David Collins previews the latest title from South Wales based writer Tim Hartley.
The World at Your Feet follows up Hartley’s earlier title, ‘Kicking Off in North Korea’ itself an enjoyable meander around the author’s world of travelling the football globe. Think of this as the second leg.
I like Tim Hartley’s writing. For me, he combines the wide-eyed wonder of an 11-year old with worldly-wise contemplations born from his lifetime in PR and the media. The fact that he chooses football as a vehicle for his thoughts in this title puts this latest work even further up my must read list.
Hartley opens this odyssey by describing his first ever trip to a football match. Ninian Park in the 70s. This was the former home of Cardiff City. An arena renowned for its boisterous atmosphere. The author captures the mood of the time well, establishing his early fascination both with events on the field and wider terrace culture. It set the tone for a lifetime of football studies.
We read how the grown up Hartley experienced football culture under Covid-19 restrictions, glimpsed the game behind the Iron Curtain and formed thoughts on “football tourists”. Not many of us have experienced the beautiful game Hong Kong style, but Tim has, and explains the experiences to us.
Do not make the mistake of dismissing this title as a mere collection of boozy stories from Bulgarian bars.
Sure, Tim moans about the price of alcohol at Stanstead Airport but he also peels away the layers behind each trip, explaining how the games are central to it all but not the whole experience. He campaigns and cajoles; I loved his thoughts on kick off time for the FA Cup Final for example. Throw in the writer’s incisive commentaries on life in Gabon, Finland, Dublin and many more and we have a book which, frankly, delivers more than you might first expect.
The author appears almost misty eyed, in recounting the story of the Homeless World Cup, held in Cardiff in 2019. One of the most emotional football occasions I have attended.
Tim discusses racism, Russians in Ku Klux Klan hoods, and the state of modern hooliganism. National Identity. Basques. Team GB and the Clapton Ultras. He champions football supporters as agents of change, tells how Welsh fans have travelled the globe on charity missions and meets families, friends and fans.
For me, the most intriguing account occurs when Tim recalls his visit to HMP Prescott. The chapter has pathos, colour and empathy. He describes a football occasion, which few of us may have witnessed. This chapter perhaps sums up the whole book. Tim glances at life through a football lens. Whether this takes him to Barcelona or behind bars, to Cardiff or North Korea. Few things diminish his love of the subject and his understanding of the place of the game to individuals, organisations, and even states, around the world. At times, Tim Hartley looks at football as a microcosm of society, or even of life itself.
The book is deeply rooted in football stories. It will probably appeal best to the groundhopper audience, but there is also enough reference to familiar teams, names and places to retain the audiences of most students of football, politics or social history. At times he is Michael Palin, at other times he is Danny Baker. Mostly though, he is Tim Hartley.
The book works very well indeed and is certainly worth a read.
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Neil Harman’s book Close Quarters will be out in August 2020
A piece of home counties history was made in Wembley on Monday night when Wycombe Wanderers reached the second tier of English football for the very first time. They beat Oxford United 2-1 in the final at an empty but noisy Wembley Stadium.
The delight will be obvious in Buckinghamshire, a county that is not known for reaching such heights in the English Football pyramid.
But one man watching a safe social distance from me last night at Wembley had even more reason for glee.
Former Daily Mail journalist Neil Harman had wanted to write a book covering the season of a club who he feared might struggle in 2019/20. So many books are written about successful sides, but a tell-all book about a club losing many matches would be a rarity, and in the right hands, a great read.
Harman’s history suggested he had the literary chops to do that. As well as the Mail, Harman had written for The Times, and was the SJA Sports News Reporter of the Year in 2007.
He collaborated with Andy Murray and David Beckham on their stories, also writing Court Confidential: A Year in Tennis and Gambling for Life, along with Harry Findlay, which was longlisted for the William Hill prize in 2017. It was also named in the top ten Sunday Times sports books in the same year.
