Football biographies

[Guest]

i'm reading two at the minute.

Roy Mac Cloughs Champion - is a great read, reliving those wonderful days when Derby were the best team in the land. Interesting to relive it through Roy's eyes. He was a magnificent player but is clearly a very genuine and down to earth person. At times he seems to be taken aback by the speed of own successes, and takes great pride in the success of the Derby team who were clearly great mates. 

And....

Harry - harry redknapp book i picked it up off a shelf in the lounge of a hotel and its impossible to put down. I never had any great affection for HR or West Ham etc but this is a great book. harry tells it straight, beginning with the famous court case.his anger over the treatment of Bobby Moore is admirable - thrown out at West Ham for not having a match ticket in the late 70s, apparently he never went back. great book.

[CWC1983]

Try "addicted" by Tony Adams. Some scary stories about alcohol addiction.

For a totally different story of top level football, "a life too short" about the german intl keeper robert enke is fascinating.

 

 

[maydrakin]

The best player autobiography I ever read was Left Foot Forward by Garry Nelson.

Very interesting to see the trials and tribulations in a season for a journeyman striker when in the twilight of his career.

[Pearl Ram]

I've the same two as you RamNut, had to stop reading Roy Mac's though, want to save it for my holiday. What I've read so far I've really enjoyed.

'Arry's I've had for a while but not started yet, like you not his biggest fan, I got it as a Christmas present but I put it on a list of books I wouldn't mind because I thought he would have a story to tell. Hope I enjoy it as much as you.

Four I'd recommend are Sir Bobby Charlton's the Manchester United Years and his England Years books, Sir Bobby Robson's autobiography and lastly Jimmy Greaves's. All might be a bit before a lot of members time but all of them have a story to tell which helps.

[Gaspode]

Paul McGrath's also well worth a read - great player with so many off field issues....

[Kamikaze]

Andrea Pirlo's book is class, as the man himself is.

[Mafiabob]

David Davies... Of FA fame... FA Confidential.... Great insight into his dealings and life at the FA....

also married to a former Miss Great Britain... Susan Cuff

 

 

[Mostyn6]

I found the Simon Jordan (ex-Palace owner) book (Be careful what you Wish for) intriguing. I came away with a bit of admiration for the guy too.

Robbie Fowler's book is good, very funny too. 

Mark Ward (Hammered) is a really good read, as he went to prison for being involved in drug dealing without realising.

Carragher's book was pretty average. But worth a read.

 

[jmuss88]

Gazza: My Story was a good read. End up switching from feeling sorry for him, to thinking 'it's your own fault' every other page. 3.5*/5*

[Kamikaze]

Robert Enke's book was tragic as was Garrincha's but both are well worth a read.

[RamNut]

I finished Mac's book. quite good.

I think he could have said a lot more than he did.

The only bits that were really new for me were that he didn't rate Gerry Daly (!) ; that there were three people behind the scenes that wanted wanted him out as manager. I assume he means Gadsby, Webb and one other (not Pickering); and the tricks that Dave Mackay could do ball juggling with a half crown that simply amazed the rest of the squad.

Good bloke mcfarland.

 

 

[RamNut]

Half way through harry redknapps book.

harry knows how to tell a story and its a good read.

he is far more candid than roy mac about events behind the scenes. The stuff he writes about bobby moore is really interesting. He says that Moore gave great credit to Malcolm Allison for moulding him as a player. roy Mac confirms in this book that Cloughie wanted to sign Moore for Derby, and that he knew Moore wanted to come.

harry also tells a good story about signing an unregistered player from under the nose of Barry Fry and that Barry threatened to have him kneecapped. The storys he tells about the trouble caused by Julian ***** behind the scene are quite incredible.

finally.....one last snippet......frank lampard senior had his leg broken by a tackle that H describes as one of the worst he has ever seen......it was Willie Carlin for Sheff Utd - probably not that long before he signed for us.

great competitor Willie but I would never have said he was dirty.

[Mostyn6]

Half way through harry redknapps book.

harry knows how to tell a story and its a good read.

he is far more candid than roy mac about events behind the scenes. The stuff he writes about bobby moore is really interesting. He says that Moore gave great credit to Malcolm Allison for moulding him as a player. roy Mac confirms in this book that Cloughie wanted to sign Moore for Derby, and that he knew Moore wanted to come.

harry also tells a good story about signing an unregistered player from under the nose of Barry Fry and that Barry threatened to have him kneecapped. The storys he tells about the trouble caused by Julian ***** behind the scene are quite incredible.

finally.....one last snippet......frank lampard senior had his leg broken by a tackle that H describes as one of the worst he has ever seen......it was Willie Carlin for Sheff Utd - probably not that long before he signed for us.

great competitor Willie but I would never have said he was dirty.

Hmmmmm.

Remind me why 'Arry quit QPR!

 

[PrivateDerby]

Paul Mersons is good

[Dale The Ram]

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's is incredible, rare that I get engrossed with a book but it is amazing.

Rumoured it is not his own words but even still I loved it.

Heres a snippet below;

“An injured Zlatan is a properly serious thing for any team.”
“If Mourinho lights up a room, Guardiola draws the curtains.”
“I’ve done all kinds of s*!t. I don’t get into punch ups, though. All right, on the pitch I guess I’ve headbutted a few people.”
“One time I got dressed in all black, Rambo-style, and took a massive pair of bolt-cutters and nicked a military bike.”
“I haven’t been drunk too many times, just one episode where I passed out in the bathtub after the first Scudetto with Juventus. That was Trezeguet, that snake, who egged me on to drink shots.”
“What did she get for an engagement present?” “Whaddaya mean, present? She got Zlatan.”
“What the f@$k! Southampton! Is that my level?”
“What John Carew does with a football, I can do with an orange.”
“Every bar I go to becomes a trendy hangout.”

[Dale The Ram]

Steve Bloomers was great to hear about early DCFC and Football, must read as well

[RamNut]

Just started Charlie George - My Story.

Great description of his playing style by Frank McLintock - says that Charlie could pass like Beckenbauer and shoot like Bobby Charlton - which is a great description.

it is clearly a transcript of Charlie talking. Can almost hear him.

fascinating so far.

[Papahet]

Recommend Ibra's book to anyone, very funny guy.

 

[Bris Vegas]

I've only ever read one, Peter Risdale's book.

Talks about the rise and fall of Leeds United at the beginning of the millennium. It's very interesting and goes into great detail of how David O'Leary simply kept asking for more and more money without reply.

 

[Anon]

It's not a biography, but "The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro" by Joe McGinniss is the best football book I've ever read by some margin. It is an account of a season from the mid 90's where a football team from a large village (pop. 5000) in the Abruzzo managed to compete in Serie B against the likes of Bari and Genoa. McGinniss went the extra mile and actually moved to the village for the season and learned Italian so he could be intimately involved with every minute detail of team affairs.

It's difficult to stress without including spoilers just how extraordinary this season turned out to be. At times it reads like a plot from an episode of dream team and if I wasn't able to use the internet to verify the author's claims I would think he was exaggerating or outright lying.

The only negative is that the book is written for an American audience who, at the time, were unfamiliar with football. So when McGinniss describes the games, the explanations can sometimes be rather patronising.