The Greatest Football Books of All Time

What makes a good football book?

Is it a read that puts you into a character's shows? Does it show you something different about your favorite team or player? Does it change your opinion of a subject?

A good football book will hook you from the first chapter and take you on a journey of discovery and insight. It has to get into the gritty details, not brushing over the harsh facts.

A good football book should make you close the pages after every chapter and think about what you have just read, no matter whether you agree or disagree.  

'Dishonorable' Mention

Here are a few that didn't quite make the list:

Wayne Rooney: The Way It Is—Even if you are a United supporter, this is tortuous and depressing reading at its worst. Each turn of the page feels like a psychological paper cut.

Totally Frank: The Autobiography of Frank Lampard—He may be one of the most intelligent men in football. How the ghost writer did not translate this into a halfway decent book I will never know.

Gerrard: My Autobiography—One of the better autobiographies I have read. However, a little less of the "I love Carra' and "I love Liverpool" and a bit more of "I actually really did consider going to Chelsea and I hate playing for England" would have made it a more honest book rather than a propaganda exercise.

Any autobiography by a player who has not finished his career. 

Honorable Mention

Football in Sun and Shadow...Eduardo Galeano

Keeper of Dreams...Ronald Reng

All Played: Full Story of Italia 90...Pete Davies

Addicted...Tony Adams

The Glory Game...Hunter Davies

The Football Man...Arthur Hopcraft

Among the Thugs...Bill Buford

The Last Game...Jason Cowley

Keane: The Autobiography...Roy Keane, with Eamon Dunphy

Brutal honesty.

The co-author of this riveting book, Eamon Dunphy, once proclaimed that a good autobiography had to examine the flaws of the subject.

From the nights in jail cells to the fights in Manchester bars, and from the binge sessions with Bryan Robson to missing the 1999 Champions League final, Keane has done nothing but examine his obvious faults.

It wouldn't be in his nature if he wasn't critical, even if it is directed at himself.

The book is full of scathing criticisms of previous managers and fellow players. Keane's ruthlessness is epitomized by his reaction to the lunging tackle inflicted on Alf Inge Haaland. "Take that you c**t," remarked Keane, showing no remorse.

Even on the cover Keane looks a tiny bit psychopathic.      

Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Football...David Winner

Brilliant Orange? Brilliant book.

Never before has an author fully captured the essence of Dutch football.

Whether it be the quirky description of "Total Football" or the reason why the Dutch prefer to lose rather than win ugly, Winner's analogies between Dutch culture and Dutch football are simply stunning.

The interviews with past greats are insightful rather than reminiscent, and the book really does allow you to get a feel for what it is to be Dutch. 

A front-cover quote by Ruud Van Nistelorooy says it all: "As a Dutchman reading it," he notes, "it's kind of a mirror. It shows you things about yourself you've never seen before."

Fever Pitch...Nick Hornby

Enchanting.

Casual fans of any football club in the world reading this book would immediately become Arsenal fans.

An almost quintessential memoir of a growing up an Arsenal fan in England, Fever Pitch brings the reader on an intimate journey through the highs and lows of Hornby's relationship with the club.

He recounts his worship of Arsenal greats, such as Liam Brady, even as he analyzes Brady's accepted insanity.

In a time where money and greed have corrupted large sections of all sports, this incisive account depicts what it really means to be a fan.

Fever Pitch should be read by all sports enthusiasts. 

A Season with Verona...Tim Parks

Insightful.

Calling this book simply "political commentary" would not do it justice. It is much more than that.

Following the racist supporters of Hellas Verona FC through one season, Parks analogizes the view of the city of Verona from other parts of Italy to the supporters' actions.

The fans sing songs praising the "murderous Liverpool fans" in Heysel while voicing their hatred of their southern compatriots, who they feel are mostly immigrants.

This is quite like Fever Pitch in that it depicts the fans experiencing the highs and inevitable lows of supporting a team at any level.

If you are looking for a nice read about a successful team with well-behaved fans, topped off by the classic happy ending, don't read this. 