Wycombe wasn’t always the plan. Initially Harman had approached his local club Southend United, but they were less keen.
So he looked around for another club who he thought might be above their weight and reveal a good story about how clubs and players persevere when things are going against them.
Wycombe had struggled in their last three appearances in League One. They had resulted in relegation at their first attempt and were at a financial disadvantage to most other clubs in their division.
Wycombe only just avoided the drop last season after ending a ten game streak in which they took just one point, ironically ending that run on a memorable day in Southend. That’s where you could say Southend native Harman’s story really begins.
– Wycombe aim to revive the “Spirit of Southend” as they head to Wembley –
Wycombe had struggled in their last three appearances in League One. They had resulted in relegation at their first attempt and were at a financial disadvantage to most other clubs in their division.
Yet somehow, they have not only survived but last night secured a first ever promotion to England’s second tier. Harman’s book has taken on a totally different hue. He was tense enough as he entered the stadium but after the final whistle, he exuded almost an air of disbelief in what Gareth Ainsworth’s side had achieved.
“I’m not from Wycombe. I’ve never really seen them until this season, but this is one of the greatest stories in football.
“I’ve seen a lot here. I’ve seen World Cups. I’ve seen European Championships. I’ve been with United when they won the Premier League back in my Daily Mail days, and this is right up there. This is right up there.”
They will be heading to the Championship next season for the first time in their history and Harman is, as I write, adding the last and most unlikely chapter to his book Close Quarters, a title that gives a nod to the club’s iconic quartered jerseys.
“Who’s going to buy that book now?” quipped a joyful Wanderers player at him as he walked by through the press tribune last night.
Close Quarters is out on August 3
Harman has decided not to go back and amend any of the chapters in the light of the extraordinary and unexpected conclusion to the season, a move that seems designed to preserve the authenticity of the narrative.
The access Harman was given to both coach and players became a very different challenge during lockdown and their prolonged period of inactivity, something he could not have foreseen when he took on the challenge.
It will be interesting to read a deeper insight into how bored young athletes, deprived of their passion of playing football, reacted to having it all taken away amid a global pandemic.
That may well have been the main story of the book, but now it is just one of the many side stories from inside a club who still don’t seem to believe their own reality.
Bill Turnbull works for Wycombe Wanderers media. In the absence of any fans, he and Chief Financial Officer Pete Couhig, led the chanting of “Chairboys, Chairboys” from areas of the stadium where such lack of decorum is normally frowned upon.
It seemed to lift some fairly tired legs as Oxford pressed for an equaliser in the closing stages.
His spectacles may have been hiding a tear. Turnbull was emotional as he watched the players celebrate on the pitch at Wembley:
“It’s beyond dreams really. It is a dream. Some say that winning the Premer League is a big deal. But for a side that nearly fell out of the Football League just a few seasons ago, to be in the Championship now is beyond belief in some respects.”
They join Coventry City and Rotherham United who won automatic promotion to the Championship next year.
More romantically, the tiny club from one of the lesser known footballing counties will be locking horns with the likes of Derby County, Nottingham Forest and possibly Aston Villa and West Ham.
Someone should write a book about that adventure.
Close Quarters is out on August 3, 2020 and will be available from WHSmith and Waterstones, and online.
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The book is Foster’s sixth publication and follows titles such ‘The A-Z of Football Hates’, ‘Football’s Flaws & Foibles’ and ‘World Cup Nuggets’.
Foster writes regularly for the Guardian as well as writing pieces for The Football League.
His latest work delves into the facts and figures of every club to have played in England’s top-flight since the Premier League’s inception in 1992.
Hardy interviewed him about his latest work:
1. What was your inspiration for the book?
Following the popularity of last year’s World Cup Nuggets, we wanted to use a similar formula, namely a mixture of statistics, idiosyncrasies and quirky facts in our approach to the Premier League.
As Martin Tyler sums it up really well in the foreword, the book is “full of the titbits of trivia that we football fans absolutely adore.”
