Soccer Books

[mckid]

To follow up on my review of 'More than Goals', it's an interesting autobiography. Reyna mainly focuses on his views about training and coaching. The majority of the pictures and diagrams are training excercises and starting lineups of famous teams. He also gives some attention to the whole Sampson fiasco.

Another good read.

[mckid]

Originally Posted by Neil

I just read "White Angels" which chronicles Real Madrid with some focus on Beckham during his first year with the team. I loved it and I learned a lot about the Real players. I recommend picking it up if you can find it.

Where did you find it?

[Arelius]

I enjoy books on the sociological aspects of soccer (soccer culture). The following are a few good ones:

Offside : Soccer and American Exceptionalism by Andrei S. Markovits explains why football, baseball and basketball took hold in the US but soccer didn’t. It all has to do with the sports that the Ivy League schools were pushing.

A recent book that attempts to use soccer to explain the world is:
How Soccer Explains the World : An Unlikely Theory of Globalization by Franklin Foer

Richard Giulianotti studies global soccer culture and has written the following books:

Football: A Sociology of the Global Game
Football Culture: Local Conflicts, Global Visions
Football, Violence and Social Identity
Game Without Frontiers: Football, Identity and Modernity

Other books about soccer culture include:

Soccer Madness: Brazil's Passion for the World's Most Popular Sport
Entering the Field : New Perspectives on World Football
The Changing Face of Football: Racism, Multiculturalism and Identity in the English Game
Post-Fandom and the Millennial Blues: The Transformation of Soccer Culture
Fanatics!: Power, Identity and Fandom in Football
The Passion and the Fashion: Football Fandom in the New Europe
Footballers and Businessmen: The Origins of Professional Soccer in England
Giving the Game Away: Football, Politics and Culture on Five Continents
Fifa and the Contest for World Football: Who Rules the Peoples' Game?
The Football Imagination: The Rise of Football Fanzine Culture
The Rough Guide European Football 2000-2001: A Fans' Handbook
Fighting Fans: Football Hooliganism As a World Phenomenon

And the most essential book of all:
The Official Manchester United Fan File

You can also search for books on soccer culture within individual countries only. Brazil has a lot of these books as well as other strong soccer countries.

[Neil]

Originally Posted by mckid

Where did you find it?

Barnes and Noble in Layton. I got lucky I guess.