Joseph Delaney used to be an English teacher, before becoming the best-selling author of the Spook's series, which has been published in 30 countries and sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Joseph Delaney

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Brian Corcoran

Kieran Shannon

'You might never have seen a hurling game in your life, but within ten minutes of seeing Brian Corcoran play, you'd know and say, "That man with that helmet is special." He just has an authority, a grace, a presence that elevates him from everything else which surrounds him' - Ger Loughnane 
 
The year 2006 was about more than an historic three-in-a-row bid for the Cork hurlers; it marked the last year in the inter-county career of probably the county's finest and most revered hurler of the past 20 years. In Every Single Ball, Brian Corcoran gives us a riveting insight into the workings of the most professional team the GAA has ever known as they sought hurling immortality. He also takes us through, in his refreshingly candid and sincere way, one of the most varied and lengthy careers of modern times and the personalities, highs, trials and tribulations he encountered along the way. He brings us into the training grounds and dressing-rooms of Billy Morgan, Larry Tompkins, Canon O'Brien and Jimmy Barry-Murphy, recalls the torment and frustration that caused him to walk away from hurling at only 28 and reveals how, just like his hero, Michael Jordan, he came back and fell in love again with his sport and with winning. 
 
Quite simply, Every Single Ball is the story of one of Ireland's greatest sporting comebacks, sportsmen and sports teams.

Every Single Ball

The Brian Corcoran Story

Leckie Kckeown

Des McKeown started at the top in football and worked his way down. He signed for Celtic in a year when they won the League and the Scottish Cup double. They liked him. He loved them. But from the first day he kicked a ball for money, he was never going to make millions out of the game. Faced with a choice between struggling to break into the Parkhead first team and turning part-time and buliding a career as a salesman, he chose real life. Hundreds of footballers whose ambitions outstripped their abilities have made the same choice as Des McKeown. Hundreds more will one day have it forced upon them. Don't give up the day job is their story. As the priviledged few drain the game of more money, McKeown warns of the consequences for the journeymen who cling to full-time contracts hoping against hope for a slice of the pie. Don't give up the day job is a no-holes-barred account of one season in the lofe of part-time players seen through the eyes of a husband, father, salesman and left-back. (in that order) Can a man who only trains twice a week get as much out of footballing as someone who plays it for a living? Is a hobby that pays 10 per cent of household bills worth putting 90 per cent of our life into?

Don't Give Up The Day Job

A Year in the Life of a Part-Time Footballer

Andy Goram

Iain King

This is the story of a genius with flaws. Lots of them. On the field, Andy Goram was a defiant figure between the sticks who, in many ways, defined the history-making nine-in-a-row team that brought so much success to Ibrox; off it, he careered through three divorces and a welter of lurid tabloid headlines sensationalising his hellraising antics. 
 
 In this no-holds-barred account, Goram lifts the lid on his tempestuous life in football, from the Gers' glory days to a fairy-tale chapter with his boyhood heroes: Manchester United. His life in the Old Firm is examined in depth, from the saves that broke former Celtic manager Tommy Burns's heart to a story that was buried until now: Celtic's astonishing bid to sign him. 
 
 Goram's Scotland career ended in bitterness when he walked out on the squad before France 98, and here he smashes the myths that have always surrounded his relationships with Craig Brown and Jim Leighton. 
 
 This is the inside story of the man the fans voted Rangers' greatest-ever goalkeeper. He remains a genius with flaws: a legend simply known as The Goalie.

The Goalie

My Story

Stewart McKinney

Roars from the Back of the Bus is an absorbing, amusing and at times moving collection of tales that give a rare insight into the camaraderie that exists between players at the top of their game, showing that relationships forged through experiences on a Lions tour last a lifetime. 
 
From the first Tour in 1888, it showcases characters with immense personality who fought together in wars or on rugby pitches in foreign lands, and who shared a bond developed through touring as representatives of the home nations. Despite the changes to the game after the advent of professionalism, the experiences of Jamie Heaslip, Brian O’Driscoll and Joe Worsley are still similar in some ways to those of earlier intrepid tourists like Blair Mayne, Lewis Jones, Sir Carl Aarvold or David Rollo. 
 