A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke...Ronald Reng

Touching.

Now and again, tragedies happen in football. Real tragedies that touch everybody, no matter their affiliation.

Robert Enke's suicide was one such tragedy.

This beautifully written book does justice to Enke. It is not splashed down, and sometimes you can become too involved with the talented keeper's struggles.

Vividly illustrated, it expresses Enke's depression and how it affected his life and career.

The fear of failure is evident throughout the story of this "too short" life. You do begin to wonder how much pressure is being applied to these players by the media, the fans and the club.

A football book that changes your life is a very special book.

Feet of the Chameleon: The Story of African Football...Ian Hawkey

Vibrant.

A book that reads like a hurricane is perfect for describing African football.

Like a group of young footballers playing on a dirt pitch somewhere in Africa, Hawkey's brilliant depiction proceeds at a ferocious pace.

African football is quite a conundrum. It has the players to succeed at the highest level, but they never perform up to their abilities.

Ghana came close at the last World Cup, but were halted by the controversial Luis Suarez.

This book has come the closest to explaining this conundrum. Interviews with players such as Samuel Eto'o are perceptive, while Parks charts the unnatural decline in attendance.

A must read for anybody who is interested in football outside the glitz and grandeur in Europe. 

Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics...Jonathan Wilson

Groundbreaking.

The book that spawned a new type of football journalism, Inverting the Pyramid delves into a world of tactics previously unexplored.

Not for the casual fan, Wilson's encyclopedic research into tactical development is rich with pure, golden information.

Each line is teeming with facts that add to the ultimate goal of explaining the development of each tactical evolution.

From the 1953 Hungarian national team's "withdrawn striker" to Arrigo Sacchi's revolutionary 4-4-2, Wilson charts the progress with clever anecdotes and appropriate quotes. 

What's most impressive is that a subject such as tactics, which can be mind-blowingly boring, can be discussed for hundreds of pages, but you are left begging for more. 

The Boss: The Many Sides of Alex Ferguson...Matthew Crick

Hairdryer manual.

To be honest, I think there's only one side of Sir Alex, and that is a winner.

A truer story than some other biographies, even possibly Sir Alex's autobiography, Crick's book looks at every aspect of the great man.

From Glasgow to Manchester, via Aberdeen and St. Mirren, Sir Alex has swept all before him. Crick tries to find out why an ex-player, who never hit the mainstream can command the respect of multimillion-pound players with massive egos.

We never do quite find out why, and it seems we are left to our own opinions to a certain extent.

What this books lacks in answers it makes up for in honesty. After reading his autobiography, we all understand that Sir Alex is a bit biased toward himself.

This book tells the truth, as it shares stories Sir Alex doesn't want anybody to know. 

Morbo: The Story of Spanish Football...Phil Ball

Morbo? What?

Phil Ball never exactly explains what morbo is. That is, however, kind of refreshing.

Ball examines all the main clubs and characters that have influenced Spanish football. He brings us on a discovery of what morbo means to Spanish people, not the literal meaning.

To Spaniards, it basically means the bad relationship between teams. The relationship between Madrid and Barcelona is prominent.

The most intriguing aspect of this in-depth book is the city of Seville. In one corner is Sevilla, and in the other, Real Betis. With an interesting tale of his excursions with old taxi-men and to a club of Betis supporters, Ball understands the rivalry between the two clubs.

And as he begins to understand the morbo, so do we. 

Full Time: The Secret Life of Tony Cascarino...Tony Cascarino/Paul Kimmage

Telling.

Very rarely will you find a book that flips a footballer's life completely upside down.

What if he doesn't score that goal? What if his body just cannot take it anymore? What if the press is right and he isn't good enough? What if he wakes up one morning and doesn't care about his passion?

Put the above questions in the first person, and you have what Tony Cascarino would ask himself.

Cascarino feared the future. He depended on confidence, and when that failed him, he was fallible.

