Readings about football offer unique points of view regarding the sport and also offer a look behind the scenes on various occasions. Oftentimes, they also reveal things that are overlooked by history and the people involved in famous games and the lives of famous players.
With the year coming to an end, here are five of the best books released in 2020 that you must consider reading:
Extra Time: 50 Further Delights of Modern Football, by Daniel Gray (Bloomsbury)
“Despite its flaws and excesses, modern football is still sprinkled with simple yet beguiling delights. In his previous book Saturday, 3 pm, Daniel Gray captured many of them. Now he is back with a further 50 short essays of prose poetry dedicated to the game’s charming, technicolour minutiae.
From club lottos to undeserved wins, and from pitch-invading animals to the roar after a minute’s silence, Extra Time is another romantic celebration of football fandom and its shared joys, habits, eccentricities and peculiarities. It is a salute to keepers going forward for corners, match balls landing on stand roofs and goals scored in quick succession”, reads the summary taken from Google Books.
Who are ya? 92 football clubs and why you shouldn’t support them, by Kevin Day (Bloomsbury)
One of the best things about this Kevin Day read is that there is something in it for everybody who picks up a copy. The writer traverses 92 teams, as the title suggests and talks about the history and reveals various football funnies regarding the clubs competing in England, both big and small.
Keane: Origins, by Eoin O’Callaghan (Mercier Press)
One of the best forwards in the game, Roy Keane is still giving to the game by doing punditry on matchdays. This biography takes a detailed look at the lesser-known parts of the player’s life and reveals the story behind the start of Keane’s career.
Champagne Football, by Mark Tighe & Paul Rowan
The 2020 Irish Sports Book of the Year, Champagne Football talks about the way Football Association of Ireland’s finances have been impacted over the last ten years. The reviews pouring in have been praising the book for being an excellent account of investigative journalism and it will be well worth a read.
Mind Games: The Ups and Downs of Life and Football, by Neville Southall (Harper Collins)
Currently, in his sixties, former Everton goalkeeper Neville Southall dives into the details behind his days as a player. Furthermore, he also talks about various topics up for debate in the modern game like social media and the LGBT community.
