'The dream was football . . .' John Giles had a gift. At the age of three, he could kick a ball the way it was supposed to be kicked. And he knew that every hour that passed without kicking a ball was an hour wasted. 'It was the same dream that most of the kids had at that time . . .' In A Football Man, Giles tells the story of a dream pursued and realised beyond his wildest imaginings, from his humble beginnings in Ormond Square in 1940s' Dublin,counting down the minutes to his next game of football, to that unforgettable moment when the original football man - his dad, 'Dickie' - announced that his young son, at just fourteen, was on his way to Manchester United. 'What I didn't realise was that my dream would come true.' Full of anecdote, insight and wry humour, Giles recounts his rise through the ranks at Manchester United, before and after the Munich Disaster; the great players he knew, the good and the bad times under Matt Busby; his sensational debut for Ireland which he served as player and manager; his starring role in the brilliant, controversial Leeds United of the '60s and '70s; and his challenge to the portrayal of himself and Brian Clough in The Damned United. He also describes his enduring friendship with the 'kid from across Dublin's Tolka Park', Eamon Dunphy, and his career on RTÉ2's football panel, where Giles' intelligent and insightful analysis have made him an even more well-loved and respected national figure.

'The dream was football . . .' John Giles had a gift. At the age of three, he could kick a ball the way it was supposed to be kicked. And he knew that every hour that passed without kicking a ball was an hour wasted. 'It was the same dream that most of the kids had at that time . . .' In A Football Man, Giles tells the story of a dream pursued and realised beyond his wildest imaginings, from his humble beginnings in Ormond Square in 1940s' Dublin,counting down the minutes to his next game of football, to that unforgettable moment when the original football man - his dad, 'Dickie' - announced that his young son, at just fourteen, was on his way to Manchester United. 'What I didn't realise was that my dream would come true.' Full of anecdote, insight and wry humour, Giles recounts his rise through the ranks at Manchester United, before and after the Munich Disaster; the great players he knew, the good and the bad times under Matt Busby; his sensational debut for Ireland which he served as player and manager; his starring role in the brilliant, controversial Leeds United of the '60s and '70s; and his challenge to the portrayal of himself and Brian Clough in The Damned United. He also describes his enduring friendship with the 'kid from across Dublin's Tolka Park', Eamon Dunphy, and his career on RTÉ2's football panel, where Giles' intelligent and insightful analysis have made him an even more well-loved and respected national figure.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF DON REVIE – ONE OF THE MOST COMPLEX AND CONTROVERSIAL MEN EVER TO GRACE THE GAME OF FOOTBALL 'Engrossing' - Sunday Times 'Impeccably researched... As a life and times, Evans's account is immaculate.' – Jonathan Liew, New Statesman 'A poignant and engrossing read... a well-crafted biography.' – FourFourTwo 'Thoroughly researched and engagingly written, this superb biography sheds new light on one of the most controversial, enigmatic figures in football history' – Leo McKinstry, journalist, historian and award-winning author 'Excellent' – Johnny Giles, Leeds United legend 'Essential reading' Ryan Sabey, the Sun Whenever the greatest managers the game has ever produced are mentioned, names like Busby, Shankly, Paisley and Ferguson trip off the tongue. Despite dominating the game in the late 1960s and '70s there is one name missing: Don Revie, the former Leeds United and England manager. Revie was one of the most complex and controversial men ever to grace the game of football. As a player, he was crowned Footballer of the Year and credited with creating the modern centre-forward. As a manager, he took a Leeds United side languishing in the lower half of the second division and turned them into not only league champions, but one of the most dominant sides in the country. As England manager, Revie lost the magic touch and became increasingly indecisive. After three years in the role and fearing the sack, Revie became the first man to walk out on England. Then came the backlash. Revie was branded a traitor and banned from the game for 10 years, and the press declared open season on the manager. Accused of offering bribes to throw matches, his reputation was destroyed. Shunned by the football establishment, he died just 12 years after walking out on England. Revie's death, at the age of 61, robbed him of the opportunity ever to rebuild his reputation as one of the most important figures ever seen in English football. The life and times of this multifaceted, enigmatic, pioneering football man have still never been fully explored and explained in detail before. Featuring new interviews with Johnny Giles, Kevin Keegan, Norman Hunter, Eddie Gray, Allan Clarke, Joe Jordan, Gordon McQueen, Malcolm Macdonald and members of the Revie family, this long-overdue biography reveals how today's football owes so much to Don Revie. --- Shortlisted for THE SUNDAY TIMES Sports Book Awards 2022 'A no-holds-barred insight that convinces the reader that Don Revie stands amongst the giants of English football.' -Lord Mann 'Meticulously researched and expertly crafted exploration' - Jeff Powell, Daily Mail 'A superb read'. - Alex Montgomery, Chief football writer and former Chairman of the Football Writers Association

