I just finished the book GERRARD - MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY. Truly an amazing read. No surprise that it was awarded the Sports Book of The Year 2007 in the Galaxy British Book Award. Gerrard brought us through his life from the words of Henry Winter and Paul Joyce. From his humble beginnings in Ironside to his Liverpool debut, from his first cap for England to Istanbul glory. It was so absorbing that I finished the 500-page book in just 2 seatings.

Prior to this, I have read Ryan Gigg's autobiography, equally inspiring and also the official autobiography of David Beckham - who took me through his lavish and much celebrated life.

So, any other good books to read regarding football personalities or even about the beautiful game itself?

Let's share

Hard to be neutral here as I mostly read Liverpool based books. Good to see you aren't biased in your reading unlike me . I personally liked "The Essential Shankly" and Fowler's biography. There is also a book on hooliganism but I can't remember it's title. Gives you a deep insight into the psyche of a hardcore football fan.

Interestingly, after reading Steven Gerrard's biography, he does have a pretty tight relationship with the players from the Big 4 He actually dished out a lot of compliments for people like Henry, Terry, Scholes, Ashley Cole and Lampard. Gerrard also appeared to be idolising Wayne Rooney over and over again in his book! Weird eh?

The way he described THAT NIGHT in Istanbul sent chills down my spine.

This post has been edited by blinky: Oct 7 2008, 07:13 PM

Speaking of being tight, you get to see how the players in the "big four" have drifted apart in recent times when representing England in Fowler's biography. It seems that because managers like Sven and Hoddle do not encourage interaction, there are groups within the group.

For football fans especially United fans, please take time to read Sir Bobby Charlton's Autobiography..


Sir Bobby was asked numerous times about releasing a book, since his life was and is very colourful (Munich Air disaster survivor, his strained relationship with his brother Jack, winning both the European Cup and World Cup etc...) and he is one of the few remaining gentlemen in football... He took some time (a lot of years) to finally release a proper one... and it was a good read to me.

Some touching stories from him such as how Munich effected him and his family relation, stories such as Sir Matt Busby being so sad and grieve (he didn't want to talk to any reporters) after the death of his close friend Bill Shankly and others..

For jersey collectors or fans of football jerseys in English football, grab a book called True Colours.


There are 2 volumes. Volume 1 contains information of jerseys used by current EPL teams like the big 4 (Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool) and other teams while Volume 2 contains information on other teams such as Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and national jerseys of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Eire.

Here's a sneak peek preview of the contents in Volume 2:


The three books can be purchased at Kinokuniya at KLCC. Look for the sports section as shown below:


This post has been edited by schmeichel7: Oct 7 2008, 07:28 PM

Gazza: My Story by Hunter Davies is a pretty good read. Interesting lifestyle Gazza has. Giggsy's and Fowler's auto biography are also good. I finished Fowler's book in one sitting at MPH Mid Valley, took me bout 5 hours. It was that good.

I've read Roy Keane's as well. Equally as good. For me, I choose to read players or managers who has achieved something, or at least has bags of experience. I stay clear of autobiographies of players like Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney etc.. They're in their twenties for god's sake, wait until you're done with your career, then write a book.

Especially the Glen Hoddle part from the Fowler's book.

I like the Fowler's autobiography, i heard that Fever Pitch is quite good as well. Written by an Arsenal fan

carragher autobiography release in msia edi?

wow, sorry out of topic...
does those selling books places allow pictures ?
i remember last time when i wanted to take a picture, they doesnt allow it

I' ve read on Roy Keane and David Beckham.

cara's autobiography... get it from my aunt who is living in uk....

the thing i like on that was what he talked about on his relationship with benitez...

how he looked into the eye of benitez when he was 1st there, sort of challenging him... and gerrard too did the not so welcome attitude to rafa...

he also hails how rafa changed him into a centre-half of European pedigree and how rafa joked around with him before champion league games semi final and constantly gives him advises and support...

overall it is a good book to read on... especially to see how cara had a dig on rafa and the ownership stuff and the secret behind the team...

LOL cudnt agree more!
sigh i cant imagine i can finish an autobiography for 5 hours... but yea go and get a free reading in mph, lol

Where can I get Gerrard's one? And anyone read Mourinho's one? Always fascinated by him.

i been curious on this book i saw at borders.