He used to look at his striking partner, Teddy Sheringham. He was as cool as a cucumber, a miss wouldn't bother him. The ex-Ireland international cooks up a stark contrast between himself and Sheringham.

Cascarino and Kimmage take the hype out of football.

Barca: A People's Passion...Jimmy Burns

Mes Que Un Club.

"More than a club." A reader not versed in the political history of Catalonia may be lost when it comes to understanding the motto of FC Barcelona.

Although by the end of this book, you will be nearly speaking Catalonian. Burns' story is a sympathetic but passionate account of what it means to support Barca. 

Whether it's because you can see some of the best football the world has to offer every second weekend or because you can hate Real Madrid as much as you want, Burns makes it seem that  supporting Barcelona is the best hobby in the world.

A proper fan's view is always more enjoyable than an outsider's. It puts you in the fan's shoes rather than the outsider's head.

Only a Game?: The Diary of a Professional Footballer...Eamon Dunphy

Reliable.

The second of three books written by Dunphy on this list, Only A Game? breaks the mould of glossy club histories and monotonous autobiographies.

It records what a footballer really has to do to succeed—hard graft and clean professionalism.

In a day when footballers were mainly influenced by covetous agents, Dunphy had no help, no mentor.

It was either work hard or lose your job.

This is so well written that it's hard to believe that a footballer wrote it. Makes you think how much easier footballers have it nowadays.

Tor!: The Story of German Football...Ulrich Hesse-Lichtenberger

Funny!...No, really.

German football is quite straightforward. Well-run clubs, functional teams, huge fan bases—and that's just the start of it.

Despite what some people may think of German football, it's had a very hard time. 

It had no professional league until 1963, and it was basically seen by the government as a disease that needed to be stopped.

Besides detailing the ins-and-outs of football in Germany, the author does a comprehensive job of  describing how Germans think about World War II and how that links to football.

This book really did need a German author. Unlike Brilliant Orange, it is written by a citizen of the country, and this allows the reader to become a German for a couple of pages.

Football Against the Enemy...Simon Kuper

Passionate.

Looking at the title, you might expect stories of mass brawls in Russia or the execution of players in Yugoslavia. It is different, though, as Kuper goes more for a sociological discovery through different parts of the footballing world.

Rivalries are often examined excessively. They become bigger than the game, and it's often the team that embraces the rivalry, rather than being engulfed by it, that normally comes out on top.

Another book often referred to as the greatest, Football Against the Enemy precisely sums up what each rivalry means to both sets of fans.

It's also a must read for any lover of Eastern European football, as there is more than one chapter devoted to the subject. 

Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life...Alex Bellos

Samba.

There is a no more famed footballing culture than that of Brazil. Bellos goes beyond the big football metropolises and enters wild places, such as the exotic Amazon rain forest, and explains how that links to football, of all things.

Almost as beautiful as Carlos Alberto's famous goal in 1970, Futebol is enchanting. A remarkable feat, considering that the "beautiful game" is at its most complex in Brazil.

From its huge characters to its huge clubs, Brazilian football needed a book like this.

A book that not only shows football in the right light, but shows it in the Brazilian way—magical and bewitching.

Strange Kind of Glory: Sir Matt Busby and Manchester United...Eamon Dunphy

Alternative view.

Sir Matt oversaw one of the greatest football teams ever to be produced in England, and any talk of his being a lesser character than people think is surely nonsense.

Dunphy has the inside track, however. He shows that Busby may have been a more selfish and self-centred person than some believe.

A contrary view is always welcome while Dunphy backs up his statements with solid anecdotes and interviews.

Not as sympathetic to United as some might think, even as a United supporter, the book opens up your mind to the fact that countless compliments to characters sometimes can be misjudged.

The facts are always the most important.

The Ball Is Round: A Global History of Soccer...David Goldblatt

The Big Daddy.

If you have two weeks to spare to read a football book, have a go at this one.

If you come out at the end of the 992 pages with your health, you will be the ultimate football nerd.

Something we all aspire to be.