It doesn't really matter who you support. Football is a cruel, cruel game. All of us fans have had moments of shock, disappointment, and feeling like a right knobhead. We want our teams to play like winners who’ll fight for the badge to their last breath. More often, there's so many clowns on the pitch we think the circus is in town. We've endured abject surrenders in the pissing down rain, watched multi-millionaire managers lose the plot, and signed players who couldn't pass a parcel, all to the sound of Michael Owen's 'expert' analysis. Season after bloody season. It stings so much your team might as well be sponsored by Dettol. Why do we do it to ourselves? There’s a lot to love I guess. Nothing will ever emulate the high that a major win or seeing your team lift a trophy brings. Take Manchester United winning the treble: footballing perfection. And nothing else will ever come close. Life doesn’t get any better than that. As I talk you through everything from transfers to trophies to touchline tantrums, join me as I give my definitive take on football. There's a lot to get through, so take my hand like an over-eager mascot and walk with me out of the tunnel into the glaring floodlights of what it means to be a fan... ...and how to survive it.

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact date the magic appeared in the FA Cup. Perhaps it was there from the beginning when the very first ball was kicked, or perhaps it first appeared in 1923 – the year the final was first played at Wembley, known then as the Empire Stadium. Just as the Premier and Champions Leagues were battling it out for the top spot, the magic disappeared, much to the fans disappointment. Can the Football Association bring the magic back to the cup, or will they be powerless to act to restore the magic, like old wizards who no longer possess the magic touch?

Over 100,000 copies sold 'A tapestry of strong characters and accomplished writing' Herald Scotland It is 1911, and Jean is about to join the mass strike at the Singer factory. For her, nothing will be the same again. Decades later, in Edinburgh, Connie sews coded moments of her life into a notebook, as her mother did before her. More than a hundred years after his grandmother’s sewing machine was made, Fred discovers a treasure trove of documents. His family history is laid out before him in a patchwork of unfamiliar handwriting and colourful seams. He starts to unpick the secrets of four generations, one stitch at a time.

‘How to Think Like Sir Alex Ferguson is an insightful and interesting book packed with leadership ideas and real life examples taken from the cutting edge of sport that apply in leading any top team or business. I would recommend this book to anyone, especially those currently in leadership positions and those aspiring to get there, as Damian Hughes draws out the inspirational qualities required from one of the greatest managers in football.’ Stuart Lancaster, Former England Head Coach, Rugby Football Union Delve deep into the mind of one of the world’s most successful leaders and discover 10 powerful and practical lessons for leadership and business, with this unique and inspiring handbook for anyone looking to improve performance in turbulent, changing times. Distilling the primary lessons of Ferguson's phenomenal success as manager at Manchester United and showing how you can apply them to you own personal goals, this book explains Ferguson's approach to people-management, changing mind-sets, visualisation, building confidence and embracing change – all techniques at the heart of turning Manchester United into a winning machine. Discover how he remained at the forefront of one of the world's most competitive industries and how to make this count with your own ambition, as well as learning about the techniques he employed to extract the finest qualities from his team, and how to lead other individuals and teams in their pursuit of success within changing times. With exercises for you to work on, drawing from Professor Hughes's practical and academic background within sport, organisation and change psychology, this is the perfect handbook for the business of winning and managing success.

In December 1989, United fanatic Pete Molyneux raised a banner calling for Alex Ferguson’s head, sparking the most famous protest in Old Trafford’s 103 years. For manager and supporter alike it was their darkest hour. Pete never gave up on his team and, thank God, Fergie stayed. Ta Ra Fergie tells Pete’s story of his time following United at home and abroad since 1963, attending over 2,000 matches. This is the story of United from a fan’s perspective. It covers Busby’s European triumph, the despair of relegation and the tortuous false dawns of the 1980s to that elusive title win and Alex Ferguson’s twenty-six-year-reign. Watching United has brought countless thrills, but for Pete it has also had a darker side that led to heartache and tragedy.

FULLY REVISED AND UPDATED 'The finest Fergie book of them all' – Tom English, BBC Sport When Sir Alex Ferguson retired at the end of the 2013 season he was the most successful football manager Britain had ever seen, having won twice as many trophies as his nearest rival. But that success had not come easily. Thirty-five years previously he had arrived at the rain-swept training ground at Aberdeen F.C. as the recently sacked manager of St Mirren. Already a divisive figure, this Alex Ferguson came with a reputation for trouble and a lot still to prove. Not for nothing, many thought he was a risky choice. Fergie Rises returns to a time when Ferguson was lucky to get Aberdeen, not the other way around. It's the story of an eight-year revolution that saw the Dons and their ambitious young manager knock the Old Firm off their perch, taste victory in Europe for the first time, and electrify Scottish football. When Ferguson finally left the club for Manchester United, in 1986, fans and rivals were unanimous in believing he had engineered one of the most astonishing upheavals in the game's history. The author also examines the personal tragedies Ferguson overcame – the deaths of his father and his mentor Jock Stein – and the rivalries, setbacks and triumphs that shaped a sporting genius. 'A masterful retelling of how Ferguson was "made" at Aberdeen' – Alan Pattullo, The Scotsman