Product Description

A look at the weird and funny sides of the beautiful game. This book is packed with facts about football history, its stars and characters, and unusual events on and off the pitch. There are sections on gruesome injuries - caused deliberately and accidentally ... there are club nicknames, songs and chants and throughout the book a huge selection of hilarious quotes by commentators, managers and players.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #103316 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Customer Reviews

Not for children
What a great book, full of interesting facts and information that the reader can collect little by little.

I thought that it would be perfect for my football crazy grandson who already has a great knowledge of the game and its participants, matched only by his enthusiasm.

However, I hadn't given a thought to the language content, and my first glance through the book brought out words and phrases totally unsuitable for children.

For the adults; enjoy!

Too generic to be of interest to a real football fan
Engrossing football books can take many forms: revealing biographies, weighty statistical tomes, photographic meanders through the game's history and quirky specialist studies of kits/stadiums/goalposts/hairstyles/pies etc.

However they never take the form of a random collection of facts, quotes and anecdotes, often poorly researched and presented in no particular order. For example a chapter called "International Disasters" somehow morphs into several pages describing F.A. Cup upsets.

There are some interesting nuggets contained within these 400 pages but you have to battle through McCann's infuriatingly haphazard writing style to uncover them. His contempt for the reader is perhaps best illustrated by this little gem tucked away among descriptions of goalkeeping blunders: "So what about Grimsby's Paul Kryton? Perhaps we'd best not go there." Never mind dear reader, you can always Google "Paul Kryton" yourself (although I suggest you try "Paul Crichton" instead).

This sort of book exists solely for the benefit of people who are stuck for a present idea for a football fan. If you had to buy a gift for a wine buff, you wouldn't expect them to be thrilled with a bottle of Blue Nun and neither will your football-loving friend be delighted to receive this cheesy title.

Perfect for the smallest room
I have a few of Mr McCann's books from the Facts, Figures and Fun series and all are wonderful for the smallest room in the house. That's not to say they can't be read anywhere else of course!

This one is no exception. Perfect to pick up and read for five minutes time after time.