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On Form: The Times Book of the Year
By Mike Brearley. 2017
THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEARDAILY TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOKS OF THE YEARLONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE…
YEAR 2017What is being on form? How does it relate to feeling 'in the zone'? Are these states in the lap of the gods, a matter of which side of the bed we got out of that morning? Or is there anything we can do to make their arrival more likely?In this fascinating book, former England cricket captain and psychoanalyst Mike Brearley draws on his own experiences, both on and off the field, and examines many of the elements of being in and out of form across a number of different disciplines - not only in cricket and psychoanalysis but also in finance, music, philosophy, medicine, teaching, tree surgery and drama.Perceptive and engaging, On Form is an exploration of the benefits and risks of being on form and can help us all reflect on the range of conditions that block or liberate us.Irongran: How keeping fit taught me that growing older neednt mean slowing down
By Edwina Brocklesby. 2018
'If I can start to run at 50 and become the oldest British woman to complete an Ironman, everyone should…
realise it's never too late'At the age of 50, Eddie Brocklesby decided to run her first half marathon. Until that point, she'd done little running, and her exercise regime consisted of little more than chauffeuring her children to their own sports clubs. In common with so many people, any interest she'd shown in sport in her childhood had diminished as her adult life progressed, with spare time becoming ever more limited in the face of work and family commitments.After that event, and following the loss of her husband of thirty years to cancer, she completed a marathon. Now, 75 years old, the past twenty years has seen Eddie take part in marathons, triathlons and Ironman races across the globe and she has accrued many medals and awards.In Irongran, Eddie looks back on her life and explains just how she's managed to develop the energy to match the enthusiasm she's always had for an active lifestyle. She shares the difficulties she's experienced in her sporting endeavours, and explains how she's managed to overcome them. Eddie is passionate about the health and wellbeing of our ageing population and provides up to date research about why keeping active in later years is so important, along with guidance about how to remain full of life in your later years.Born To Fight
By Mark Hunt. 2017
A powerful story of sadness, hope, pride, honour and triumph from the real-life Rocky!Raw, confronting and honest, UFC champion Mark…
Hunt's inspiring autobiography shows it is possible to defy the odds and carve a better life. Born into a Mormon Samoan family, Hunt details his harrowing early life, his troubled teen years, and his angry youth with no apparent future.After being plucked from an Auckland street fight and dropped into his first kickboxing bout, Mark went on to achieve unprecedented success in Australian and New Zealand combat sports. In an ongoing career that has spanned the globe, Mark Hunt has been in some of the UFC, Pride and K-1's most memorable battles. But in some ways those fights pale in comparison to that which he has overcome out of the ring and cage.As fearless with his opinions as he is in the Octagon, Mark pulls no punches in revealing the highs and lows of his extraordinary life.Spirit of Cricket: Reflections on Play and Life
By Mike Brearley. 2020
If someone were to say 'it's not tennis', or 'not football' of shabby behaviour in any walk of life, he…
or she would not be understood. If they said 'it's not cricket', they probably would be (though less reliably than a century ago). Is there some special spirit of cricket? The laws of cricket, like the laws of the land, aim at a sort of justice or balancing between different factions. The purpose behind cricket's laws, and behind changes in them, is often to calibrate the balance in the game between batsmen and bowlers, between attack and defence, between safety and risk. Cricketing lawmakers are interested in the overall appeal of the game to players and spectators alike.In Spirit of Cricket, Mike Brearley alternates between issues and examples within the game - from 'Mankading' and the 'Sandpaper' affair to sledging, mental disintegration and racism - as well as broader issues such as the spirit and letter of the law. Brearley examines the issue of how far what purports to be justice (in law or in spirit) may or may not be the expression of the powerful within the activity or within society. He also contrasts cheating and corruption, and reflects on the nature of penalties in regard to each. He discusses the significance of the notion of the spirit of the game for umpires, groundsmen, administrators, media and spectators - and, of course, for players. Intelligent and insightful, Spirit of Cricket points to qualities in cricket that enhance our development as people - including a sense of fair play, the embracing of striving both for our team and for ourselves and the important values of playfulness in life and professional sport.Unprecedented: The Masters and Me
By Tiger Woods, Lorne Rubenstein. 2017
WINNER OF THE 2019, 2005, 2002, 2001 and 1997 MASTERS. In UNPRECEDENTED: ME AND THE MASTERS, Tiger Woods shares in…
his own words the story of the original Masters tournament that took him to greatness, all of which has paved the way for one of the most phenomenal comebacks in sporting history.'To come back and win the Masters after all the highs and lows is a testament to excellence, grit and determination' BARACK OBAMAIn 1997, Tiger Woods was already among the most watched and closely examined athletes in history. But it wasn't until the Masters Tournament that Tiger Woods's career would definitively change for ever. Tiger Woods, then only 21, won the Masters by a historic 12 shots, which remains the widest margin of victory in the tournament's history, making it arguably among the most seminal events in golf. He was the first African-American/Asian player to win the Masters, and this at the Augusta National Golf Club, perhaps the most exclusive club in the world, and one that had in 1990 admitted its first black member.More than twenty years after his first historic win, Tiger Woods explores his life with the game, with the Masters tournament itself, about how golf has changed over the past twenty years, and what it was like winning such an event. Woods will also open up about his relationship with father Earl Woods, dispelling previous misconceptions, and will candidly reveal many never-before-heard stories.Written by one of the game's all-time greats, this book will provide keen insight on the Masters then and now as well as on the sport itself.'Greatness like no other' SERENA WILLIAMSIrongran: How keeping fit taught me that growing older needn't mean slowing down
By Edwina Brocklesby. 2018
'If I can start to run at 50 and become the oldest British woman to complete an Ironman, everyone should…
realise it's never too late'At the age of 50, Eddie Brocklesby decided to run her first half marathon. Until that point, she'd done little running, and her exercise regime consisted of little more than chauffeuring her children to their own sports clubs. In common with so many people, any interest she'd shown in sport in her childhood had diminished as her adult life progressed, with spare time becoming ever more limited in the face of work and family commitments.After that event, and following the loss of her husband of thirty years to cancer, she completed a marathon. Now, 75 years old, the past twenty years has seen Eddie take part in marathons, triathlons and Ironman races across the globe and she has accrued many medals and awards.In Irongran, Eddie looks back on her life and explains just how she's managed to develop the energy to match the enthusiasm she's always had for an active lifestyle. She shares the difficulties she's experienced in her sporting endeavours, and explains how she's managed to overcome them. Eddie is passionate about the health and wellbeing of our ageing population and provides up to date research about why keeping active in later years is so important, along with guidance about how to remain full of life in your later years.Glorious Goodwood: A Biography of England's Greatest Sporting Estate
By James Peill. 2019
The history of Goodwood, England's greatest sporting estateGoodwood has been the home of English sport for centuries. The story of…
