Commuting from work these days gives me plenty of time to get stuck into a good book. My journey is supposed to be just 12 minutes each way but thanks to the generosity of South Eastern Trains, they want me to get my money’s worth so it is regularly 20 minutes plus. 40 Minutes a day, 200 minutes a week. That’s about a book a week. Whilst not all of my reading habits are about the beautiful game, there is a fair few that are. So here are the top three books we’ve tucked into this year.
3rd Place – Danish Dynamite – The Story of Football’s Greatest Cult Team – Rob Smyth
2nd Place – Punk Football – The Rise of Fan Ownership in English Football – Jim Keoghan
My one disappointment was that Keoghan didn’t go lower down the footballing pyramid to see how it works at the real grass roots level. I’m pleased to say that he has since popped along to the Dripping Pan to put that right! Nevertheless, this is a great book and should be read by every fan who is starting to doubt the motives of their club’s owners. There is inspiration in every chapter that the future can be bright and can be driven from the bottom up.
1st Place – Falling for Football – Adam Bushby & Rob McDonald
Sooner or later everyone realises that football is a succession of ups and downs. Granted, for some clubs like Man Utd that “up” has been for nearly 20 years and now a new generation of fans are realising that teams like Swansea or Sunderland are allowed to come to Old Trafford and win. But what about those of us who don’t support City, United, Arsenal or Chelsea? What about the Weymouth fans who go through Chairman it seems once a month, or Tooting and Mitcham? Well this is the story of 44 fans and their love for their team.
What makes this book great is that it is essentially 44 different styles of writing ranging from seasoned writers to those making their debut in print and reasons behind why they love their club. This is a perfect book to pick up and delve into without losing any of a plot or story-line. As far as I am aware it is also a first in terms of its subject matter.
Of course I am slightly biased as my journey from an Arsenal fan, via West Ham to the Dripping Pan is documented here but what makes this a great read for me is getting a rare view into the minds of other football fans – and trust me…that is worrying. FIFA Five Stars from me
Tomorrow – Day 4 of our TBIR Christmas and our top three worst games of 2014.