-tale of former Rangers legend Marco Negri, which is out in April, and the Alex Totten Story, out in March, Totts: From the Kop to the Kelpies.

 

Finally, launched ahead of the FA Cup semi-final weekend, comes the third book of the three-book series: When the FA Cup Really Mattered. From Ricky Villa to Dave Beasant on from volumes one and two, each covering the ten finals of the 1960s and 1970s, volume three looks at the 1980s. It's unique trip down Memory Lane featuring first-hand recollections from fans who attended the finals. Centred around great games, characters and unlikely annual dramas, Eastley recreates a time when the world's greatest domestic competition really mattered - all played out against a backdrop of pop music, films and news stories.