how a small hunting lodge became the iconic location for the globally-renowned Festival of Speed, Glorious Goodwood and Goodwood Revival events is inextricably intertwined with the tale of the Dukes of Richmond. The Dukes were, variously, patrons of the arts, political influencers, royal confidantes, architectural innovators, horticultural enthusiasts and stewards of the community. Above all, they were passionate about the sports for which Goodwood is best known: horseracing, motor sports, foxhunting, cricket, shooting and golf. Drawing upon the wealth of the Goodwood archives, James Peill vividly captures the character of each Duke, some radical and others staunchly traditional, and the wide-ranging impact they had on the Goodwood of today.The broader context is a sweeping history of England, and one family's part in it. Beginning with Charles II and his mistress Louise de Keroualle, the parents of the first Duke, Glorious Goodwood takes the reader on a journey through time, from the seventeenth century to present day, via the Jacobite Rising, the Battle of Waterloo and the First and Second World Wars. There are cameo appearances from George Stubbs, Canaletto, Alexander, Emperor of Russia, Queen Victoria, Jackie Stewart and Edward VII, who famously hosted Privy Council meetings in the Tapestry Drawing Room during race week.Glorious Goodwood is a vivid and intimate portrait of a house and its inhabitants set against a dazzling, panoramic backdrop of English history. At the heart of this colourful and compelling story is a rich sense of the British heritage Goodwood embodies.Ask A Footballer
By James Milner. 2019
'Ask a Footballer is a fine read, showcasing how an unassuming man has forged success, winning the Premier League twice,…
the FA Cup and the Champions League' Matthew Syed, The TimesEver wondered what it's REALLY like to be a Premier League footballer?My name is James Milner and I'm not a Ribena-holic.Let me share insights into what it's like being a professional footballer, across my different experiences with Leeds United, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Manchester City and now Liverpool (not forgetting a six-match loan spell at Swindon). Plus my highs - and a few too many lows - playing for England. There isn't a current player who's been playing Premier League football as long as I have, and that gives me a pretty rare perspective into how the top-flight game has changed over the past seventeen years.In this book, I explain how a footballer's working week unfolds - what we eat and how we prepare for matches technically, tactically, mentally and physically - and talk you through the ups and downs of a matchday. I reveal my penalty-taking techniques, half-time team talks and the differences between playing against Lionel Messi, Wilfried Zaha and Jimmy Bullard. I've played for managers ranging from Terry Venables, Peter Reid and Sir Bobby Robson to Martin O'Neill, Fabio Capello and Jurgen Klopp. I tell you what it's like sharing a training ground and a dressing-room with team-mates such as Lee Bowyer, Mario Balotelli and Mo Salah. I also reveal the behind-the-scenes work that went into Liverpool's Champions League success - and the celebrations that followed.So this isn't an autobiography. The whole point of Ask A Footballer is that you, the fans, asked me questions and I have used my own experiences to answer them. I hope you like it, and don't find it too boring.Parrish Times: My Life as a Racer
By Steve Parrish. 2018
Champion motorcyclist and truck racer, television presenter, practical joker or just plain survivor - Steve Parrish has been called them…
all. Parrish Times tracks his amazing journey over the last four decades, through a rollercoaster ride of emotions in surely the most dangerous and exhilarating sporting arena there is.In the 1970s Steve was competing for the world motorcycle championship with legendary team mate Barry Sheene on a Suzuki. After retiring in 1986, Steve managed a successful Yamaha factory team to three British Superbike Championship titles and started a truck-racing career, becoming the most successful truck racer ever. He also proved to be a natural commentator, first for BBC radio, then transferring to television with Sky, ITV and Eurosport. Against this backdrop are Steve's notorious pranks: posing as a medical doctor to allow John Hopkins to fly from Japan to the Australian GP; impersonating Barry Sheene in a qualifying session; owning a fire engine, a hearse, and an ambulance - parking it on double yellow lines with the doors open in visits to his local bank.It's a funny, hell-raising account of life - and death - in the fast lane that will keep readers enthralled to the end. Barry Sheene's final words to his best friend sum it up: 'Neither of us will die wondering.'Wrecking Ball: A Big Lad From a Small Island - My Story So Far
By Billy Vunipola. 2017
Voted Rugby Book of the Year at the 2018 Sports Book Awards.Wrecking Ball is a captivating and humorous memoir by…
