Football remains one of the world’s finest sports and it has opened its fans to a wealth of different perspectives and cultural backgrounds, and the literature of the game truly mirrors this diversity.
Whether the emphasis is on the game’s most intriguing characters, the tactics, the fans or the most memorable occasions, soccer is a subject that has given in some of the exquisite writing of any sport. The beautiful game of football has had its fair share of awesome literature.
Here Are 25 Of The Best Football Books Of All Time
The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football – David Goldblatt
Definitely, one of the football books to read if you are interested in the history of the beautiful game (the US publication is titled The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer). With almost 1,000 pages, it possesses an extensive journey through the subject. And maybe more important is the way it stands out by its journalistic craftmanship.
Released: 2008
Quote about it: “Goldblatt’s magnum opus, at close to a thousand pages, is an ambitious project realized in a most impressive manner. Anyone with a brain and an interest in football will enjoy this book: just don’t drop it on your foot.” – The Daily Telegraph
The World’s Game: A History of Soccer – Bill Murray
A straightforward attempt to tell the history of football beginning in pre-industrial times and the growth to the 1994 World Cup in less than 300 pages.
Released:1998
Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Soccer – David Winner
A well-received book about football and especially about the invention of Total Football, but also an interesting look at the history of the game in the Netherlands from a cultural perspective. A book that distinguishes itself from many other football books and somebody without a big interest in sport should also be able to read it.
Released: 2008
Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life – Alex Bellos
We all know how close football and Brazil are connected and reading Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life enriches that truism to deeper and more nuanced knowledge. An earlier work and analogues in choice of topic is Soccer Madness by Janet Lever from 1995.
Released: 2014
Quote about it: “The book is full of intriguing sidelights on Brazilian popular culture, its hedonism, piety and wondrous absurdity.” – The Guardian
Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football – Phil Ball
Morbo was awarded the GQ Sports Book of the Year and is recommended if you want to read a book about Spanish football history. The author Phil Ball is specialized in Spanish football and has also written an appreciated book on Real Madrid’s history.
Released: 2011
Quote about it: “Ball’s overview of Spanish football feels pleasantly succinct at only 240 pages and never drags.” – Soccerphile.com
Broken Dreams: Vanity, Greed and the Souring of British Football – Tom Bower
The winner of William Hill Sports Book of the Year in 2003 tells the story of football as a business that exploits the sport for lucrative reasons. Tom Bower investigates the cash flow in football and what he finds out is always very pleasant.
Released: 2003
Quote about it: “In charting the financial careers of some of the era’s leading managers, agents and owners, Bower reveals a systematic culture of bungs, sweeteners, undeclared payments, off-book loans and gifts.” – Independent
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The Game of Our Lives: The Meaning and Making of English Football – David Goldblatt
Portraying football in England as a cultural phenomenon and a huge entertainment industry.
Released: 2015
The Club – Joshua Robinson & Jonathan Clegg
With the long subtitle “How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports”, this football book is another take on English soccer seen from mostly a business perspective. This is a well-research and proficient told inside story of the birth and expansion of the Premier League. How the league got to be the most lucrative by focusing on entertainment, but also how the ticket prices excluded made many of the old fans.
Released: 2018
Dirty Northern B*st*rds! And other tales from the terraces: The story of Britain’s Football chants – Tim Marshall
Tim Marshall’s writings aren’t mainly associated with football, he is better known for his reports of foreign news and as the author of the bestseller Prisoners of Geography. Dirty Northern B*st*rds! tells the history of Britain’s football chants.
Released: 2018
Titles With Historical Subjects:
- Football and the English: A Social History of Association Football in England, 1863-1995 – Dave Russell
- In A Class of Their Own: A History of English Amateur Football – Terry Morris
- Vain Games of No Value? A Social History of Association Football in Britain During Its Long First Century – Terry Morris
- The Names Heard Long Ago: How the Golden Age of Hungarian Soccer Shaped the Modern Game – Jonathan Wilson
The Tactics & The Stats
Inverting the Pyramid: The history of football tactics – Jonathan Wilson
This is one of the most impressive books written about football (soccer) in aspects of research. The writer, Jonathan Wilson, must have been watching videos of old football games for endless of hours to present so many details of historical matches. His book takes a full approach to the tactic aspects of the game and the theory behind the development: from extreme attack to extreme forms of defence since football emerge until today.