Containing defining memories and private insights from across the tours and the decades, Roars from the Back of the Bus shows that the Lions ethos remains strong at the heart of every team.

Roars from the Back of the Bus

Rugby Tales of Life with the Lions

Tom Campbell

David Potter

'I am proud to say that I knew Jock Stein as a football manager, as a colleague and as a friend . . . he was the greatest manager in British football . . . men like Jock will live forever in the memory' - Sir Alex Ferguson 
 
 During his long reign at Celtic, Jock Stein was a legendary figure in the world of football. He led a youthful Celtic side to a memorable European Cup triumph in Lisbon in 1967 and was in charge of the home-grown Celtic teams which won nine Scottish league championships in a row as well as numerous domestic trophies. 
 
 Tom Campbell and David Potter have produced an affectionate and in-depth portrait of Stein but are not afraid to delve below the surface of the legend to examine the manager's mistakes and failings as well as his triumphs and strengths. Calling upon such expert witnesses as Bobby Murdoch, Ronnie Simpson and Charlie Gallagher, and on a host of other important figures in the game, this book presents a detailed and fully rounded picture of a man who, at the height of his powers at Celtic Park, revolutionised the game of football in Scotland.

Jock Stein

The Celtic Years

Billy Cribb

Bare-knuckle fighting without the bull! I haven't been to prison for robbery, I didn't know the Krays and I make no claims to be invincible . . . But my life fighting was the closest to hell I will ever get.'Learn what fuels hatred and makes a once-gentle boy into violent man. Read stories of horrific fighting experiences on the Mafia-controlled extreme fight circuit of New York. Prepare yourself for harrowing descriptions of drug addiction, mindless violence and organised crime. Tarmac Warrior has it all. Billy Cribb was born into a Romani/Jew family and spent most of his childhood travelling. His early years were marred by the racism and bigotry his family endured at the hands of small-minded locals in the villages where they worked. These random attacks planted seeds of anger and hatred in Billy which later manifested in his fighting - for Billy Cribb became one of the greatest bare-knuckle fighters of his generation. Revealing an underground fight scene rarely glimpsed by those on the outside, Tarmac Warrior traces Billy's career from his first fights on the motorways and A roads around Britain onto the cross channel ferries which provided an arena for many of his early fights. It then follows Billy's move to Majorca, giving a frightening insight into what really goes on in this seemingly idyllic Mediterranean island: the timeshare racketeering, extortion and organised crime which lie under the surface of the popular holiday destination.

Tarmac Warrior

The Violent World Of Extreme Fighting

Murphy/Wilson

Nobody has ever been able to ignore Alex Murphy. In a glittering rugby league career stretching over forty years - from schoolboy days playing with St Helens, to international success for Great Britain, and years of glory as player, coach and manager of a host of high-profile clubs including Wigan and Warrington - fame and controversy have always been present: Murphy's row with Wigan chairman and one-time friend Maurice Lindsay, when he was accused of trying to strangle him with his own telephone cord; the time Syd Hines head-butted him at Wembley, believing Murphy had taken a dive to get him sent off; his two tours, including the 1958 'Battle of Brisbane', and how he 'spat the dummy', costing himself a third tour. . . All this, and a further fund of tales from the tough world of rugby league, is given Murphy's unique treatment in this uncompromising autobiography. SAINT AND SINNER is the tale of how a liittle man reached the summit of his sport, and helped other little men along the way. The cocky kid - youngest ever to tour with Great Britain, who could have chosen professional football as a career 'if it hadn't been too soft' - is known to millions today as Murph the Mouth: after-dinner speaker, TV commentator, outspoken newspaper columnist and now holder of the OBE, whose love for rugby league has never dwindled.

Saint And Sinner

The Autobiography of a Rugby League Legend

Ian Cheeseman

Most Manchester City supporters regard Colin Bell as their club's best ever player. He graced the midfield during their greatest years as they won all domestic and European honours, and represented England 48 times before a serious knee injury ended his career prematurely when he was just 29. 
 
