On 23 April, World Book Day, Soudajun brought 12 unmissable football books that were named to the Guardian's top 50 sports books. What books have you read about football? In the comments at the end of this article, you can also recommend one of your favorite football books.
1
Extreme Fever
Title: Fever Pitch
By Nick Hornby
Recommendation: The most significant significance of this fan confession book is not that it breaks the boundaries of new publishing, but that it is gentlemanly football and gives the sport many subtexts. This is a very good book. Hornby's "extreme fanaticism", an expression of irrational love, overcomes many of the rational standards set by football, making it imitated but never surpassed.
2
The Death of the Goalkeeper: The Tragedy of Robert Enke
Title: A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke
By Ronald Reng
Testimonials: Many books have been dubbed "beyond sports" accolades, but this is not appropriate to describe the book. Ronald Ren's biography of German goalkeeper Enke covers football, family life, depression, and the anxieties and insecurities in the hearts of a group of characters deemed indestructible by the masses. The highs and lows of Enke's career were staggering, and this book is one of the most tragic and heartbreaking sports books in recent years. When I finished reading this book I wanted everyone to read it, and this book shows that no one is indestructible.
3
The Miracle of Castel Sangro
Title: The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro
By Joe McGinniss
Recommended: American writer Joe McGinnis chose to spend a season with the Italian town of Castel Sangro after losing the Gold Medal for Documentary Fiction. Their first season in the Second Division was embroiled in several scandals such as drugs and match-fixing. But in the end, he was successfully relegated with a series of wonderful performances. McGinnis describes it all to the reader with the enthusiasm of a new fan and the imagination of a novelist.
4
Devil's United
Title: The Damned United
By David Peace
Testimonials: One of the best books after David Pease's Journey of Blood. The book imagines the loneliness and ordeal of Brian Clough in 1974 when he took over as Don Rivie in leeds United for 44 days. It's a masterpiece that describes emotions more than documentary. Pease's rhythmic, intermittent, repetitive prose style is easy to imitate, but his gorgeous portraits of Clough's fascist screams, over-tension, hysteria, irritability, etc., are very interesting.
5
Feet Follow: Pirlo's Autobiography
Title: I Think Therefore I Play
By Andrea Pirlo with Alessandro Alciato
Testimonials: This is really not the way Pirlo really speaks and thinks. As the coolest and most seasoned Italian midfielder of his time, ghostwriter Alexandro Arcato evokes another side of his amusing, sarcastic, contemptuous and thought-provoking side. Speaking of Pirlo's penalty at the 2006 World Cup final, the description of his thought journey is fascinating.
6
The Game That Runs Through My Life
Title: The Game of My Life
By Gary Ablett with Paul Joyce
The story got even heavier when the former Liverpool and Everton defender was diagnosed with cancer during the writing of his autobiography. The last chapter of the book is very touching because we realize that this is a man writing down his own life memories, and he can't live to see the book published. In addition to the heartbreaking ending, Albright's story also provides a rare perspective on what took place at Anfield and Goodison during the victories and chaos at both clubs.
7
"Football Against the Enemy"
Title: Football Against the Enemy
By Simon Kuper
Cooper's travelogue in the world's most weighty derby precisely illustrates how football operates as a vehicle for broader social and political divisions. Although the book was written in 1994, it remains meaningful and persuasive in the two decades since the end of the Cold War.
8
"Red"
Title: Red
By Gary Neville
Testimonials: This book helped Neville complete the transition from a brilliant player in Manchester United and England to a media man. The former Manchester United captain is one of the most influential figures in English football and from his powerful opinion we can glimpse the conceptual model of English football.
9
The Seeker Who Has No Place to Live
Title: The Nowhere Men
By Mike Calvin
Recommendation: In this book, Mike Calvin tries to make the scouting job sound like the most romantic existence. It seemed bleak and lonely. It provides a fascinating insight into the often misunderstood and represented parts of the sport. It reveals the struggle, dedication and time of the people who love football and can't live without football. These people who fight for the soul of football are undervalued and underpaid, and the hateful are the Premier League clubs that make a lot of money with their computers and data. Well, that's at least what some scouts have seen.
10
Football man
Title: The Football Man
Author: Arthur Hopcraft
Testimonials: This is a book with writing challenges because it's based on database and intimacy. Picturesque portraits of players, managers and fans are all here. The George Best chapter is unforgettable.
11
Forbes God
Title: Richer Than God
By David Conn
Testimonials: Not just about the history of Manchester City and the impact of the Abu Dhabi consortium's takeover, but also a practical analysis of Manchester's industrial decline, leaving behind a great, independent Victorian city. Conn delved deep into part of the city that had been abandoned by the government but saved by royal families in the Middle East, and what they called present-day Britain.
12
Inverted Pyramid
Title: Inverting the Pyramid
By Jonathan Wilson
Recommended: A niche craze. It's hard to determine whether the awesome "soccer hipsters" who appeared in futsal games in Penthouses in Eindhoven's away shirt in 1972 were just Wilson's artistic creations or whether he simply summed up what really happened. It's a book about the tactical origins of football, and it shows how football develops and how athletes and coaches push the sport into shape. It's a history book and a book of love for football fans.