English Football History

Since the fighting Irish first took to the field in 1887, Notre Dame has developed an incomparable level of tradition and achievement - both on the gridiron and in the classroom. With a record 96 All-American players and seven Heisman Trophy winners, it's no wonder several of Notre Dame's stars have gone on not only to star in the NFL, but also to successful careers and accolades in all walks of life. Notre Dame: Where Have You Gone? catches up with Fighting Irish players.

In between Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan there was Joe Namath, one of the very few sports heroes who transcended their game. The son of a Hungarian immigrant, Namath left the steel country of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, for the Deep South, where he played quarterback for Bear Bryant at the University of Alabama. Almost four years later, he signed a $427,000 contract with the New York Jets that changed football forever, transforming a crude, violent game into show business.

The contrast is striking. As the United States Women’s National soccer team has long dominated the sport—winners of four World Cups and four Olympic gold medals—the men’s team has floundered. They failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup and three consecutive Olympics, and have long struggled when facing the world’s best teams. How could a country so dominant in other men’s team sports—and such a global powerhouse in women’s soccer—be so far behind the rest of the world in men’s soccer?

Football has a long and storied history. In this book, I cover how football originated in Europe, some of the popular European leagues, descriptions of a few of the most famous young, mid-career, and older players, as well as the historical context of club rivalries and individual player rivalries.

In this newly revised edition of Chuck Carlson’s Game of My Life Green Bay Packers, the greatest men to don that green and yellow uniform talk about the best, the most important, and the most entertaining game they ever played. Was it during the immortal "Ice Bowl" of 1967, when Bart Starr snuck across the goal line in the withering cold of Lambeau Field to beat the Dallas Cowboys? Or was it the NFC championship win over the Carolina Panthers in 1997 that sent the Packers back to the Super Bowl for the first time in 30 years?

17th September 2020 marks the centenary of the National Football League. It reaches that landmark as a behemoth, an all-encompassing conglomerate that is the most lucrative sports league in the world - and also the dominant pop culture entity in the United States. The NFL is also making considerable gains worldwide. The International Series has been heading to London since 2007 with incredible sell-outs at the four games in 2019 at Wembley and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadiums.

It's a scandal that began in a place called Happy Valley. But it's not as happy as it once was, as the child-sex-abuse charges against a longtime coach and the conspiracy of silence surrounding the allegations have rocked America and Division 1 college sports. In Game Over, journalists Bill Moushey and Bob Dvorchak investigate claims of a startling cover-up within the Penn State hierarchy that attempted to protect its football legacy, quite possibly at the expense of disenfranchised children.

Today, sports arenas have been transformed into staging grounds for American patriotism and the hero worship of law enforcement. Teams wear camouflage jerseys to honor those who serve; police officers throw out first pitches; soldiers surprise their families with homecomings at halftime. Sports and politics are decidedly entwined. But as journalist Howard Bryant reveals, this has always been more complicated for black athletes, who from the start were committing a political act simply by being on the field.

Any number of writers could spend an entire season with an NFL team, from the first day of training camp until the last pick of the draft, and come up with an interesting book. But only Roy Blount Jr. could capture the pain, the joy, the fears, the humor - in short, the heart - of a championship team.

As Don Shula and Johnny Unitas elevated the brutal game of football, the world around them clashed about Vietnam, civil rights, and sex. Collision of Wills looks at the complicated relationship between Don Shula, the league's winningest coach of all time, and his star player Johnny Unitas, and how their secret animosity fueled the Colts in an era when their losses were as memorable as their victories.

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are perhaps the two greatest quarterbacks of all time. They are living legends who have come to embody the quarterback position and shape an entire generation of the NFL. They have also been fierce rivals every step of the way, and their many epic duels have not only ranked among the best and most exciting games ever played; they have fundamentally shaped the lives and careers of both men.

From the featurette that was published in RedNews186 comes a brief stand alone kindle edition - such was its popularity - of the history of those infamous set of Manchester United fans, 'The Cockney Reds'. Their history, one of its leaders interviewed, and Newcastle away in 1981 and Turin in 1984 remembered as particularly memorable trips. This contains adult content as a historical record of those times. February 2024 update to include 'Euston to Manchester. The trains' chapter and a tribute to Gurney. Red News is an unofficial, independent, satirical Manchester United supporters’ ...

Alfredo Di Stéfano, Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, Juan Román Riquelme, Lionel Messi...Argentina has produced some of the greatest footballers of all time. But the rich, volatile history of Argentinian football is made up of both the sublime and the ruthlessly pragmatic. Jonathan Wilson, having lived there on and off during the last decade, is ideally placed to chart the sport's development in a country that, perhaps more than any other, lives and breathes football, its theories and its myths.

You Are Looking Live! is about the genesis, success, and magic of a live television show that in 1975 captured the excitement of the country and launched four magnetic personalities to stardom: Brent Musburger, Phyllis George, Irv Cross, and Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder. It was the first NFL studio show to go live and the first to have both a Black and female cohost. Those four personalities battled each other and the competition, and America loved them for it. This is the story of how they got there, their drama and front-page headlines, and what happened after the magic ended.

In Mavericks, Money and Men, football historian Charles Ross chronicles the AFL's key events, including Buck Buchanan becoming the first overall draft pick in 1963, and the 1965 boycott led by black players who refused to play in the AFL All Star game after experiencing blatant racism. He also recounts how the success of the AFL forced a merger with the NFL in 1969, which arguably facilitated the evolution of modern professional football.

When James Montague first began covering football in the Middle East two decades ago, people asked him what future there could possibly be for the beautiful game in one of the most volatile regions in the world. In the years that followed, it would become one of the biggest stories in global sport, from the from revolutionary ultras of the Arab Spring and the takeover of some of the world's biggest clubs by the Emirati super rich, to Qatar's controversial journey towards hosting the 2022 World Cup finals.

On January 12, 1969, the New York Jets astonished the nation when they beat the favored Baltimore Colts to win Super Bowl III. The key to the Jets’ success was quarterback Joe Namath, whose superstar talent, revolutionary personality, cockiness, and charm made him an instant celebrity. But Namath didn’t do it alone. In Beyond Broadway Joe, the members of that legendary team share for the first time their often funny, sometimes poignant, and always perceptive personal stories and memorable anecdotes about the Super Bowl team, its players and coaches, and that legendary win.

The first fifty years of America's most popular spectator sport have been strangely neglected by historians claiming to tell the "complete story" of pro football. Well, here are the early stories that "complete story" has left out. What about the awful secret carried around by Sid Luckman, the Bears' Hall of Fame quarterback whose father was a mobster and a murderer? Or Steve Hamas, who briefly played in the NFL then turned to boxing and beat Max Schmeling, conqueror of Joe Louis?

"In 'The Unfolding Conflict,' we follow the journey of Joseph Dillward, a young, educated, and humble man blessed with a multitude of skills and talents. As he navigates the complexities of life, Joseph finds himself grappling with a profound sense of purpose, a quest that takes unexpected turns. Joseph's pursuit of a Doctoral degree, a path he is ardently devoted to, encounters unforeseen challenges beyond his control. Just as he begins to confront the uncertainties of his future, an unexpected adversary emerges in the form of Phillip Goldwater, the former CEO of Breachwind, the world's ...

In a tiny, decaying aluminum smelting town in southern Tajikistan, a short drive from a raging war zone, Afghanistan take on Palestine in the first Asian qualifier for 2014's World Cup in Brazil. Every player on both teams is risking something by playing: Their careers, their families, even their lives. Thirty-One Nil is the story of how footballers from all corners of the globe begin their journey chasing a place at the World Cup Finals.