Picking up a Jose Mourinho biography at the local bookstores is not a difficult feat. There are many which claimed to be most comprehensive and insightful take on Jose's managerial resume but the one definitive publication that stands out to me is 'Jose Mourinho: Made in Portugal'. It entails Jose's rise to managerial success from his humble beginnings as an assistant coach to Sir Bobby Robson at Barca to his UEFA Cup and UCL achievements with Porto.

As this book is authored by his close friend, Luis Lorenco, you can expect to get first hand knowledge on his tactical skils and how he motivates his players to do 'battle and 'die' for him on the pitch. As a bonus, there's a special final chapter written by 'Special One' himself regarding his move to Chelsea. A highly recommended reading for Jose's fans and for someone who would like to know the man himself better.

I got mine from MPH Midvalley. RM49.90 if I'm not mistaken. Good read, thick as a bible!

I guess if you really like Stevie G's book you'll be amazed after you read Fowler's one. Gerrard focuses more into his national career but Fowler had good in-depth stories within the clubs he played especially his affiliations with Liverpool. His goal-line snorting celebration is really an eye opener. 'A Season on the Brink: Rafael Benitez, Liverpool and the Path to European Glory' is also a good read, real info into what went wrong between Rafa & the Valencia boards and towards his first season in charge at Anfield. I'm biased, I know

This post has been edited by easypeasy: Oct 7 2008, 11:20 PM

wow..this one i shud hv..i mean,he's the one who bring chelsea in this state today..must get

i have read FOUL! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote Rigging and Ticket Scandals.

The controversial book is based on years of investigation by journalist Andrew Jennings, it's about everything the current corrupted FIFA president, Sepp Blatter and his allies like Jack Warner don't want us to know.

fact or fiction, the book has a huge wow factor and many stunning uncovered secrets!

Could not agree more which is why I never bought Gerrard's one. It was given to me for my birthday. Some of them look more like a journal than an autobiography.

Speaking of autobiographies, has anyone seen one on Bobby Robson? I reckon that would be a good read. I saw one on Pele which was pretty inexpensive. I was also looking at "The Truth" by Phil Scraton but it was a little pricey at the time. Has anyone seen Phil Thompson's one? I believe it's called "Stand Up Pinocchio". Saw it at Kinokuniya sometime back.


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I don't own any book but I always in Borders reading some footie books/magazine. One of them is book about Ryan Giggs and history of Man United and one more book about Top 50 United Player.

But i also read some Liverpool Season Review (not sure the title) from 2000 - 2005. But was bought by my brother. He's a hardcore Liverpool fan.

Besides, me and my brother once was collector of "EPL" magazine. Now no more.

That's all.

This post has been edited by maxizanc: Oct 7 2008, 11:54 PM

Read a couple of chapters of Gerrard's biography and Jose Mourinho's at the bookstores. Agreed that the chapters on Istanbul was spine-tingling, while Mourinho offered much insight into his management style and my fav, tactical ideas & training methods. I've not been able to find the book since!

I think the best place to get football books would be kinokuniya. They have a section dedicated to sports and a whole rack for football I think. If all else fails, you can go to the info counter and ask them to order a book for you.

Speaking of buying books online, I've bought 3 myself. If you are a Liverpool fan in particular, you may have heard of Paul Tomkins. I purchased his first three books entitled, "Golden Past, Red Future", "Red Revival" and "Above Us Only Sky" respectively. To my surprise I then received a complimentary copy of "Red Review" with Paul's autograph and a message that read, "Hope you enjoy it!". I sent him a personal message thanking him and he replied. For those that do not know him, Paul is a lifelong Liverpool fan who is suffering from illness but still manages to take some time off to write and he now only goes to Anfield when his health permits him to do so. He is also a regular poster on RAWK. He has since released a few other books as shown below. I'm going to purchase "Dynasty" next. It's a paperback and is pretty inexpensive. Those that are familiar with him will note that although he has rose tinted glasses on, he provides statistics to back up everything he writes.





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From what I gather, "The Real Bill Shankly" which is officially his book with permission from his family should be a better book. But I've not read it yet.
Now looking forward to Carra & "The Real Bob Paisley" book

How about Alan Shearer?

