An extract from Sir Bobby Charlton’s latest autobiography. I still have one he wrote in 1964 called "My Soccer Life" so it will be interesting to contrast it with the book that is about to be published.
This piece is for the old timers. The last chapter of the 1964 book Charlton picked his best British eleven. The side he picked in the old 2-3-5 was - Bert Trautmann; Jimmy Armfield, Ray Wilson; Danny Blanchflower, Neil Franklin, Duncan Edwards; Stanley Matthews, Wilf Mannion, Tommy Taylor, Denis Law and Tom Finney.
Given that I have never read a book by Ashley Cole, David Beckham or Frank Lampard, I can safely say that I have never read a soccer book that I didn't like. With the holidays approaching and the possibility of some free time being available here is a list of the books that I've acquired over last twelve months.
Any of you have other books that you might want to recommend?
“Foul”, By Andrew Jennings, published by HarperCollins.
“The Italian Job”, by Gianluca Vialli and Gabriele Marcotti, published by Random House.
“Behind the Curtain:Football in Eastern Europe”, by Jonathan Wilson, published by McArthur & Co.
“The Bonnie Prince-My Football Life”, by Charlie Cooke and Mark Knight, published by Mainstream Publishing Company.
"Best and Edwards,” by Gordon Burns, published by Faber and Faber Ltd.
"The Best of Charlie Buchan's Football Monthly,” edited by Simon Inglis, published by English Heritage.
"Forza Italia", by Paddy Agnew, published by Random House.
"’78 How a nation lost the World Cup," by Graham McColl, published by Headline Book Publishing.
"Morbo-the story of Spanish football," by Phil Ball, published by W.S.C. Books Ltd.
"The Leaguers -the making of professional football in England, 1900 – 1939," by Matthew Taylor, published by Liverpool University Press.
"Once in a Lifetime-the extraordinary story of the New York Cosmos," by Gavin Newsham, published by Atlantic books.
"tor!-the story of German football," by Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger, published by W. S.C. Books Ltd.
"The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup," edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey, published by HarperCollins books.
"The Lost Babes-Manchester United and the forgotten victims of Munich," by Jeff Connor, published by HarperSport.
"Sir Alf," by Leo McKinstry, published by HarperSport.
"Football and Fascism-the national game under Mussolini," by Simon Martin, published by Berg Publishers.
"Jackie Milburn-a man of two halves," by Jack Milburn, published by Mainstream Sport.
"Colin Bell-reluctant hero," by Colin Bell with Ian Cheeseman, published by Mainstream Publishing.
"My Father and other Working-Class Football Heroes," by Gary Imlach, published by Yellow Jersey Press.
"Garrincha,” by Ruy Castro, published by Yellow Jersey Press.
"Highbury - The Story of Arsenal in N. 5", by Jon Spurling, published by Orion Books.
I am the soccer analyst for the Fox Soccer Report and appear twice a week - every Monday and Friday at 10:00 EST. I have also been a regular contributor to the Fox Soccer Channel website since the summer of 2004. Over the last twenty years I have contributed to various radio and television programs throughout North America as well writing about the game for newspapers, magazines and websites.
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