—- Are you an Irons’ brain-box? If so then
put that claim to the test with this second
volume of the official West Ham United
quiz book.
There are 100 categories with 1000
questions on all aspects of the claret and
blue. Right up to date with questions on
the 2018/19 season, this latest edition of
the West Ham quiz book covers the
entire history of the club, ancient and
modern but with the focus on the
Premier League era.
There is also a section on all the opposing
teams that the Hammers have faced at
Premier League level, plus a set of
questions on all of the club’s permanent
Premier League managers.
Compiled by life-long Irons fan Peter
Rogers who says: " Hopefully there will
be something for everyone and this book
may well help pass the miles en route to
away matches when perhaps a little bit of
friendly in-car or on-coach competition
can take place. "
Publication: APRIL 2020
Extent: 144pp
Price: Book £10 & EBook £3.95
Format: 152 x 152 mm
ISBN-13: 978 1 91269 291 0
ISBN EBook: 978 1 91336 220 1
Illustrations: Colour cover B&W text
Classification: Sport
BIC Code: WSNB
Binding: Paperback
Territory: World
Sales Agent: Jim Sheehan

jim@signaturebooksuk.com
07970 700505

# # # #

Jimmy Greaves – new tv documentary and classic book ties in with his 80th birthday this week

 —- Greavsie, a new film about the Spurs and England legend premiers on BT Sport 2 on Wednesday February 18 at 10.30pm, to tie in with his 80th birthday this week.

The documentary tells the tale of the rise, fall and re-birth of one of England’s greatest strikers with rarely seen archive footage and interviews with some of the game’s biggest names.

Harry Redknapp, Sir Geoff Hurst, Ian St John, Denis Law, George Cohen, Cliff Jones, Pat Jennings, Gary Lineker, Glenn Hoddle, Barry Davies, John Sillett, Alan Mullery, Ron Harris, Steve Perryman, Jimmy Tarbuck, Rio Ferdinand, several members of Jimmy’s family and more have helped contribute.

The story begins in the 1950s with Jimmy a target for every major club in London and opts for Chelsea , the 1955 league champions. He makes the breakthrough and becomes a teenage superstar, scoring 124 league goals in 157 games.

Frustrated by Chelsea’s inconsistency and the maximum wage, Jimmy moves to AC Milan, but a disappointing spell in Italy sees Greaves head to Spurs for a club-record fee.

The forward is a major success, scoring 21 goals in 22 games before the end of the season and between 1962 and 1965, Greaves scores 101 league goals in 123 games.

In 1965/66, the year before England’s home World Cup, the country’s star striker contracts hepatitis. Jimmy makes the World Cup squad and starts the first three games, but injury against France puts him out of the quarter-final against Argentina. Sir Geoff Hurst takes his place and the rest is history.

Lost without football, Jimmy spends much of the 1970s battling alcoholism, but once sober he gets a newspaper column with The Sun and writes a book with friend Norman Giller, called ‘The Sixties Revisited’ which has been re-released by G2 Entertainment in both paperback (RRP £9.99) and as an Ebook (£7).

After spells on ATV in the Midlands, and on the panel for the 1982 World Cup, in 1985 ITV decide that Jimmy needs his own vehicle. Saint and Greavsie is born when they pair him with former Liverpool stalwart St John. The show is a colossal hit and Jimmy is a major public figure again, as evidenced by his Spitting Images Puppet.

Tragically in 2015 Jimmy suffers a severe stroke. He survives but is wheelchair bound and still has speech difficulties.

 

www.g2books.co.uk

 

…
###################
—- The Best of Liverpool, from G2Books (£9.99) is an updated revised version of a sharp collector’s volume first published in 2007. It’s an A-Z of Anfield heroes down the years from Alexander-Arnold to Yeats and a handful of other issues making up the full alphabet to take it all the way to the last letter in the alphabet. Includes a wide range of historical pictures rather than relying merely on ‘easy’ modern era sports photography.
###################
—- Andrzej Gowarzewski’s remarkable statistical series has produced another three magnificent football books.
Puchar Polski relates the history of the Polish cup. The text is – of course – in Polish but the statistical foundation (finals, clubs, players, goals, records etc) is clear to follow.
Next comes Rocznik 2019 which is the football yearbook, a sort of ‘Polish Rothmans.’
Both of these are illustrated and the format will be familiar to Gowarzewski admirers.
However, a magnificent expanded volume is the tale of the history of the Polish game, a unique document.
More information from:
wydawnictwo GIA
PO Box 2772
40-357 Katowice 14.
###########
—- The Best of Manchester United, from G2Books (£9.99) is an updated revised version of a sharp collector’s volume first published in 2007. It’s an A-Z of Old Trafford heroes down the years from Aston to Whiteside and a handful of other issues included to take it all the way to the last letter in the alphabet. Includes a wide range of historical pictures rather than relying merely on ‘easy’ modern era sports photography.
###################