Now, in this revealing autobiography, 'King Colin' has opened up. He talks about never knowing his mother, who died when he was a baby, and of being brought up by his aunt and then his father and older sister. He then leads us through the glory years, singles out his greatest opponents and compares the modern game with the era he dominated, before sharing his views on the infamous tackle in a Manchester derby that ended his footballing dreams. In a remarkable development, he reveals for the first time his private battle against cancer and explains how this book has helped to save his life. 
 
With tributes from the likes of Malcolm Allison, Sir Geoff Hurst and Sir Bobby Charlton, Colin Bell - Reluctant Hero is the story of a footballer whose brilliance on the field demanded adulation but who was never comfortable in the spotlight. A player who truly preferred to let his feet do the talking.

Colin Bell - Reluctant Hero

The Autobiography of a Manchester City and England Legend

Bill Jones

The mystery man threw off his disguise and started to run. Furious stewards gave chase. The crowd roared. 
 
A legend was born. Soon the world would know him as 'the ghost runner'. John Tarrant. The extraordinary man whom nobody could stop. As a hapless teenage boxer in the 1950s, he'd been paid £17 expenses. When he wanted to run, he was banned for life. His amateur status had been compromised. Forever. Now he was fighting back, gatecrashing races all over Britain. No number on his shirt. No friends in high places. Soon he would be a record-breaker, one of the greatest long-distance runners the world has ever seen. 
 
This is his true story: The Ghost Runner.

The Ghost Runner

The Tragedy of the Man They Couldn't Stop

Alan Pattullo

He was one of the hardest, most controversial footballers of his generation: the £20million man who became the first professional player to go to jail for an offence committed on the field of play. He was the fans’ hero who disappeared. 
 Duncan Ferguson was an old-fashioned Scottish centre-forward who went from a boarding house in Dundee to the marble staircase of Rangers in a record-breaking transfer. 
 
 His £4m move from Dundee United to Ibrox made him British football’s most expensive native player. But he would also become one of the most notorious footballers in the land. Sent to prison after head-butting an opponent during a Scottish Premier Division match between Rangers and Raith Rovers, Ferguson made history all over again. 
 
 He served half of a three-month sentence in Glasgow’s infamous Barlinnie Prison. A twelve-match ban from the Scottish Football Association was later overturned following a long appeal process. Bruised by the experience, he turned his back on Scotland’s national team and the media. 
 
 Ferguson reaped the riches of the Sky era. He was a folk hero at Everton, where he spent ten years either side of an injury-hit spell at Newcastle United. Although the game made him a millionaire, he rejected its new culture of celebrity and remained a fiery figure, racking up a Premiership record of eight red cards. And then, after scoring in the final minute of the last game of his career, he turned his back on football completely – or so it seemed.

In Search of Duncan Ferguson

The Life and Crimes of a Footballing Enigma

Robbie Savage

Janine Self

Robbie Savage could have been just another Manchester United reject. Instead, he used the Old Trafford scrapheap as a springboard to become one of the most instantly recognisable footballers in the Premier League, despite being told by Sir Alex Ferguson he was not good enough to stay in the class of '92 alongside David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and Gary Neville. 
 
 For the last 17 years, Savage has carved out a reputation as a hard man and wind-up merchant with an unerring ability to grab a headline. From deliberately getting Tottenham's Justin Edinburgh sent off in a Wembley cup final to the 'Jobbiegate' row with referee Graham Poll and the bust-ups with John Toshack, Rio Ferdinand, Graeme Souness and Paul Jewell, the list is endless. 
 
 Yet numerous footballing legends will testify to the skill of the midfielder, who has starred for Crewe, Leicester, Birmingham, Blackburn and Derby, and won 39 international caps for Wales. Behind the long blond hair, the Armani tattoo and the flamboyant cars, Savage has always been the heartbeat of his team. 
 
 Savage! provides a unique insight into the extraordinary life of an elite sportsman, a colourful character and loving family man. Love him or loathe him, Robbie Savage's story is a remarkable one.