Billy Vunipola, one of the stars of England's recent rugby renaissance, and will be enjoyed by those who have read the recent autobiographies by Jonny Wilkinson, Brian O'Driscoll, Dan Carter and Paul O'Connell.Standing at 6 feet 2 inches and weighing almost 20 stone, Billy is a rampaging and unmissable presence on the rugby pitch, for both club and country. Wrecking Ball is his captivating story so far, chronicling his remarkable personal odyssey of 10,000 miles, from the tiny Tongan village of Longo Longo to the imposing vastness of Twickenham.Join Billy on his journey from the year-round sunshine of Tonga to the bitter cold of a British winter, from his favourite Pontypool kebab shop to finding himself eating broccoli for breakfast, and from carefree childhood games in the middle of the Pacific to the serious business of playing professional rugby in Europe. Wrecking Ball is a wonderfully eccentric and witty book, written with bags of charm. It captures Billy's colourful family and upbringing, and creates a rounded and fascinating portrait of a young man finding his feet as a modern English rugby player.The Boy on the Shed: Sports Book Awards Autobiography of the Year
By Paul Ferris. 2018
Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year AwardThe Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year The Times…
Sports Book of the Year Telegraph Football Book of the Year'Ferris's wonderful memoir represents a twin triumph. He has endured every kind of setback in life but has invariably reinvented himself; and his writing is a pure pleasure.' The Sunday Times 'Enough depth and humanity to make your average football autobiography look like a Ladybird book.' Telegraph'A masterpiece of the genre' Brian McNally 'Football memoirs rarely produce great literature but Ferris's The Boy on the Shed is a glistening exception.' Guardian 'Fascinating and stylishly told.' David Walsh, The Sunday Times The Boy on the Shed is a story of love and fate. At 16, Paul Ferris becomes Newcastle United's youngest-ever first-teamer. Like many a tricky winger from Northern Ireland, he is hailed as 'the new George Best'.As a player and later a physio and member of the Magpies' managerial team, Paul's career acquaints him not only with Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and Bobby Robson, Ruud Gullit, Paul Gascoigne and Alan Shearer but also with injury, insecurity and disappointment.Yet this autobiography is more than a tale of the vagaries of sporting fortune. It begins during 'The Troubles' in a working-class Catholic family in the Protestant town of Lisburn, near Belfast. After a childhood scarred by his mother's illness and sectarian hatred, Paul meets the love of his life, his future wife Geraldine. Talented and carefree on the pitch, shy and anxious off it, he earns a tilt at stardom. His first spell at Newcastle turns sour, as does his return as a physio, although obtaining a Masters degree shows him what he could achieve away from football.When Paul qualifies as a barrister, a career in Law beckons. Instead, a craving to prove himself in the game draws him back to St James' Park as part of Shearer's management triumvirate - with unfortunate consequences.Written with brutal candour, dark humour and consummate style, The Boy on the Shed is a riveting and moving account of a life less ordinaryThe Quality of Madness: FULLY UPDATED
By Tim Rich. 2020
Marcelo Bielsa is one of football's greatest eccentrics and greatest enigmas. This will be the first English biography of one…
of football's most contradictory characters.He has coached some of the greatest names in world football - Gabriel Batistuta, Carlos Tevez, Javier Mascherano, Juan Sebastian Veron and Ander Herrera. He has been cited as a mentor by Pep Guardiola, Mauricio Pochettino and Diego Simeone. Yet Marcelo Bielsa remains one of the great enigmas of world football - a fabulously innovative and obsessive coach, who has transformed Leeds United, Marseille and Athletic Bilbao. He also lasted two days at Lazio and led Argentina to their greatest footballing disaster.Featuring interviews from across South America, Europe and Yorkshire, The Quality of Madness is a comprehensive and compelling biography, tracing Bielsa's story from growing up as a member of one of Argentina's most remarkable families to his revival of Leeds. Bielsa has long been known as 'El Loco' - the Madman - and yet as Tim Rich's revelatory study reveals, there is mercurial method and audacious logic to the madness.The World According to Razor: My Closest Shaves
By Neil 'Razor' Ruddock. 2020
'If you were expecting to read Razor's views on politics then you're going to be disappointed. Anybody who wants to…
