Playing on the Periphery


Book Description

This is a very distinctive text that will stand out from the standard, more staid works in sport studies. This is a sophisticated text that will appeal to the maturing readership in the area looking for new perspectives on sport. Tara Brabazon is very well known in Australia, both in academia and as a journalist. Other texts in this area are all edited collections.




Manchester United


Book Description

A warm welcome to this e-mag edition of Manchester United – An Anthology.’ It is a pick-n-mix compendium of writings from the eras of Sir Matt Busby, Wilf McGuinness, and Frank O'Farrell at Old Trafford. Split into sections, it is a dip-in anthology containing the great triumphs – along with a few disasters. There are vignettes on some of the great players, those who didn’t quite make it, and specially written match reports on the great Cup finals, and a section on the rivalries United faced during the above eras. All in all, it's full of all the memories of the times, which for younger readers, will give them an insight into what United was all about before the arrival and era of Sir Alex Ferguson. RE-EDITED FOR EASIER READ ON MOBILE DEVICES 2021 REFORMATTED DECEMBER 2021




Football And How To Survive It


Book Description

'The good news for those who loved THE ACCIDENTAL FOOTBALLER: this new book is even better. There were times as I read Pat Nevin's account of his years running - or, trying to run - Motherwell, I had to remind myself to breathe. It's a thrilling read - funny, nerve-wracking, precise and very, very human' - Roddy Doyle So, you fell into football by accident. You've played for Chelsea, Everton and your country at an international level. But what happens when you discover you're in so deep that football has taken over your whole life? In his brilliant new memoir, Pat Nevin takes us on a journey to the less glamorous side of football. From Tranmere to Kilmarnock, he plays some of the best football he's ever played. Then, in an unprecedented twist of fate, finds himself both player and Chief Executive of Scottish First Division club Motherwell. What follows is an entertaining and revealing tale of the side of football that you rarely see as Pat tries to keep the lid on simmering tensions between owner and the manager; travels in Lear jets one moment, but has to sell off half the team, the next. So much is madness, like being the manager's boss, and his player at the same time; or discovering that the ground's goalposts are higher on one side than on the other! And with impossible challenges at every corner, such as learning that their son is autistic, and the club hurtling towards administration, Pat strives to walk the impossible line between player, parent and boss. FOOTBALL AND HOW TO SURVIVE IT is a real one-off, uncovering the sport in all its complex, confusing and calamitous glory. Once you've read it, you may never look at the game in the same way again.




Union Jock


Book Description

July 30, 1966. Bobby Moore is lifting the Jules Rimet trophy, Denis Law is playing golf, and a young boy in Edinburgh is being taught the most important lesson of his life: no matter who England are playing, you support the other lot. If the opposition have a dodgy human rights record, or are cruel to wasps, or can't even be located on a large-format map - too bad. You support the other lot. Forty years on, and Aidan Smith has done a pretty good job of supporting the other lot. But these days he should be old enough, and ugly enough, to be above petty, playground-formed sporting squabbles. Besides, the World Cup is coming, Scotland haven't made it, and he's about to marry an Englishwoman. Maybe it's a sign. But can a Scotsman ever cheer for 'Ingerland'? In Union Jock, Aidan Smith investigates the age-old England-Scotland emnity, both on and off the football field. The Scots may have suffered at the hands of the Auld Enemy for centuries - Braveheart, Culloden, Jimmy Hill calling David Narey's goal a "toe-poke" (against Brazil in the 1982 World Cup, top right-hand corner) - but now they're a nation on the rise, with a spanking new parliament to prove it. But what do the fans, players, politicians, and Sassenach invaders really think about their English neighbours? Would supporting England be a denial of their Scottishness? Join Aidan Smith on his quest to put an end to centuries of not-so-friendly rivalry. That's if the Scots don't get him first. Or the English.




Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids?


Book Description

'You will love this book.' - RICHARD OSMAN Shortlisted for the Penderyn Music Book Prize A Rough Trade Book of the Year A Resident Book of the Year A Monorail Book of the Year A Virgin Radio Book of the Year In 1986, the NME released a cassette that would shape music for years to come. A collection of twenty-two independently signed guitar-based bands, C86 was the sound and ethos that defined a generation. It was also arguably the point at which 'indie' was born. But what happened next to all those musical dreamers? Some of the bands, like Primal Scream, went on to achieve global stardom; others, such as Half Man Half Biscuit and The Wedding Present, cultivated lifelong fanbases that still sustain their careers today. Then there were the rest - the ones who endured general indifference from the record-buying public and ultimately returned to civvy street. Now, thirty-five years on, journalist Nige Tassell tracks down the class of C86, unearthing members of all twenty-two bands and sharing the stories, both tragic and uplifting, of these long-lost musicians. Told with warmth, compassion and humour, this is a very human account of ambition, hope, varying degrees of talent and what happens after you give up on music - or, more accurately, after music gives up on you. It's a world populated by bike-shop owners, dance-music producers, record-store proprietors, ornithologists, driving instructors, solicitors, caricaturists and possibly even an Olympic sailor. And let's not forget the musician-turned-actor gainfully employed as Jeremy Irons' body double... More than simply the tale of the tape, Whatever Happened to the C86 Kids? is an exploration of C86's wide-reaching and often surprising legacy.




The Rough Guide to Rock


Book Description

Compiles career biographies of over 1,200 artists and rock music reviews written by fans covering every phase of rock from R & B through punk and rap.




Liverpool - Wondrous Place


Book Description

No other city in the world is as well known or loved for its vibrant and definitive musical history as Liverpool. In 2002, Guinness World Records: British Hit Singles voted Liverpool 'World Capital of Pop', recognising that Liverpool's homegrown talent has produced more number one hit singles per capita than anywhere else in the world. In 2008, Liverpool will celebrate its crown as European Capital of Culture. Paul Du Noyer's acclaimed book takes us on a tour of the rich musical history of his hometown, from the world-famous Cavern Club in Mathew Street, host to the Beatles' debut performance in 1961, to the city's musical future with contemporary bands like The Zutons. Featuring interviews with key figures of the music scene, this book reveals the creative impulse behind Britain's most musical city. Find out why Liverpool is not just a place where music happens. The city is the reason music happens.




The New Review


Book Description