It discusses several formations used over the years: who was the inventor and what are their pros and cons. You probably knew about Total Football and perhaps Catenaccio, but maybe you haven’t heard about W-system or W-defense – this football book teaches terms and historical facts to make you a football wiz.
Released: 2013
Quote about it: “Must surely go down as one of the most revelatory sports books of the year, as well as one of the best.” – The Scotsman
The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer Is Wrong – Chris Anderson and David Sully
Another example of the nerds’ conqueror the world era and if you want to fill your stock of football stats here is the source. Find out about long to short pass ratio, goals scored as a function of possession, goals conceded as a function of turnovers and much more. It may sound nerdish, but the authors are writing entertaining about football as well. This is the football book to read if you want to win discussions about the beautiful game.
Released: 2013
Quote about it: “Anderson and Sally are adroit at guiding their readers but never patronizing or boring them.” – The Guardian
Soccernomics – Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski
If you want theoretical insights and if you want to view the game from a non-conventional way this book by Simon Kuper (also the awarded author of Football Against the Enemy and The Football Men) and Stefan Szymanski is for you. In some aspects linked to Anderson and Sally in The Numbers Games, the authors of Soccernomics are investigating football from new angles and come up with some surprising and astonishing results.
The last part of the subtitle “Why the U.S., Japan, Australia-and Even Iraq-Are Destined to Become the Kings of the World’s Most Popular Sport” is, however, a selling tactic and this statement is only covered by a short and speculative chapter.
Released: 2014
Quote About it: “[Kuper and Szymanksi] do for soccer what Moneyball did for baseball-put the game under an analytical microscope using statistics, economics, psychology and intuition to try to transform a dogmatic sport.” – New York Times
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How to Score: Science and the Beautiful Game – Ken Bra
Looking at football as a science Ken Bray explains and analyzes the tactics behind the game. The book includes a historical overview of tactics and many other areas, such as statistical knowledge of today’s modern matches.
Released: 2006
Titles With Statistical Subjects:
- Football Stats Logbook: Record Your Teams Statistics For Every Game – Rossco Publishing
- Goals Thrillers (7 book series) – Hitesh Kumar
Biographical
I Am Zlatan – David Lagercrantz
Although it’s not written by Zlatan himself (David Lagercrantz is the actual writer) it’s based on Zlatan’s own story about his life. I Am Zlatan has become an international bestseller.
Released: 2013
El Diego: The Autobiography of the World’s Greatest Footballer – Diego Maradona
The most gifted player of all time? The story of Diego Armando Maradona is about success, but also the controversial episodes on (the hand of God) and outside the pitch (the cocaine, ephedrine and shootings against journalists). This is Diego’s own words.
Released: 2013
Immortal: The Biography of George Best – Duncan Hamilton
Duncan Hamilton’s work is not the only biography on the Wales legend, but perhaps the best. Few players lived a fabulous life besides the pitch as George Best and no wonder that biography’s about him are sought after.
Released: 2014
Provided You Don’t Kiss Me: 20 Years With Brian Clough – Duncan Hamilton
Brian Clough was a unique manager and his life is also interesting enough to be both objects for a football book and a motion picture (The Damned United).
Released: 2008
61 Minutes in Munich, the autobiography of Liverpool FC’s first black footballer – Howard Gayle
Less known in comparison to John Barnes, Howard Gayle was nevertheless the first black player in Liverpool’s first team. His story is about childhood, racism and football.
Released: 2016
Here is CheapGoal’s list of football books that will up your knowledge and feed your curiosity about the beautiful game.
(Note: This is by no means a complete or best list; feel free to add your own recommendations in the comments box below.)
