retired_bball3378

All Played Out is still probably my all time favourite football book.

The Dammned Utd, whilst not a factual book (it's a fictional account of Clough's time at Leeds), is bloody fantastic...well worth a read.

retired_recca

I wasn't much of a fan of Pointless - it should've been football gold, but I found the author to be a pretty bland writer who had a knack for glossing over weeks in a matter of a page.

It's not British football, but The Miracle of Castel di Sangro by Joe McGinniss is similar and far superior.

retired_recca

Also:

- Mark Hodkinson's 'Believe In The Sign' and 'Life Sentence' are pretty good. Probably more so if you happen to support Rochdale.

- A great book on England's 1990 World Cup campaign that I can't remember the name of - all I recall are two passages: one where Bobby Robson tells Scott Minto that he could be a future star and another after the 1990 semi-final penalties in which Stuart Pearce was so gutted at his miss that he took him all night to provide a sample for the post-match testing.

(Just remembered - it was All Played Out by Pete Davies)

- Graeme Souness: A Manager's Diary - think Souness during his early years at Rangers impersonating Adrian Mole.

retired_recca

Oh, and I'll third Fred Eyre's book too.

retired_kris10nicole

And i'll fourth it. Brilliant book.

retired_nini59

Fred Eyre owns a birthday card shop in Urmston, not sure if it's still there mind.

retired_myepes2002

I remember reading left foot forward several years ago, good read

retired_snsflip

Bits of it are good, bits of it are inaccurate and bits of it are embellished.

That bit is true and he (Alan Mackin) is universally hated by the fans. He's close to being bought out by Spencer Fearn, who's now the new owner. It's not a coincidence that since the new owner came in, East Stirling's fortunes have changed for the better.

They were pretty much a pub team and I doubt any of their fans would disagree. They stopped cutting the pitch, which I think is mentioned in the book, to save money and to stop the opposition playing decent football. We won promotion (I'm sure it was the season that the book covers) on their pitch, which was covered in daisies and dandelions.

retired_ehoff15

Bits of it are good, bits of it are inaccurate and bits of it are embellished.

That bit is true and he (Alan Mackin) is universally hated by the fans. He's close to being bought out by Spencer Fearn, who's now the new owner. It's not a coincidence that since the new owner came in, East Stirling's fortunes have changed for the better.

They were pretty much a pub team and I doubt any of their fans would disagree. They stopped cutting the pitch, which I think is mentioned in the book, to save money and to stop the opposition playing decent football. We won promotion (I'm sure it was the season that the book covers) on their pitch, which was covered in daisies and dandelions. </BLOCKQUOTE>

do they still pay their players tenner a week?

retired_snsflip

I doubt it. They signed a few decent players in the summer on the back of the new owner putting money (around £50k, I think) in to the club.