Well here is what Carragher's book looks like. Stupid Ryan (MyRAWK's Torres) still has my Shankly book! It's been with him for the past 4 years and he's told me the pages have come off! Grrr..


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Speaking of Jamie Carragher, here are some excerpts taken from Steven Gerrard's autobiography regarding Carragher and his commitment towards the team during their course towards Istanbul Glory in 2005.

"We survived because of one man - Jamie Carragher. I looked at Carra and saw a man hell-bent on not letting the lead slip. He was prepared to offer the last drop of sweat and blood in his body to get us to Istanbul. Carra knows his history and knew what it meant for Liverpool to reach the final. He did everything to prevent Chelsea ruining Liverpool's dream. He tackled, blocked, headed. Good at the Bridge, Carra was a Colossus at Anfield." - On Jamie's performance for the last few minutes against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-finals, 2nd leg.

Had some time to kill a few months back in Mid Valley, so spent around 3,4 hours in MPH and read Keano's book. Managed to finish half though. Thought it was a very good read.

Being a Chels fan, can't help but to automatically look for Chelsea related books whenever I'm at the local bookstores, be it Kino or Borders. Similar to Duke Red, you can say that I'm a bit biased lah...

However, a few 'neutral' books that I did pick up were FOUL! The Secret World of FIFA: Bribes, Vote Rigging and Ticket Scandals, Gazza's book and the current one that I'm reading based on England managers for the past 40 years I think. Quite interesting this, a journalist's look on the performances, attitudes, styles of the last few England Managers including Bobby Robson, Graham Taylor, Glenn Hoddle, etc. And the author is Brian Glanville, a respected footy journalist who also pens for World Soccer magazine at times.

This post has been edited by aw13: Oct 8 2008, 12:45 PM

Oh yeah, also got a book for cheaps at this one warehouse sale I went to. Can't remember the title but it was about the sex scandals of players and managers. Malcolm Allison and George Best, the king of em all. Hahahaha.

i've read that book. was good isnt it?

roykeane is the man wei

I've only read three Arsenal books. The first was Fever Pitch, which I'm sure most people here already know about. It's a phenomenal book, and could be enjoyed by any sports fan, but it seems even more special for Arsenal supporters. The second was Arsène Wenger - The Biography by Xavier Rivoire. I found it quite interesting, and about half of it was pre-Arsenal material.

The third Arsenal book I read was "Arsenal from the heart" by Bob Wall...it was written in 1970, just before we won our first double, so it's one of the most sincere and well written football books I've read, from a guy that was with Arsenal from the Chapman era onwards...in fact, anyone who's a Gooner and wants to know more about our History pre '70's should read it.

Never got about to reading too many autobiographies but certainly will once I finish my SPM this year. Also the one book that I really want to read is 'Arsenal:The Making of a Modern Super-Club'.

It quite nice to read actually... I love the part when he talks on his relationship with rafa... we can actually discovered the different rafa we know...the warm and frenly 1 instead of the cold 1... cost quite a boom..17pound if i m not mistaken...

not out here yet?

I'm not sure if it's available here yet. I believe they have a package on offer at Amazon. His biography an Paul Tomkins' "Dynasty" for $16.08 pounds. Not sure how much the shipping cost is though.

shipping is almost always the killer.

sometimes even more than the book : cry :

i saw carra's bio today at kinokuniya for RM81.90.
borders doesnt have it yet, so i'll just wait.

On sale already? Great! Is it hardcover? i have been waiting for it. Thanks for the info.

nah, all soft...didnt see any hardcovers around.

am going to MPH MV this weekend to go and get my free reading! hehe

Good. Will go look for it next time

I read Rooney's part one of his autobiography and it was just rubbish. He had so little to write about that he posted his report card results on one page And another, the book went along the lines of "I was tired after the England game but Colleen was beside me in bed. It was nice...."

I managed to read Fat Lamp's book - it wasn't too bad but Keane's one was still the best that I've read so far.

This post has been edited by kobe8byrant: Oct 11 2008, 12:04 PM

Bummer! lol .. aint gonna waste my few hours of life to read his book. might as well watch his goals compilation^^

hey, i rushed to kinokuniya grab the book yesterday after reading your post. Currently reading it!

hah.
today i went kinokuniya again.
ALL OF THEM WERE SOLD OUT

i'll still wait for borders to get them.