jonny_brick

Katy Hurt releases her 13-track album Gimme A Break on May 23. She joins Jonny Brick of A Country Way of Life to talk about inspiration and composition in equal measure. The Work Tape offers songwriters the chance to talk about how they write, and explores their existing catalogue. Find out more at katyhurt.com

Tricia Duffy, who records as Little Lore, has just released the six-song EP River Stories. In the first of a new series from A Country Way of Life, Tricia joins Jonny Brick to write a song, Break First. The Work Tape offers songwriters the chance to talk about how they write, and explores their existing catalogue. Find out more about Tricia's project at littlelore.uk

Here's Rotherham United fan Paul Chuckle reading the new book by Holly Hunt, a fellow Miller who chronicles The Greatest of Great Escapes. In Spring 2016, Neil Warnock guided Rotherham, the club he once played for, to Championship safety, and Holly was watching on with delight. Find the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Greatest-Great-Escapes-Rotherham-Uniteds/dp/1801509441

Matt Coughlan returns to the Football Literary Society to promote Groundhopper, the sequel to his book Turncoat. He sets himself the task of hitting 100 grounds, and burrows into the non-league scene to unearth some hidden gems and criticise some of the less good places to watch football. Find the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Groundhopper-Tales-Footballs-Equivalent-Trainspotting-ebook/dp/B0F145HD2V?ref_=ast_author_dp

NOW 120 APT by jonny_brick

Scott Walkinshaw, who runs the Oxblogger Substack, has written a book on Oxford United's Glory Years, in which he chronicles the club's rise up to the First Division in the 1980s. Find the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Glory-Years-Oxford-United-1980s/dp/1801509352

Chris Lee completes a hat-trick of visits to the Football Literary Society, as he comes to plug Shades of Green, a picaresque journey through the island of Ireland and its football teams. Find the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shades-Green-Journey-Irish-Football/dp/1801509476

Leo Ackerman and Alex Urwin both captained the Oxford University First XI in the late 2010s, under the inspirational coaching of Mickey Lewis. After Mickey's death in 2021, Leo and Alex spent three years working on his biography Mad Dog, where commentators, players and coaches had not one bad word to say about a man with a strongly influential view on life. Find the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mad-Dog-Mickey-Lewis-Story/dp/1801509360

Matthew Oldroyd's book Trailblazers runs through the past 160 years of Nottingham Forest FC. Matthew, who is involved in Forest fan group Forza Garibaldi, has endured plenty of ups and downs in a lifetime of support for the club, whose remarkable history he has spent five years researching. Find the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trailblazers-Breaking-History-Nottingham-Football-ebook/dp/B0DV3SJN5M

Making a return visit to the Literary Society, Chris Evans has written a biography of 'football icon' Gary Lineker. Although he touches on his post-football career in TV, podcasting and politics, he is more interested in his time playing for Leicester City, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona. Find the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gary-Lineker-Portrait-Football-Icon/dp/1399416995

When it comes to football literature with heft and panache, Ronny Blaschke is Germany's answer to Jonathan Wilson. Ronny's book Football and Racism won awards at home in 2024, and it has just been published in an English translation. He spoke to over 120 people in his investigation of how colonialism shaped the sport. In his writing career so far, Ronny has taken a footballistical view of the environment, homosexuality, hooliganism and the far-right. Find the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Football-Racism-Colonialism-Shaped-Modern/dp/1801509328

Dan Tester wrote Brighton & Hove Albion On This Day in 2007. He updated it in 2011 and has just published a third edition. The last 13 years have been the most successful years in the club's 124-year history, with a new stadium, European awaydays and exciting South American talent passing through Falmer on their way to true greatness. Dan talks about being a Brighton fan then and now, and rhapsodises about the three cult heroes on the cover of the book who appear alongside Lewis Dunk and Mark Lawrenson. Find the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brighton-Hove-Albion-This-Day/dp/1399990527

For the 300th show, David Winner returns to talk about his book-length essay Excerpts from a New England: Gareth Southgate, Eight Years and Eighteen Episodes. He also discusses his forthcoming sequel to Brilliant Orange, which 25 years after it was written is still The Book on Dutch football, and explains how everything is connected.

Since 2020 Dogma has chronicled the past and present of Brighton & Hove Albion, winning Fanzine of the Year at the FSA Awards 2023 on account of the meaty articles and magnificent illustrations. James William is part of the editorial board who are working on Issue 14 to be published in the middle of the 2024/25 season; he popped into the Football Literary Society for a chat which is published in two halves. To read a selection of articles from back issues of Dogma, visit dogmabrighton.com.

Since 2020 Dogma has chronicled the past and present of Brighton & Hove Albion, winning Fanzine of the Year at the FSA Awards 2023 on account of the meaty articles and magnificent illustrations. James William is part of the editorial board who are working on Issue 14 to be published in the middle of the 2024/25 season; he popped into the Football Literary Society for a chat which is published in two halves. To read a selection of articles from back issues of Dogma, visit dogmabrighton.com.

