Sometimes scoring isn’t the only thing when you’re a striker, as top tier footballer, Scott, has found out. He’s awoken to find himself in over his head—he’s just shagged someone who’s not his wife, rather his best friend’s wife, to be precise. Keeping such indiscretion under wraps isn’t easy, especially when your every move is fastidiously documented on every tabloid and broadsheet all over the world, your every thought tweeted and followed by millions. It is especially difficult when there are reporters in woodwork, eager to sniff out a story that will expose the corruption, decay and sleaze that fuels this fraudulent and multi-billion dollar industry known as the Premier League. In a world where the currency is fame, how much is Scott willing to lose to keep everything he’s gained? If you’ve ever wanted to know what goes on behind-the-scenes of one of the most prestigious football leagues in the world, consider this book your grandstand season ticket.

This book explores how recent football fiction has negotiated the decisive political developments in English football after the 1989/90 publication of the 'Taylor Report'. A direct response to the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster and growing concerns of hooliganism, the 'Taylor Report' suggested a number of measures for stricter regulation of fan crowds. In consequence, stadiums in the top divisions were turned into all-seated venues and were put under CCTV surveillance. The implementation of these measures reduced violent incidents drastically, but it also led to an unparalleled increase in ticket prices, which in turn significantly altered the demographics of the crowd. This development, which also enabled football's entry into other mainstream cultural forms, changed the game decisively. Piskurek traces patterns across prose and film to detect how these fictions have responded to the changed circumstances of post-Taylor football. Lending a cultural lens to these political changes, this book is pioneering in its analysis of football fiction as a whole, offering a fresh perspective to a range of scholars and students interested in cultural studies, sociology, leisure and politics.

An all-in-one collection of Neil Humphrey’s trilogy: Notes from an even Smaller Island, Scribbles from the Same Island and Final Notes from a Great Island. In 2003, his second book, Scribbles from the Same Island, a compilation of his popular humour columns in WEEKEND TODAY, was launched in Singapore and Malaysia and also became an immediate best-seller. In 2006, Final Notes from a Great Island: A Farewell Tour of Singapore completed the trilogy. The book went straight to No.1 and decided to stay there for a few months. Having run out of ways to squeeze ‘island’ into a book title, Humphreys moved to Geelong, Australia. He now writes for several magazines and newspapers in Singapore and Australia and spends his weekends happily looking for echidnas and platypuses. But he still really misses roti prata.

Knowing nothing of Singapore in the 1990s, a young Englishman, Neil Humphreys, arrives in the land of “air-conned” shopping centres and Lee Kuan Yew. From the aunties in the hawker centres to expats dressed as bananas, from Singlish to kiasuism, and from Singaporeans at home to Singaporeans abroad, Humphreys explores all aspects of Singaporean life, taking in the sights, dissecting the culture and illuminating each place and person with his perceptive and witty observations. Written by someone who is at once both insider and outsider, the book is a wonderfully funny and disarmingly honest portrait of Singapore and its people. That was the original synopsis. And a cult classic was born. First published in 2001, Notes from an Even Smaller Island became an extraordinary success, selling tens of thousands of copies. It popped up on the national bestseller several times over the years and launched Neil’s stellar writing career. This 20th anniversary edition contains new material; Neil has gone back and re-evaluated his first book, looking at what he got right, what he definitely got wrong and updating readers on key characters, stories and crazy incidents. He also includes never-previously published photos to prove – once and for all – that every word of his irreverent work was true.