Listening to audiobooks about football offers a whole new experience that is as entertaining as it is educational. Here’s our list of the best football audiobooks to hit play on, brought to you by your favourite sportswriters and international football superstars.
Yes, football is a sport that is played pretty much everywhere. But tactics and strategies will be just a little different worldwide and across generations. In Inverting the Pyramid, sportswriter
Jonathan Wilson takes an in-depth look at football tactics and how they have evolved through the centuries, from the pioneering manoeuvres of the Scottish passing game in the 1870s to the tactical genius of modern-day Barcelona. How different is the modern football we know today from what it used to be hundreds of years ago? Wilson answers this question and more in this fascinating audiobook.
Football is constantly changing and developing new styles and trends as a modern sport. In Zonal Marking, Michael W. Cox takes listeners on a European tour through the recent shifting styles of football—from Italy's surprising league domination of the Champions League to France's stunning influence on the sport after reaching the top and the subsequent passing of the torch to Portugal, Barcelona and Germany. Finally, Cox, a British journalist and author contributing football analysis to The Athletic, takes listeners to England, where Europe's most successful coaches infused the Premier League with an array of playing styles. Zonal Marking offers insights into how various national strategies, managers, stars and characters have influenced the game over generations. The result is a riveting football tactical and cultural history, offering another perspective on its global appeal.
Another title from the esteemed sportswriter David Goldblatt features on our list of the best football audiobooks. The Ball Is Round presents a global history of football in a digestible and fascinating format. In this extraordinary listening experience, Goldblatt tells the whole story of football's rise from chaotic folk ritual to the world's most popular sport—now on its way to establishing itself as a major sport in North America. While uncovering world football's role in modern societies' political and social histories, The Ball Is Round never loses sight of the beautiful game's joy and excitement.
The world of football is as diverse as it is fascinating, but it wasn’t always that way. A New Formation: How Black Footballers Shaped the Modern Game is a stunning exploration of how Black British players have influenced the game on and off the pitch. This audiobook is not a book about tackling racism in the game. Still, it explores how men’s and women’s football and Black British culture have intersected and recounted in a way that challenges the typical frameworks of oppression levied on Black British players. Featuring contributions from Black football superstars such as Ian Wright, Anita Asante and Andy Cole, A New Formation is a stunning listen and look at the vibrant influence of Black life in Britain on the beautiful game.
This audiobook is a listen full of comedy and analysis by a football fan for football fans. Who Are Ya? 92 Football Clubs - and Why You Shouldn’t Support Them by former Match of the Day presenter Kevin Day is a delightful mix of football analysis and friendly fan rivalry. In his years of sports broadcasting, Kevin Day has interviewed many football fans, players and managers from various generations and travelled far and wide to watch football matches on every level. This audiobook is a fascinating and hilarious look at the many adventures and observations he has gathered as a football fan and a professional. From his experience interviewing Manchester United legend George Best, the bewilderment of football finances, to superstitions and getting chased down a railway line at Cardiff, Who Are Ya? is an amusing look at football teams and fan rivalries, but also at the connections that ultimately unite all game fans.
As a boy, Nick Hornby was desperate for some escape and a sense of home as he struggled with his parent’s failing marriage. That was until his father took him to Highbury and the Arsenal football team, and the pitch became his escape. There, he would experience life’s full range of emotions in all their splendour - joy, humiliation, heartbreak and hope. Fever Pitch has become a classic tale of one football fan’s life told through the lens of his love of the game. From his tumultuous relationship with his father to his first experiences with love, Fever Pitch is a brilliantly insightful recount of Nick Hornby’s lifetime obsession with football and how the game can come to shape life in more ways than one.
English football has become a commercial powerhouse and one of the most popular entertainment businesses on the planet. But how did it all happen? The Club: How the Premier League Became the Richest, Most Disruptive Business in Sport, written by Jonathan Clegg and Joshua Robinson, is a fascinating account of the untold story behind the Premier League’s meteoric rise. With insights from behind the scenes of the boardrooms of Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, West Ham, Aston Villa and more, The Club is a definitive look at the business empire that is the Premier League and where it all began. From risky gambles, ruthless agents, and multi-million dollar deals, this fascinating audiobook is a must-listen for all football fans.
SocceriQ is a fantastic combination of Amazon’s top two football books turned into one fascinating audiobook. The two audiobooks are highly regarded as some of the best football
books for players and coaches for their valuable insights and tips from an experienced football coach with two decades of experience. Dan Blank uses his coaching experience to tackle some of the most common football mistakes with simple and easy-to-implement solutions. SocceriQ is the first sports audiobook of its kind and is the perfect audiobook to flatten the learning curve of hunting rebounds and the benefits of the toe ball. Told with the humour and insight only a highly experienced coach could possess, this is the perfect audiobook for new and experienced players who want to improve their game.
Few know more about what it takes to lead a team to staggering success like Sir Alex Ferguson. In his nearly four decades of management, Sir Alex Ferguson won a jaw-dropping 49 trophies and helped make Manchester United one of the world's most widely
influential and recognized commercial brands. Leading is an inspirational and no-nonsense audiobook revealing Sir Alex's secrets and fascinating tales of his prolific career. He focuses on the obvious things like discipline, control, teamwork, and motivation but also on the lesser-considered topics of delegation and dealing with failure. Written alongside Sir Michael Mortiz, this audiobook is full of humour, wisdom and unflinching honesty that benefits everyone, no matter their walk of life.
When we think about successful football teams, we think about how many matches they've won, how many titles they've earned and where they stand in the rankings. Naturally, coaches, managers and players are concerned about winning, but only in the last couple of decades have they begun to focus on how to win. Expected Goals, written by Rory Smith, is a new book now available in audio format about the fascinating ways the data revolution has transformed the game of football. When one man who knew little about the game set out to revolutionise it by collecting data and using it to lead teams to victory, the game would never be the same again. Expected Goals is a gripping account of Chris Anderson's journey and how his ideas led to the modern game.
The Mixer: The Story of Premier League Tactics, from Route One to False Nines, is one of those rare football books that should be on every avid fan's shelf. But even if you aren't a fan of hardbacks, this essential book is now available in audio format. It is a fascinating examination of how the tactics of the Premier League have evolved over the years. Before
the creation of the Premier League, the game was much more physical and focused more on brute force and strength. Then, everything changed overnight with the creation of the league and one of the most earth-shattering rule changes in football history: the elimination of
the back pass. The Mixer is a riveting examination of the game's evolution over the last quarter century and a thoroughly exciting and entertaining listen.
