How to Be a Footballer

Product Information

Throughout the book, Hamann expresses his thoughts and opinions in a no-nonsense way but at no point do you think he is trying to be sensational. Nearly 20 years after his first book Addicted was published, Adams released his latest book Sober which looks back on the 20 years that have passed since. I wanted football to have a proper place in popular culture; I thought someone should say ‘Not all of us are lunatics.

When the card goes missing, players on his team begin to lose trust and accuse each other, and Ari finds himself struggling to save goals. He also reveals another side of his persona and talks about his personal battles with his inner demons, drugs and his time spent in prison for assault. Balague has previously written football books on Lionel Messi and Pep Guardiola and this book follows the same biographical format, charting Ronaldo’s early career at Sporting Lisbon, through to his time in England with Manchester United and becoming a ‘ galactico‘ at Real Madrid. In the course of his epic adventure, he interviewed an eclectic mix of players and officials, including an Argentine general with unique views on the way the game should be played, a Berliner who’d suffered persecution at the hands of the Stasi simply because he supported his local team, and most bizarrely, Cameroon star Roger Milla, who had made headlines with his attempts to organise a tournament for pygmy tribes. The McIlvanney brothers, Hugh and William (and William’s son, Liam) were from Kilmarnock, my home town.The main focus of the book is on his time at Liverpool which included the glory years of the mid 2000’s but this book will definitely appeal to fans of other clubs.

Released in September 2016, Arsenal legend Ian Wright’s book focuses on his journey from Sunday morning football in South London to one of the Premier League’s all time top goalscorers and England international. A Chelsea man through and through, his positive opinions and reflections on every aspect of the club shine through, however this book will also appeal to fans of other clubs. However, my favourite football books for children tackle much more: they explore issues ranging from friendship and family upheaval to discrimination and financial hardship.

A fantastic book full of hilarious anecdotes about football in the 1980’s and 1990’s, Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock’s second book is exactly what you would expect from the former Liverpool and Southampton player. Amongst the many talking points within the book, Gullit explains the secret of the tiki-taka style of playing, as well as explaining why one striker can be better than three strikers. Among the men featured are Alan Pardew, Garry Monk, Mark Hughes, England U21 caretaker coach Aidy Boothroyd and that great hope of the English coaching fraternity, Eddie Howe. A player who always wore his heart on his sleeve, Higginbotham experienced the highs of promotion, lows of relegation and injury heartbreak during his career and he talks passionately about them all.