In 1960, the wealthy owner of the Merseyside-based Littlewoods corporation, John Moores, took control of Everton Football Club, setting in motion a chain of events that still affect the game in this country today. Everton had enjoyed success before Moores's takeover but things would never be the same again from the moment he walked through Goodison's doors. Although big clubs had spent money before, none had done so with such naked short-term ambition and a ruthlessness to succeed that sent shockwaves through the previously stagnant world of English football. The new owner's ruthless streak was personified by his first major move, sacking the popular Johnny Carey in the back of a London taxi in April 1961. Everton would finish that 1960/61 season in fifth place, their highest position since World War Two, but the Irishman's affable nature cost him his job. In his place Moores wanted a man in his own image to lead the club forward and he soon found him: Harry Catterick. Catterick was little over 40 years old, and had been an Everton player himself only ten years before. But as a boss he exuded an aura that demanded respect and obedience from his players. It was a characteristic that won him few fans but plenty of trophies, and across the decade Everton reasserted themselves as one of English football's powerhouses, winning two league titles and an FA Cup. Catterick's ability to nurture young products of the club's youth set-up such as Colin Harvey and Joe Royle was trumped only by his mastery of the transfer market, allowing him to sign the great Howard Kendall from Preston North End and World Cup winner Alan Ball from under his rivals' noses. Harvey, Kendall and Ball would soon form the club's greatest midfield trio, and their brilliance would underpin the 1969/70 title win, a victory for free-flowing football in an era of cynicism. That trophy would be Everton's last major honour for 14 years. In Money Can't Buy Us Love, Everton's official statistician Gavin Buckland tells the tale of how Moores and manager Harry Catterick took the so-called 'Mersey Millionaires' to the summit of English football, in the context of the major cultural changes of the time. The book provides a forensic character study of both Catterick and Moores, and also delves into the archives to provide a definitive account of the incidents that rocked the club in a fruitful but turbulent decade, including allegations of doping in the 1962/63 campaign, the 1964 match-fixing scandal which signalled the end of Tony Kay's career and the shock sale of Alan Ball. Money Can't Buy Us Love offers fascinating insight into how strong personalities can take a team to the very top, but can also cause in its ultimate downfall.

Fifty fixtures that defined the career of a diminutive Scotsman who went on to become one of the biggest names in British football.

The complete and definitive history of the Whites.

This book is the first academic all-island history of either rugby union or association football, two of the three most popular male sporting pastimes in Ireland, across the seven decades that followed the political partition of that country between 1920 and 1922. It moves beyond the occasionally simplistic explanations of the development of Irish sport that have focused on political and sectarian divisions, and goes deeper into the social, cultural and geographical dynamics of the island of Ireland to explain why certain people have played certain games in certain places. Drawing on historical and archival sources as well as cutting-edge geographical information systems, the book brings to life the spatial trends in each game’s administrative development and geographical distribution, that have not normally been a feature of many previous histories of Irish sport. The book also examines first-and-second-hand accounts of athletes and administrators involved in rugby and football during that period, to explore what it meant to represent a province or country at these crucial moments in Irish history and compares the Irish experience of both sports with experiences in other comparable countries. Shining important new light on the interactions between Irish rugby and football and the political, social, economic and cultural trends of Ireland in the twentieth century, this book is fascinating reading for anybody with an interest in the history of sport, Ireland or the UK.