FOOTBALL SHORTS
An innovative series of personal stories on the game by top writers.
SPECIAL 3 FOR 2 INTRODUCTORY OFFER!
All 3 Football Shorts 2023 books signed for just £20 (plus £3.99 p&p)
Blue was the Colour by Andy Hamilton: Telling of his lifelong support for Chelsea, Blue was the Colour is smart and engaging, just like the TV series Andy wrote with Guy Jenkin, Drop the Dead Donkey and Outnumbered. A wise and witty analysis of modern football, it will have fans and readers laughing out loud and nodding in agreement.
The Homecoming by Jane Purdon: Jane has written a passionate, heartfelt account of the summer of 2022, when the Lionesses dazzled the nation and brought football home. Alongside is her personal story of falling in love with the game aged seven growing up in Sunderland and becoming an activist, administrator and leader, most recently as CEO of Women in Football.
Pantomime Hero by Ian Ridley: Ian tells of the touchstone time when Jimmy Armfield took over as manager at Leeds after Brian Clough’s ill-fated 44 days and came up with a unique and innovative idea to restore the morale of a club tearing itself apart. He also describes a friendship forged through the bonds of cancer with an England captain and national treasure broadcaster.
A New Partnership
Sports book publishers Pitch Publishing and Floodlit Dreams are delighted to announce an exciting partnership to create an innovative new collection of books under the banner Football Shorts.
Pitch Publishing and Floodlit Dreams will be publishing three books a year of around 30,000 words each by high quality writers telling personal stories about aspects of football and its characters, and the effect of the game on their own lives. The series will be curated by Floodlit Dreams founder Ian Ridley.
Three more great Football Shorts for 2024 all signed for just £25
January 22nd: Double Acts by Julie Welch:
Written exquisitely by the doyenne of football writers and Spurs expert Julie Welch, Double Acts is packed with insight, anecdotes and the recollections of legendary players, managers and supporters. The result is a revealing and exhilarating new perspective on Tottenham’s rich modern history.
May 20th: Namaste, Geezer by Shekhar Bhatia
Veteran journalist Shekhar Bhatia’s memoir of growing up in East London as a football fan of Asian heritage - and having to run from the racist elements among the fans of the team he supports.
November: Award-winning writer David Winner (Brilliant Orange, Those Feet) trains his analytical eye on Gareth Southgate and the way he woke England. Takes in Euro ‘24 in Germany.
COMING IN MAY
Most football fans who grew up loving the game in the hooliganism-blighted 1970s probably experienced running from opposition fans at some point. For Shekhar Bhatia, the menacing enemy was within – the nastier, right-wing elements among fans of his own team. Taken to West Ham by his father, who arrived in Britain from India in the late 1950s, young Shekhar just could not understand the hate directed towards rare Asian-heritage fans back then and has since spent a lifetime steering a path between his loyalty to the Hammers and racism in the game.
Namaste, Geezer is a revealing and trenchant memoir by one of England’s top national newspaper reporters, who has seen and covered it all, from the Heysel to World Cups, taking in the death of Princess Diana along the way. Often shocking, ultimately joyous, it is a tale of rising above prejudice to fulfil ambitions, in both football and journalism.
Marlborough Literature Festival
Our first three Football Shorts authors - Ian Ridley, Jane Purdon and Andy Hamilton - recently made an enjoyable and productive trip to Wiltshire for the Marlborough Lit Fest, talking about their books and the series.
It was a good mid-morning slot on the Sunday morning, with the former England cricket captain Mike Brearley preceding our session and the amazing children's author Frank Cottrell Boyce following.
Host Ben Tarring of The Guardian presided over a lively discussion about the books themselves and a probing question and answer session with a good-sized audience about the state of modern football, men's and women's.
We are grateful for the good sales from the signing session afterwards and to the Festival for inviting us.
Picture by Ben Phillips
Twitter: @phillips_ben Instagram: @benphillipsphoto