Importantly, each of the 49 clubs that have appeared in the Premier League since its inception in 1992 are featured and I cannot think of any other books that adopt a similar perspective.
I also felt it was essential to include a view from the fans of the clubs as their voice needs to be heard because they are so often sidelined for the sake of television and revenue generation.
2. Do you have a favourite statistic from the book?
There are so many to choose from and my favourite changes quite regularly but if I am going to select just one it would be this:
The last Manchester United player to score a hat-trick was Robin van Persie, back in April 2013 against Aston Villa when they wrapped up Sir Alex Ferguson’s 13th and last Premier League title.
It seems incredible that a United player has not scored a hat-trick in the post-Ferguson era and over the 6 1/2 years since there have been 75 Premier League hat-tricks, 16 of which have been scored by United’s city rivals Manchester City alone.
During this period over 20 clubs have registered hat-tricks including the likes of QPR, Norwich and West Bromwich Albion.
Foster’s favourite statistic may propel Manchester United strikers to end a surprising famine
3. How has writing the book changed your perspective on the Premier League?
As I am old enough to remember what football was like before the Premier League began in 1992 I am acutely aware that the Premier League is not the be-all and end-all.
Also having written a book about the history of the Football League Play-Offs, “The Agony & The Ecstasy”, I fully appreciate that there is plenty to admire and get excited about in the lower tiers of English football.
Also as I mentioned above, I do have reservations about how broadcasters hold the whip hand and supporters often suffer as a result. Having said that, writing the book has reminded me that the Premier League has generated incredible drama and attracted some of the most talented players from across the globe, such as Ronaldo, Drogba and Aguero, over the last 28 years.
Additionally, I very much enjoyed writing about the smaller clubs such as Barnsley, Blackpool and Swindon who may have only spent one season in the Premier League but who all had an impact for one reason or another.
4. Can you tell us about the process of obtaining the stats for the book?
It was interesting to note how statistics have developed over the years. We now have more than enough to satiate the appetite of even the most nerdy people and I include myself in that bracket.
But before the likes of Opta came along, there was not the deluge of information which we have grown accustomed to.
My main source was through Gracenote and Simon Gleave who is Head of Analysis for their sports division, whom I have worked with before on several projects.
Simon and I discussed how I wanted to do something a little different from the rest and we came up with stats like the lowest and highest attendances for each club.
Other than Gracenote and Opta, I used a huge variety of sources, including the Premier League’s own website, which is pretty comprehensive and accessible as well as Sky Sports, the Transfermarkt database and Perform’s Soccerway. It is very important when writing a book like this to use as many sources as possible to check and verify all the information.
Premier League Nuggets: One League, 27 Seasons, 49 Clubs, a World of Facts & Figures is available to buy now at the following sites:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2OrD7ow
Ockley Books: bit.ly/2XsBdb4
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Herrera led Mexico at the 2014 World Cup and Xolos to the top of the 2016 Apertura
Tijuana Xolos and former Mexico head coach, Miguel Herrera will be the guest Foreword writer for Prost Amerika’s inaugural Mexican Soccer Yearbook.
He will join Mexico Editor Jonny Rico, guest writers and the photographers of Prost Amerika to create the first English language Yearbook specifically written for Mexican-American soccer fans.
Herrera spoke about his participation:
“I’d like to thank Prost and Jonny Rico for this recognition and for thinking of me to help with an important project like this book. Writing the foreword of a book will be something new for me, but I am thankful and it will be an honor to contribute and participate with the book.
“We hope this will be a big hit for them.”
After safely shepherding Mexico through playoffs to the 2014 World Cup Finals, Miguel Herrera was offered the job on a permanent basis to lead El Tri in Brazil at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Herrera’s side emerged from a tough group including Brazil and fought the hosts to a memorable 0-0 draw in the process before beating Croatia 3-1 to advance undefeated.
