American Football

Mark Noble joined the West Ham Youth Academy in 2000 and immediately made an impression. Tenacious, aggressive, brave and full of character, he was the perfect embodiment of West Ham’s values and was seen as having a bright future in the Hammers first team. But nobody could have dreamt of Mark’s career at the club: the most appearances in the Premier League for West Ham United and, by the time of his retirement in 2022, the longest-serving one-club player in Europe – his achievements cemented him as one of the club’s modern legends and earned him the nickname ‘Mr West Ham’.

The NFL has come a long way from its founding in Canton, Ohio, in 1920. In the 100 years since that fateful day, football has become America’s most popular and lucrative professional sport. The former scrappy upstart league that struggled to stay afloat has survived a host of challenges to produce American icons like Vince Lombardi, Joe Montana, and Tom Brady. It is an extraordinary and entertaining history that could be told only by Joe Horrigan, former executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and perhaps the greatest living historian of the NFL.

In Brett Favre: The Inspiring Story of One of Football's Greatest Quarterbacks, you will learn the inspirational story of one of football's greatest quarterbacks, Brett Favre. To this day, Brett Favre remains one of the most popular NFL quarterbacks and with good reason: he left an incredible legacy on the game.

Every four years, Americans turn their attention to the world’s game - soccer. As recently as 1998, the USMNT merely made up the numbers at the biggest sporting tournament of all, but once Bruce Arena took over the team, American soccer started to find its footing. In the 2002 World Cup, a highly-fancied Portugal team, featuring the great Ronaldo, lost to Arena’s US team in a shocking 3-2 victory, and but for a handball that wasn’t given, they could well have knocked off eventual winners Germany.

In 1967, a Cleveland businessman had a brilliant idea: Why not start a women's football team? It was conceived as a gimmick and a publicity stunt in the vein of the Harlem Globetrotters. He recruited women to compete as a traveling football troupe; much to his surprise, he learned that women really wanted to play — and play hard. Hail Mary is the story of the unlikely rise of the National Women's Football League and the players who loved a game that society told them they shouldn't be playing.

Preparation is easy to praise but very hard to master. No modern coach, in any sport, understands that better than NFL veteran Tom Coughlin. He led the New York Giants to two Super Bowl victories with his system of relentless preparation and old-school tough-mindedness. He teaches his players that you can never guarantee a win, but you can always earn the right to win - with focus, consistency, hard work, and anticipation of obstacles. And if you’ve earned the right to win, you can sleep soundly before a big game....

Pulitzer Prize-winner David Halberstam's best seller takes you inside the football genius of Bill Belichick for an insightful profile in leadership. Bill Belichick's thirty-one years in the NFL have been marked by amazing success - most recently with the New England Patriots. In this groundbreaking audiobook, David Halberstam explores the nuances of both the game and the man behind it. He uncovers what makes Bill Belichick tick both on and off the field.

In football-obsessed Steubenville, Ohio, on a summer night in 2012, an incapacitated sixteen-year-old girl was repeatedly assaulted by members of the “Big Red” high school football team. They took turns documenting the crime and sharing on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Filmmaker Nancy Schwartzman spent four years embedded in the town, documenting the case and its reverberations. Ten years after the assault, Roll Red Roll is the culmination of that research, weaving in new interviews and personal reflections to take listeners beyond Steubenville to examine rape culture.

On the west bank of the Mississippi lies the New Orleans neighborhood of Algiers. Short on hope but big on dreams, its mostly poor and marginalized residents find joy on Friday nights when the Cougars of Edna Karr High School take the field. For years, this football program has brought glory to Algiers, winning three consecutive state championships and sending dozens of young men to college on football scholarships. Although he is preparing for a fourth title, Head Coach Brice Brown is focused on something else: keeping his players alive.

The Forgotten First chronicles the lives of four incredible men, the racism they experienced as Black players entering a segregated sport, the burden of expectation they carried, and their many achievements, which would go on to affect football for generations to come.

NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton is a friend of failure. In the 1970s, he brought the Minnesota Vikings to the Superbowl three times - and three times his team was crushed. The first two companies he founded both quickly folded. But by learning how to deal with defeat, Tarkenton discovered the key to success.

Football management is like being a potato—you're never too far from the sack and everyone is constantly chipping away at you. It's not for the faint-hearted and unless you've got skin as thick as rhino and a wicked sense of humour, you've no chance of surviving. Ian Holloway—aka 'Ollie'—has all the above and more besides. He's been there, seen it and done it in his 40 years as player and manager. In the joyful How to Be a Football Manager, Holloway weaves a fantastically rich tapestry of hilarious anecdotes to reveal what being the boss is really like.

Après "Comment regarder un match de foot ?", le nouvel opus technico-tactique des Cahiers du Football, cette fois consacré aux entraîneurs. Ils s'appellent Pep Guardiola, Johan Cruyff, Arrigo Sacchi, Valeri Lobanovski, Helenio Herrera... Entraîneurs visionnaires, ils ont porté leurs équipes vers les sommets mais ont surtout servi de modèles à des générations de coaches. Grâce à leurs méthodes révolutionnaires, ils ont changé la face du jeu de football, le rendant encore plus populaire.

Ken "The Snake" Stabler was the embodiment of the original Men in Black - the freewheeling, hard-hitting Oakland Raiders. The league's first swashbuckling pass thrower, the mythical southpaw Southerner famous for come-from-behind drives late in the game, Stabler led the Raiders to their first Super Bowl championship in 1977.

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.

One of the most talented and polarizing athletes of our generation, Michael Vick’s stunning story has captured news headlines across the nation. From his poverty-stricken youth, to his success on the field in high school and college, to his rise to NFL stardom and his fall from grace, Finally Free shows how a gifted athlete’s life spiraled out of control under the glare of money and fame, aided by his own poor choices. In his own words, Vick details his regrets, his search for forgiveness....

Everyone knows that football is violent and dangerous. But what the players who built the NFL into a $10 billion industry didn’t know—and what the league sought to shield from them—is that no amount of padding could protect the human brain from the force generated by modern football.

Dave Zirin's book redefines an American icon, and not always in a flattering light. At 81 years old, Brown continues to speak out and look for fights. His recent public support of Donald Trump and criticism of Colin Kaepernick are just the latest examples of someone who seems restless if he is not in conflict. Jim Brown is a raw and thrilling account of Brown's remarkable life and a must-listen for sports fans and students of the Black freedom struggle.

Mohamed Salah is Liverpool's superstar forward, and he is on a mission to become the best player in the world. This exciting audiobook follows his adventures across the world - from the heat of Egypt to the magic of Rome, the roar of Anfield stadium and - finally - his big chance in a Champions League Final. Ultimate Football Heroes is a series of biographies telling the life-stories of the biggest and best footballers in the world and their incredible journeys from childhood fan to super-star professional player.

Both in football and life, the players need to define the goals, invent the playbook, and execute the plays. Move the Ball draws upon the football playbook to teach you how to do this and realize your dreams. Great players don’t settle for being ordinary. They have a strong belief in themselves and strive to be extraordinary. They have M.A.D. P.R.I.D.E. This book teaches you how you can use M.A.D. P.R.I.D.E. to overcome any obstacle and win.