David Proudlove spends his leisure hours walking around Britain discovering the industrial roots of association football. Following his first book about stadiums lost to history, David's new one Work and Play looks at the origins of the game from a variety of industries, including railways, coalmines and shipbuilding. Find the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Work-Play-Industrial-English-Football/dp/1801507627

If you head to Rob Carless' online portal, bobsbooks66.co.uk, you will discover a trove of football literature. On his visit to the Football Literary Society, we ran though that catalogue, which takes in books about Manchester United, Aston Villa club legend Shaun Teale and Rob's new book on the EFL Cup. In the next few years, Rob will put out books on the recent triumphs and struggles of the Italian men's football team and his beloved Aston Villa, who have won the League Cup many times. Rob's book about the tournament, Under the Floodlights, is available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Under-Floodlights-Sixty-Football-League/dp/1801507406

The first time Jon Spurling came into the Football Literary Society, he was plugging a book about football in the 1970s. This time, he's written about the following decade in the fantastic Go To War Football on the Brink in the '80s, in which he runs through the good, ugly and even worse about the game in the years before the Premier League was founded. Find the book, published by Biteback, here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Go-War-How-Rocked-Football/dp/1785907492

Colin Whelan is a civil servant who would much rather be writing books. His first is Super Squad, which kicks off a planned trilogy working through English football by era; this volume deals with the 1960s and 1970s, and Colin picks a squad that includes European and World Cup winners, forgotten Scottish defenders and one of Colin's first heroes, Ray Kennedy. Find the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CWWY35FB

Dr Mark Biram is a professor of Foreign Languages at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. His PhD thesis was on women's football in South America, including time spent in Brazil and Colombia; his second book, Viva Colombia: A Social History of Colombian Football, looks at 15 key matches and 15 key players in that country's history. Find the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Viva-Colombia-History-Colombian-Football-ebook/dp/B0DCVZDP8B/

Professor John Williams is a retired academic who is still Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Leicester. He was in the city for the 2015/2016 season, where the Foxes finished above his beloved Liverpool, about whom he has written several books including 2022's Red Men Reborn. Here John talks about his new book Football in Wind and Rain: The Making of the British Game, which outlines 80 vignettes from the history of football in the UK that range from the 1860s to the 2020s. Find the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Football-Wind-Rain-British-Game/dp/180150766X

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

NOW 115 Flowers by jonny_brick

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

Part of the Songs from NOW 101 Onwards series. Head to nowthatswhaticallnow.com for over 100 essays picking one track from each Now That's What I Call Music compilation to go forward to the NOW Playlist.

The Football Literary Society returns for the cold months of late 2024 and early 2025, offering a mix of sociology, biography and history. Daisy Christodoulou, a West Ham fan whose day job is in the education sector, cannot stop thinking about VAR. She wrote a book about it, or rather a 200-page call to arms, which will appeal to the millions of football fans who cannot understand the new interpretations of the handball law and digitally enhanced officiating. Find the book here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cant-Stop-Thinking-About-VAR/dp/1800754930

An Evening with The Gallaghers celebrates the songbook of brothers Noel and Liam, with 52 covers to mark Liam's birthday in 2024. Find an essay about their band Oasis here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DHHKM8H1/

An Evening with The Gallaghers celebrates the songbook of brothers Noel and Liam, with 52 covers to mark Liam's birthday in 2024. Find an essay about their band Oasis here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DHHKM8H1/

An Evening with The Gallaghers celebrates the songbook of brothers Noel and Liam, with 52 covers to mark Liam's birthday in 2024. Find an essay about their band Oasis here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DHHKM8H1/

An Evening with The Gallaghers celebrates the songbook of brothers Noel and Liam, with 52 covers to mark Liam's birthday in 2024. Find an essay about their band Oasis here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DHHKM8H1/

An Evening with The Gallaghers celebrates the songbook of brothers Noel and Liam, with 52 covers to mark Liam's birthday in 2024. Find an essay about their band Oasis here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DHHKM8H1/

An Evening with The Gallaghers celebrates the songbook of brothers Noel and Liam, with 52 covers to mark Liam's birthday in 2024. Find an essay about their band Oasis here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DHHKM8H1/

An Evening with The Gallaghers celebrates the songbook of brothers Noel and Liam, with 52 covers to mark Liam's birthday in 2024. Find an essay about their band Oasis here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DHHKM8H1/

An Evening with The Gallaghers celebrates the songbook of brothers Noel and Liam, with 52 covers to mark Liam's birthday in 2024. Find an essay about their band Oasis here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DHHKM8H1/

An Evening with The Gallaghers celebrates the songbook of brothers Noel and Liam, with 52 covers to mark Liam's birthday in 2024. Find an essay about their band Oasis here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DHHKM8H1/