— The Best of Chelsea

Now publishing the third reprint of this perennially popular gift book
which has sold in excess of
10,000 copies.
 Ties in with the dawn of a new
era as club legend Frank
Lampard is appointed new
manager under a three-year
contract and pins his faith in
young players.
 Updated to include many of
the star players in the current
team including Abraham,
Mount, Pedro and Willian.
 One of three new titles in the
series alongside new editions
of the Best of Liverpool and
Manchester United books.
 Simultaneous EBook release.

The legendary players, managers,
matches and moments that have
shaped the history of one of the
biggest football clubs in the world
are listed in a fascinating A to Z
format. From Azpilicueta to Zola,
from Abramovich to Wilkins, each
‘legend’ has their own entry and
pictures that have been updated
for the 2019/20 season.
The fully illustrated book also
contains facts and figures of all
the club’s league positions,
greatest goal scorers, players of
the year, most appearances,
famous supporters and a Greatest
Ever XI as chosen by the fans.
The book takes in the start of the
current season in which Lampard
won the Premier League Manager
of the Month Award in October;
and Abraham and Mount played
for England.
Publication: December 2019
Extent: 144pp
Price: £9.99
Format: 152 x 152 mm
ISBN-13: 978 1 78281 657 7
ISBN EBook: 978 1 78281 658 4
Illustrations: Colour throughout
Classification: Sport
BIC Code: WSNB
Binding: Hardback
Territory: World
Sales Agent: Jim Sheehan

jim@signaturebooksuk.com
07970 700505

=============================

deCoubertin to publish Chaos is a Friend of Mine: The Life and Crimes of Conor McGregor

Liverpool: ‘… People say to me be careful of the money, don’t blow it. If the money becomes a problem, I’ll get rid of it. I’ve been planning to get to this stage for a long, long time and I won’t let anything stop me.’ 
The year is 2013, and Ewan MacKenna is sitting in McDonald’s with Conor McGregor as he enjoys his weekly coffee, a treat in the eyes of a dedicated fighter. The Crumlin-born mixed martial arts fighter has not yet cashed his $60,000 prize money after his maiden UFC victory over Marcus Brimage, a first-round stoppage, but he knows the importance of it – only recently has he found himself in the social welfare queue.Five years on and McGregor is late for his press conference with Khabib Nurmagomedov ahead of their showdown at UFC 229. By the time he arrives his opponent has gone, but it doesn’t stop him from launching into a diatribe against him before reverting to a sales pitch for his own whiskey, ‘Proper No. 12.’Somewhere along the line, the fighter became a stranger to his art, increasingly drawn to the circus that surrounds him. But what is McGregor? A wonderful rags-to-riches tale? Dedicated athlete? Cultural phenomenon? Troubled soul? Out-of-control kid? Confused young man? Narcissist? Arrogant thug? Sporting icon?McGregor is any and all but, crucially, more than most sporting stars, he is also a mirror of society.In Chaos is a Friend of Mine, MacKenna takes in both Las Vegas in 2018 and Dublin in 2019 in order to examine McGregor’s journey, from his upbringing in the Irish capital, to his early days as a wide-eyed, prodigiously talented martial arts obsessive, to his recent antics outside the ring which have seen him grow bigger than the sport itself but spiral out control.’McGregor has always fascinated me – not always for the most positive of reasons and not always purely because of him directly either,’ said MacKenna. ‘Instead, he was a perfect person for this time and place, because he was the imperfect person for this imperfect time and place. A sporting representation of a society in complete regression speeding towards collapse, where his anger and bile made him money which in turn was used to justify any and all lack of morality.’When he burst on the scene he would have been anything people wanted him to be so long as they paid him for it, and this is what the world created for their amusement. What happened has been as grim as predictable, but through his story I wanted to delve into what makes and breaks celebrities in this era where worshipping them has reached new and troubling levels, through new and troubling methods.’What he did in his sport is incredible to look back on. But so is what his sport and we gave him a platform to do away from it. This isn’t just his story, for his journey is a reflection of so much more and that should terrify.’Ends

About the Author  

Born in Ireland, Ewan MacKenna is an award-winning journalist and author. He first interviewed Conor McGregor in 2013 after his maiden UFC victory, and has followed his career closely ever since, including covering his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in Las Vegas in 2018. A former Irish Sportswriter of the Year, he is a columnist with the Irish Independent and has also contributed internationally to The New York Times, Bleacher Report, ESPN and the Independent. He splits his time between Portugal, Brazil and Ireland.