read that needs help! This is yours truly talking about some of the experiences that have helped to create the absolute legend that is moi. Some of the tales involve a bit of mischief and most involve a drink or two. Most importantly, though, they're all a bit of a laugh so I'd settle down and have yourself a nice little read'The two things Razor Ruddock can't resist in life are a pint and a dare. That and seventeen years as a professional footballer under his belt means he's got a story or two to tell. Chickening out of a fight with Eric Cantona, robbing Alan Shearer's minibar, cinema trips with Gazza, becoming mates with Ian Wright - Razor has seen and done it all.Packed full of hilarious anecdotes, Razor gives us his take on the beautiful game, sharing his tactics (good banter is a defender's duty), red mist (and red cards) on the pitch, run-ins with the FA and his theory as to why Ingerland never do as well as we'd like, as well as his best ever goal and the greatest night of his sporting life.Razor also lifts the lid on his bad reputation and reveals his regrets, his heroes, his greatest fears (notably upsetting the missus) and what it takes to make Britain's hardest footballer cry. Poignantly, he shares his views on the importance of family and his concerns over footballers' mental health. And the biggest surprise of all: that he was a shy and retiring young lad (and that his love of swearing comes from his mum).Cameo appearances include: Bobby Robson, Diego Maradona, Eric Cantona, Dennis Bergkamp, Harry Redknapp, David Beckham, Alan Shearer, Gazza, Jimmy Case, Phil 'The Power' Taylor, Robbie Williams and Nelson Mandela ('Nelse').With his trademark sense of humour and foot-in-mouth disease, The World According to Razor is like having a pint down the pub with Razor himself.By winning the 2019 Tour de France, Egan Bernal became the race's youngest champion in 110 years, and the first…
from the South American nation of Colombia. His victory brought decades of national yearning to fruition, and capped the achievements of a golden generation of Colombian cyclists.For, in the years before Egan's victory, Nairo Quintana won the Tours of Italy and Spain, even coming within 72 seconds of winning the Tour. Rigoberto Urán, Esteban Chaves, Miguel Ángel López and Fernando Gaviria took stage wins, donned leader's jerseys and made final podiums at cycling's greatest events. They, and other world-class Colombian talents, made their nation a cycling superpower. Yet its cycling sons are not the products of a rigorous sports system that nurtures them through the ranks to the pinnacle of globalised sport. They come from harder backgrounds, that surprise, shock - even, at times, enchant. The visibility they have secured their homeland has helped open it to international tourism and trade. After decades of violence, corruption and civil unrest, a new, revitalised Colombia has re-entered the community of nation, thanks to its cyclists.This book is about their lives and dreams: it tells inspiring stories of overcoming poverty and violence, sickness and corruption. It explores the unique sporting microcosm that lies behind Colombia's world-beating riders, and how their achievements spurred a nation to prosperity and peace.The Tour According to G: My Journey to the Yellow Jersey
By Geraint Thomas. 2018
"This year G was the strongest rider, and he finally had Lady Luck on his side. An unstoppable combination" --Chris…
Froome"I understand what Geraint's win meant: for him, for me, for the team, and for Wales, too" --Dave Brailsford"Wow" --Thierry HenryFor years Geraint Thomas appeared blessed with extraordinary talent but jinxed at the greatest bike race in the world: twice Olympic gold medalist on the track, Commonwealth champion, yet at the Tour de France a victim of crashes, bad luck, and his willingness to sacrifice himself for his teammates.In the Summer of 2018, that curse was blown away in spectacular fashion--from the cobbles of the north and the iconic mountain climbs of the Alps to the brutal slopes of the Pyrenees, and finally, the Champs-Elysees in Paris. As a boy, G had run home from school of summer afternoons to watch the Tour on television. This past July, across 21 stages and three weeks, and under constant attack from his rivals, he made the race his own.With insight from the key characters around Geraint, this is the inside-story of one of the most thrilling and heart-warming tales in sport.Not only can nice guys come first--they can win the biggest prize of all.Thinking Out Loud: Love, Grief and Being Mum and Dad
By Rio Ferdinand. 2017
