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Back in 1992, English football was stuck in the dark ages, emerging from a five-year ban from European competition. The game was physical, bruising and attritional, based on strength over speed, aggression over finesse. It was the era of the midfield general, reducers, big men up front and getting it in the mixer; 4-4-2 was the order of the day. Few teams experimented tactically. And then, almost overnight, it all changed. The creation of the Premier League coincided with one of the most seismic rule changes in football history: the abolition of the back-pass. Suddenly defenders had no-get-out-of-jail-free card, goalkeepers had to be able to field and play the ball and the pace of the game quickened immeasurably. Tactics evolved dramatically, helped by an increased foreign influence. The Mixer is the first book to delve deep into the tactical story of the Premier League, and take a long view of how the game has developed over the last quarter century. From Ferguson's directness to Keegan's relentlessly attacking Newcastle outfit, to Mourinho's cagey, reactive Chelsea, all the way to Ranieri's counter-attacking champions, The Mixer is one of the most entertaining, rich and knowledgeable football books ever written.

The moving and gripping new blockbuster novel from international bestseller John Grisham.<br/><br/>ONE MAN. ONE HOPE. ONCE CHANCE TO BECOME A LEGEND.<br/><br/>ONE MAN Seventeen-year-old Samuel Sooleyman comes from a village in South Sudan, a war-torn country where one third of the population is a refugee. His great love is basketball: his prodigious leap and lightning speed make him an exceptional player. And it may also bring him his big chance: he has been noticed by a coach taking a youth team to the United States.<br/><br/>ONE HOPE If he gets through the tournament, Samuel's life will change beyond recognition. But it's the longest of long shots. His talent is raw and uncoached. There are hundreds of better-known players ahead of him. And he must leave his family behind, at least at the beginning.<br/><br/>ONE CHANCE As American success beckons, devastating news reaches Samuel from home. Caught between his dream and the nightmare unfolding thousands of miles away, 'Sooley', as he's nicknamed by his classmates, must make hard choices about his future. This quiet, dedicated boy must do what no other player has achieved in the history of his chosen game: become a legend in twelve short months.<br/><br/>Global bestseller John Grisham takes you to a different kind of court in this gripping and incredibly moving novel that showcases his storytelling powers in an entirely new light.

<b></b><b> THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER </b><b></b><b><br/><br/><b>SHORTLISTED FOR FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR & BEST SPORTS WRITING AWARD AT THE 2025 SPORTS BOOK AWARDS</b><br/><b><br/>A TIMES SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR<br/>A TELEGRAPH BOOK OF THE YEAR<br/>AN IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR<br/>AN IRISH INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE YEAR</b><br/><br/><b>Fully updated to cover Saudi Arabia's 2034 World Cup bid, the Manchester City charges case and the events of the 2024/25 season.</b><br/><br/><b>'Important, perfectly timed and hugely necessary.' </b><i>The Guardian</i><br/><b>'Football needs this book. A monumental piece of investigative journalism.'</b><i> Irish Times</i><br/><b>'A must-read on how modern football works.' </b><i>Ian Wright</i><br/><b>'Brave, forensic and utterly gripping.' </b><i>Tom Holland</i><br/><br/>______________________________<br/><br/><b>The definitive account of how capitalism and the world's elite corrupted modern football.<br/></b><br/>As the 2022 World Cup in Qatar drew to a close, there was a bitter undercurrent to Argentina's triumph. Throughout the tournament, numerous allegations of sportswashing and financial misconduct had been made against the state of Qatar, moving what had previously been a smaller conversation into the worldwide spotlight.<br/><br/>The question had been asked, who <i>really </i>owns and runs football?<br/><br/>Journeying from Abu Dhabi to Newcastle, and onto London, Paris, Moscow and New York, journalist Miguel Delaney investigates the allegations of sportswashing and misconduct in the beautiful game. The result is a gripping account of how football has been taken over by the world's wealthiest businessmen, state-backed corporations, media tycoons and oil-rich oligarchs.<br/><br/>From Neymar's GBP198 million transfer to Paris Saint-Germain and Abu Dhabi's construction empire in Manchester to failed Financial Fair Play constraints and the dawn of the European Super League, Miguel draws on exclusive interviews and unprecedented access to key stakeholders to produce an all-encompassing expose of modern footballs highest echelons.<br/><br/><b>Authoritative, riveting and eye-opening,<i> States of Play</i> reveals how football has become a tool for the world's elite.</b><br/>______________________________<br/><br/><b><i>'T</i>he moral compass that the game needs.'</b> <i>Andy Brassell</i><br/><br/><b>'In this excellent investigation, Delaney reveals the ugly side of the beautiful game.'</b> <i>Oliver Bullough</i><br/><br/><b>'The most important football book of its generation.'</b> <i>Jack Pitt-Brooke</i><br/><br/><i>'</i><b>Tackles the major issues affecting football today with fearlessness and forensic scrutiny. An important investigation for our times.'</b> <i>Laurie Whitwell</i><br/><br/><b>'A majestic book. The essential guide to how the people's game has become the plaything of the very rich and powerful.'</b> <i>Jonathan Wilson</i><br/><br/>Miguel Delaney's <i>STATES OF PLAY </i>was ranked in the<i> Irish Times </i>bestsellers list the weeks of 11th-18th November & 9th December 2024.</b>