Chaos is a Friend of Mine will be released on November 19th. For serialisation details, review copies and interview requests please contact Jack Gordon Brown – jack@decoubertin.co.uk (0151 909 5747)

 

===========================

deCoubertin Books to publish The Signing Winger, the autobiography of Colin Grainger

Liverpool, 4 October 2019

deCoubertin Books are privileged to be able to bring you the autobiography of Colin Grainger, The Singing Winger.

Known as ‘The Singing Winger’ for his ability both out wide on a football field and centre stage at a concert hall, Colin Grainger had the privilege of sharing a changing room with Duncan Edwards and Stanley Matthews and a bill with the Beatles.

Starting out in 1950, Grainger’s professional football career spanned sixteen years, taking in all four divisions, and after Nat Lofthouse persuaded him to perform while on England duty, a successful singing career was born alongside. Grainger continued to marry his passions in the years to come, and this tale tells the story of life on the road as a professional in two industries and the joy of forging friendships with icons of a bygone era.

Now aged 86, Colin is one of the oldest surviving England internationals, having played in the country’s famous 4-2 win over Brazil in 1956, scoring 2 goals himself.

Hyder Jawád, co-author, says, ‘The opportunity to work on the story of a man whose playing career began in 1949, the peak of English football’s popularity, felt magical and inspiring. For me, as a keen reader of history, the chance to combine the story of Colin’s two wonderful careers with some wonderful social settings seemed something of a privilege.’
ENDS

Information for Editors
Founded in 2009, deCoubertin Books is a small publisher with big ideas. We use our experience from the worlds of journalism, web, publishing and design to produce beautiful non-fiction books that we passionately believe in. In July 2015 we were delighted to relocate to our new home in Liverpool. Our authors include Neville Southall MBE, Per Mertesacker, Howard Kendall, Clive Allen, Michael Walker, James Montague and Nick Harris.

About the Authors
Colin Grainger was born on 10 June 1933 in Havercroft, West Yorkshire. He began his professional playing career with Wrexham in 1950, and went on to represent Sheffield United, Sunderland, Leeds United, Port Vale, Doncaster Rovers and Macclesfield Town. He earned seven England caps in the 1950s, and as a singer was signed to HMV. His success in two entertainment industries meant he shared a football field with Stanley Matthews and Duncan Edwards and a bill with the Beatles. His brother, John Grainger, and cousins, Dennis Grainger, Jack Grainger and Edwin Holliday all enjoyed professional football careers as well.

Hyder Jawád, who collaborated with Colin Grainger on this book, is an award-winning journalist, radio broadcaster and author. He has written for the Liverpool Echo, the South China Morning Post, The Times and the Independent. He has written eleven books, including the bestselling John Aldridge autobiography in 1999, and has covered seven World Cups. He is the publisher and editor of Soccerama.

==================

More super stats out of Poland

** Some of the most assiduously compiled statistical volumes in recent years have emerged from Poland.

Andrzej Gowarzewski’s work has been acknowledged far and wide and his latest publicatuions maintain the tradition.

Bialo-Czserwoni 1921-2018, produced in cooperation with the Polish federation (PZPN) is a match-by-match history of the Polish national team with pictures, all-line-ups (both teams), goalscorers, referesd and attendances and accompaning notes.

One further volume, Mistrzostwa Polski 1945-1962 presents an A-Z of all the players who featured in top division Polish leage football between those years.

Also out of Poland is another remarkable historical production of a different sort from Piotr Chomicki, Leszek Śledziona and Edwin Kowszewicz.

Olgen has published their Footabll Uearbook 1922 Poland-Europe-World which record the details of Polish football in that particular but records international matches, domestic league and cup results across Europe and in various other nations.

This is another impressive effort  with more to come. Next year will see a similar volume for 1923 then another rewviwing 1919-21.

Pubication is in the Polish language but the statistics are compreherensive and clear, no matter the language