The football book was once a Christmas staple. no visit from santa claus to the ross family was complete without the session! annual or the football book topical times. these photo-based posts, along with the obligatory my story of a star player, established a humble perception of football books as illustrated and aimed at children, or as full of clichés as a post-match interview with an impatient coach. but football is a metaphor for life, isn’t it? surely the perfect vehicle to convey the weaknesses of human existence?
writing a novel set against the backdrop of a bankrupt lower league football club has its obvious dangers. Will it drive away those who don’t like the game? Will it be classified as one of those old-school football books and lumped in with the dumping ground of ghostwritten autobiographies of first-league wunderkinds barely out of their teens?
You are reading: Best books about football
my new novel, there’s only one danny garvey, is set in 1996. it’s a book set in a football context, but it’s not a book about football. as well as the damned united (listed below) is a book that examines, through a stream-of-consciousness narrative, the obsessions of a man who thrives in an environment dominated by the often illogical and unforgiving alpha male. there is much more than just a game at stake.
Dig deeper and you’ll find framed books against the game’s irrational passions and ambitions that rank among the best books ever written on any subject. you do not believe me? check out my top 10. should have been 11 but ayrshire youth football teams always get an early ban for dissenting. so, in that spirit, here are the 10 still on the field when the final whistle blows.
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1. The Damned United by David Paz Paz’s masterful novel depicting Brian Clough’s 44 days in office as manager of Leeds United depicts how his paranoia and loneliness (and irrationality) grow with his growing isolation. insomnia takes hold and the clown of the novel struggles to understand why the skills and practices that made him a brilliant soccer player, before the injury that ended his career, and later a fickle manager, have apparently abandoned.
2. the blinder by barry hines is less known than a kestrel for a rascal and i’m maybe the only person in the world who thinks it’s better. the book’s depiction of the redbrick backyards of northern england, and the social context of the early 1960s, is brilliant, and the characters are realistically flawed. The story follows Lennie Hawk, still at school but already displaying the ability of a future England international. Lennie’s attitude to life and football is a mix of the two real-life themes of my next pick.
3. Best and Edwards by Gordon Burn A compelling study of two football giants, doomed to be remembered differently due to the circumstances of their deaths. George Best may have recklessly wasted his genius, while Duncan Edwards had his tragically stolen, but Burn’s beautiful, elegiac writing elevates them both to legendary figures of a country that changed dramatically in the decade between their respective appearances as players. manchester united star in the 50s and 60s.
4. a natural by ross raisinthis is such a beautifully written book. tackles homophobia, football’s only remaining taboo, with a brilliantly nuanced sensibility. the book focuses on the devastating downfall experienced by many young players; be released or sent on loan to lower divisions after the initial promise fails to materialise. Tom has a natural and intuitive playing ability but, as he deals with repressed sexuality and the isolation of being away from home and family, his unnaturalness as a footballer becomes apparent.
5. roddy doyle’s vanmay be a surprising addition to the team sheet, but the van captures the boundless joy of an unexpected drink. In this case, the extraordinary performance of the Irish team in the World Cup final at Italia 90 provides the canvas for a portrait of a tender middle-aged friendship. when jimmy rabbitte sr invests his unemployment money in a beat up fish and chip van, he inadvertently inspires the writing of every one of my books.
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6. nick hornby fever hornby’s memoir details his obsessive relationship with a football club that would not have been his obvious geographical choice. the club begins to fill an emotional void in his young life as his parents’ relationship fractures. Hornby doesn’t shy away from elucidating just how irrational a football fan’s life can become as accessories begin to rule his own relationships with those close to him. is the best book ever written about what it means to dedicate your life to a team, through thick and thin. Too bad it had to be an armory!
7. mcilvanney on football by hugh mcilvanneythe mcilvanney brothers hugh and william (and william’s son liam) were from kilmarnock, my hometown. an incredible level of talent for writing coming from a family. Hugh wrote about sports, just as William (and now Liam) writes about crime. he is the greatest sportswriter of all time, elevating the subject to great art and always finding those finely balanced and interconnected human threads of achievement and failure. Whether it’s the essays written on the giants of the game (Jock Stein, Bill Shankly, Alex Ferguson, etc.) or the unexpected glory of a Killie-winning cup that fills these pages, McIlvanney writes how he played the 1970 Brazil team. ; with effortless grace and control, but also with an impressive imagination. there is no one to touch it on this form.8. Fan by Danny Rhodes A harrowing account of one fan’s struggle to cope with the aftermath of Hillsborough. the unimaginable tragedy in hillsborough is one of the defining events of my generation. He was 24 years old when it happened, only a few years older than John Finch, the central character of this book. Rhodes’ breathy prose absolutely nails that vivid mix of excitement and apprehension about traveling to football games and being herded around in claustrophobic herds before the era of all-seater stadiums.
9. snapshot by daniel gray and alan mccrediemy old colleagues at nutmeg magazine have produced a beautiful, evocative and courageous love letter to the scottish game. Daniel’s poetic descriptions and Alan’s seductive photographs capture the allure of football at every level, but the book is especially poignant as they visit the pitches where the players’ voices can be heard above the fans in the stands.
10. Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson Followers can easily become obsessed with tactics and formations. If the “diamond” trumps the “false nine” or if the 4-3-3 is just 4-5-1 with lazier strikers? and for those who (before covid) lived for those endless pub arguments with no hope of resolution, this book is your bible. although he does not manage to explain the theory of the goal of the ‘minute 67’. That’s explored in detail in There’s Only One Danny Garvey.
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there is only one danny garvey by david f ross published by orenda books. To order a copy, go to guardianbookshop.com.
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