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER'A lacerating account ... painful but necessary' EVENING STANDARD'Beautiful & significant ... Tackles grief with…
honesty' DAWN FRENCH'Very important and moving book' ALASTAIR CAMPBELL'A searingly honest book. So much of Rio's emotional turmoil and deep loss resonated with me. At the same time I loved his message of hope' GLORIA HUNNIFORD'Rio's courageous story of life, loss, grief and hope' PRIMA CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE, 'Best of the Celebrity Crop''Tender, heartbreaking ... An extraordinary and unforgettable book. *****' HEAT* * * * * *'When Rebecca died, the idea that one day I might begin to feel better would have struck me as laughable ... I know how persuasive this kind of permanence thinking can be. I know too that anyone locked in its grip will laugh if I promise them that their pain will one day ease. It will. Of course it will. But I know better than to expect anyone to believe me.'In 2015, former England football star Rio Ferdinand suddenly and tragically lost his wife and soulmate Rebecca, aged 34, to cancer. It was a profound shock and Rio found himself struggling to cope not just with the pain of his grief, but also with his new role as both mum and dad to their three young children. Rio's BBC1 documentary, Being Mum and Dad, touched everyone who watched it and won huge praise for the honesty and bravery he showed in talking about his emotions and experiences. His book now shares the story of meeting, marrying and losing Rebecca, his own and the family's grief - as well as the advice and support that get him through each day as they strive to piece themselves back together. Thinking Out Loud is written in the hope that he can inspire others struggling with loss and grief to find the help they need through this most difficult of times.The Gaffer: The Trials and Tribulations of a Football Manager
By Neil Warnock. 2013
Ever wondered how a transfer deal is done? What a manager says during his pre-match team-talk? What he screams from…
the techincal area? What goes on in training sesions, and on those long away trips? How a manager carefully builds a team, and what he does when the planning is disrupted by injuries? How he lifts a team after a crushing defeat, and keeps their feet on the ground after a resounding victory? How the man in charge handles the ever-present danger of getting sacked in the ultimate results business? In short, how one of today's top professional footballer managers somehow copes with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, with having to live, breathe and sleep football 24 hours a day, 365 days a year? Then read The Gaffer.Taking Fresh Guard
By Tony Lewis. 2003
Tony Lewis has reached the top of English cricket as a player captaining his country, as a commentator for the…
BBC, and as an administrator becoming President of the MCC. But even these bare outlines do not do justice to the full range of his career, as a musician, rugby player, head of the Welsh Tourist Board, and much else besides. In this memoir, Tony Lewis takes us through key episodes in his life, showing how chance moments have shaped much that followed. Written in a warm and lyrical style, this is a fascinating account of one man's remarkable life and of the sport he loves so much. He recalls the great characters he has met throughout his career, and gives his vision of a way forward for English cricket.John Giles: A Football Man - My Autobiography
By John Giles. 2010
. He also describes his enduring friendship with the `kid from across Dublin?s Tolka Park?, Eamon Dunphy, and his career…
on RTÉ2?s football panel, where Giles? intelligent and insightful analysis have made him an even more well-loved and respected national figure.John Greig: My Story
By John Greig. 2006
Nicknamed 'the Ledge' on account of his legendary status, John Greig has been voted the greatest Ranger of all time…
by the fans and his statue stands outside Ibrox. His achievements speak for themselves: numerous Scottish Championships and Cups, captain of the successful European Cup-Winners' Cup side of 1972 and the only member of three Treble-winning sides. He also captained his country, winning 44 caps for Scotland. In 1978 he moved from the dressing room to the Rangers manager's office where he enjoyed Cup sucesses but never quite reached the heights he achieved as a player. Here he recounts the highs and lows of his career and relives classic moments on the pitch and numerous off-the-pitch antics with both club and country. Please note: this ebook does not contain picture sections.