Mexico was finally eliminated from the World Cup in the Round of 16 stage by the Netherlands after a controversial penalty awarded for a foul on Arjen Robben.
Kim Little is forewording the Women’s Soccer Yearbook
Herrera went on to lead Mexico to the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup Title in the USA before an altercation with a journalist on the way home from Philadelphia cost him that job despite that success.
He took over at Liga MX side Tijuana Xolos that November, and he has guided the border club to the top of the current 2016 Apertura standings. Herrera is looking for his second title as a coach, having guided Club America to the Clausura in 2013.
He joins a prominent list of Prost Amerika Foreword writers.
Timber Jim Serrill wrote the Foreword to Cup Bound & Crowned, a book covering the Portland Timbers 2015 MLS cup win.
Earlier this month, it was announced that BBC Player of the Year, Arsenal FC’s Kim Little would pen the Foreword to 2016 — The Year in Women’s Soccer, which is already on Pre-Sale.
2016 – The Year in Mexican Soccer is scheduled to launch in early December 2016.
Actual launch date, book signing events, etc. will be announced on Prost Publishing Facebook page.
We are proud to announce that Seattle Reign’s Kim Little will write the Foreword to the inaugural edition of Prost Amerika’s first ever Women’s Soccer Yearbook called, 2016 – The Year in Womens Soccer.
Little made international headlines in May when she won the highly respected award BBC Women’s Footballer of the Year award ahead of players like Carli Lloyd, Becky Sauerbrunn, Gaelle Enganamouit and Amandine Henry.
We were therefore delighted when she accepted our invitation to headline the Book adding:
“The growth and popularity of the women’s game across the world, and in particular in the USA, over the last 15 years has been huge and I’m thankful to have experienced it.
“The opportunity to support and contribute to the Prost Amerika’s Women’s Soccer Yearbook allows me to give something back to the game that has given me so many opportunities and experiences.
“I’m happy to play a part in helping continue the growth and exposure the sport deserves.”
Little plays for Seattle Reign in the NWSL and represents Scotland at international level. She also represented Team GB at the London Olympics.
She is the NWSL’s all time leading scorer with a current total of 31 goals and those goals helped guide her club side to two successive Shield wins in 2014 and 2015. In addition, she won the Golden Boot and the Most Valuable Player Awards in 2014.
At international level, her national side Scotland stand one game away from qualification for their first major finals, EURO2017 and could indeed be guaranteed that qualification before even playing their last qualifying match, away to Iceland.
She has scored 46 goals in 117 internationals for The Dark Blues.
Keelin Winters and Megan Rapinoe celebrate another Kim Little goal
In addition to Kim Little, special guest writers will include Jamie Trecker, the first ever soccer columnist on ESPN.com who will write on Women’s Soccer in the Media and London journalist Asif Burhan covering the 2016 Women’s Soccer Olympic tournament in Rio.
There will also be player profiles on some of the top USWNT internationals such as Heather O’Reilly, Hope Solo and Christie Rampone as well as coverage of controversies that had people talking about Women’s Soccer throughout the year.
As Little said, it is hoped the book will help grow all aspects of Women’s Soccer and one chapter will give advice and encourage people to get involved in women’s soccer as a journalist and photographer.
Joining Little, Trecker, and Burhan will be the cream of Prost Amerika’s Women’s Soccer beat writers including Women’s Soccer Editor-in-Chief Megan Cleary who will profile those NWSL players who made headlines in Rio.
Prost Amerika has always backed Supporter Culture and they have not been forgotten with a chapter devoted to the Supporters Groups who cheer on their NWSL club sides, as well as another on how the American Outlaws support the USWNT. There is something for everyone in 2016 – The Year in Womens Soccer.
As well as writing, the book will also contain color photographs from Prost Amerika’s beat photographers across North America who cover the NWSL every week and the USWNT internationals
2016 – The Year in Women’s Soccer is scheduled to be on sale in early December, in time for a great seasonal present.
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