<b>Pablo Escobar had one obsession. Not drugs, not money, not power... football.</b><br/><br/>Narcoball uncovers the incredible story of Colombian football during the early 1990s - shaped by drug lords, rivalries, and ambition. It uncovers a football empire backed by cartels - where victory was a currency of its own, and defeat, a matter of life and death.<br/><br/>This is a different story of Pablo Escobar and his rivals. A tale of clandestine deals that reshaped Medellin's football clubs, where fortunes were won and lost. It unveils the extraordinary bonds that Escobar forged with football's luminaries and why his influence reached unprecedented heights, leading to the astonishing 5-0 victory over Argentina in Buenos Aires, the murder of referees, and the ruthless coercion of officials culminating in the killing of Andres Escobar - the Colombian defender who paid the ultimate price for an own goal in the 1994 World Cup. It is also an examination of a people's relationship with both the sport and the nefarious leaders that brought both pride and terror to their communities.<br/><br/>Set against the U.S War on Drugs, international threats, and government clampdowns, this is a gripping exploration of Colombian club football under Escobar's rise and fall.

'A tough, beautiful novel. - Guardian<br/><br/>About one womans fine, hard life at the racetrack, Kick the Latch with its ruthless concision and artful mysteries is lightning in a bottle.<br/><br/>Kathryn Scanlans Kick the Latch vividly captures the arc of one womans life at the racetrack the flat land and ramshackle backstretch; the bad feelings and friction; the winners circle and the racetrack bar; the fancy suits and fancy boots; and the particular language of grooms, jockeys, trainers, racing secretaries, stewards, pony people, hotwalkers, everybody with economy and integrity.<br/><br/>Based on transcribed interviews with Sonia, a horse trainer, the novel investigates form and authenticity in a feat of synthesis reminiscent of Charles Reznikoffs Testimony. As Scanlan puts it, I wanted to preserve amplify, exaggerate Sonias idiosyncratic speech, her bluntness, her flair as a storyteller. I arrived at what you could call a composite portrait of a self.<br/><br/>Whittled down with a fiercely singular artistry, Kick the Latch bangs out of the starting gate and carries the reader on a careening joyride around the inside track.<br/><br/>A revelation in its unadorned, unromantic, plain power. - Andrew McMillan<br/><br/>'A series of taut, electrifying vignettes . . . by turns exultant and brutal. - LA Review of Books

<b>Go behind the scenes with Eddie 'The Beast' Hall as we follow his incredible journey from World's Strongest Man to competing in 'The Heaviest Boxing Match in History' against his nemesis Hafthor 'Thor' Bjornsson.</b><br/><br/><b>'No human can visualise the impossible like this man' Jason Statham</b><br/><br/><b>THE BEAST</b><br/>In 2017 Eddie Hall became the World's Strongest Man. He was the first person to pull half a tonne off the floor when everybody else said it was impossible, setting a new World Record. Impossible is a recurring theme in Eddie's life - from the streets of Stoke-on-Trent to the pinnacle of Strongman - at every step on his journey he has blasted through the obstacles in his way.<br/><br/><b>THE BOXING MATCH</b><br/>Now, Eddie brings you into the heart of his training camp as he prepares for his greatest challenge yet - a boxing ring showdown with his nemesis, Hafthor Bjornsson. Witness Eddie's two-year journey as he transforms his body and mind from strength athlete to titan weight boxer. Get ringside access to Eddie's formidable mindset, he reflects on the lessons he's learned over the course of his life and draws on them to overcome each new setback.<br/><br/><b>Featuring training diaries, 10 rounds of mental preparation and contributions from iconic friends including Ross Edgley, James Haskell, Paddy McGuinness, his family and inner circle, this is Eddie as you have never witnessed him before: 100 per cent authentic, honest and raw. </b>

Ten years ago, Martinus Evans got some stern advice from his doctor: 'Lose weight or die.' <br/><br/>First defensive, but then defiant, Evans vowed that day to run a marathon, though his doctor thought he was crazy. Since then, Evans has run eight marathons and hundreds of other distances in his 300-something body, created his own devoted running community, and has been featured on the cover of Runner's World.<br/><br/>This book is a blueprint for those who may not fit the image of a 'traditional' runner - that is, someone who is larger in size, less athletic, out of shape, or dealing with any kind of health issue that slows them down - to feel empowered to lace up their shoes and embrace the body they have right now. <br/><br/>As Evans says, the incredible benefits of running - better sleep, strong muscles and bones, better cardiovascular and mental health, and a sense of community - can and should be available to all of us.