Savage!

The Robbie Savage Autobiography

Harold Davis

Paul Smith

As Harold Davis fell under heavy machine-gun fire, his body riddled with bullet wounds and life seemingly slipping away from him, he could not have realised that he was one of the Korean War’s more fortunate soldiers. American medics sprang into action and, against all odds, saved the plucky young Scot, a man who proved tougher than the bullets the brutal enemy showered him with. 
 
Unlike tens of thousands of those who fought in Korea in the 1950s, he lived to tell the tale of his horrific experiences on the front line. Now, for the first time, the Black Watch hero shares his vivid and harrowing memories. 
 
A man of tremendous grit and determination, Davis was pieced back together during almost two years in hospital. He defied doctors to return to his pre-war career as a professional footballer, building a reputation as one of Scotland’s most feared and revered defenders at Rangers FC.

Tougher Than Bullets

The Heroic Tale of a Black Watch Survivor of the Korean War

Paul Howard

Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape is the astonishing biography of French cycling star Jacques Anquetil. For the first time since his death in 1987, it reveals the extraordinary truth behind the legend, the man and the cyclist. 
 
His list of 'firsts' alone makes him worthy of a place in the cycling pantheon: the first man to win the Tour de France five times; the first man to win all three grand tours - the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España; and the first man to win both the Tour and Vuelta in the same year. 
 
However, the extraordinary life of Anquetil does not stop at his achievements on a bike. He candidly admitted to using drugs, offended legions of fans by confessing that his only motivation for riding was financial and infamously indulged his enthusiasm for the high life. He also seduced and married his doctor's wife, had a child with her daughter and then sustained a ménage à trois with both wife and stepdaughter under the same roof for 12 years. When this 'family' eventually imploded, he attempted to inspire jealousy in his former lovers by having a child with his stepson's ex-wife. 
 
Containing exclusive contributions from Anquetil's family, friends, teammates and rivals, Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape untangles myth from reality and confirms that fact is definitely stranger than fiction.

Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape

The Remarkable Life of Jacques Anquetil, the First Five-Times Winner of the Tour de France

Harry Edgar

Malcolm Reilly

Never before in the UK has a Rugby League man of Malcolm Reilly's legendary status issued such a full and revealling autobiography. Reilly has been a household name in Rugby League for over 30 years -three decades in which he strode like a colossus over the world of this toughest of team sports. He was a champion player, and a champion coach, in both England and Australia - and Reilly reveals one man's personal story behind many of Rugby League's most famous, and infamous, days of the last 30 years, told just as he played his football - with no holds barred. Malcolm Reilly developed a reputation as the most feared player in the game at a time when Rugby League was at its most brutal during the 60's and 70's. His book recalls that club career at home with highly controversial Lions tour in which he starred the last time a British team won the coveted Ashes. Rupert Murdoch's million dollar war to take control of the game, with Malcolm Reilly bang in the middle of it He also describes the fairytale triumph with his Newcastle team in Australia in 1997 followed by the drugs storm that broke around them less than a year later. Reilly has been adapted in this UK version with Harry Edgar, one of the most experienced writers on international affairs in the world of rugby.

Reilly

A Life In Rugby League

Nicholas Bishop

Alun Carter

What made Pontypool such a great seam of talent for the Welsh national team? Why were they hated and feared in equal measure by other clubs in Wales and across the Severn? What made Ray Prosser a coach ahead of his time? 
 
In this engrossing book, Alun Carter and Nick Bishop recount the dramatic story of the rise and fall of one of the great enigmas of Welsh club rugby: Pontypool RFC. They chart the glories and violence of the amateur era in the 1970s and ’80s before the club entered a period of steady decline in the age of professionalism, reaching the point of bankruptcy after a crippling legal battle with the Welsh RU. It is a symbolic tale of the disintegration of the social fabric that held a once-great club together, both on and off the playing field – often irresistibly funny, eventually tragic, but always larger than life.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Rise and Fall of Pontypool RFC

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