The Greatest Stories Ever Told

[kushiro]

So many great books have been published about Leicester over the years. But which are the must-haves - the ones that should be on every City fan's shelf?

 

Here's a personal top twelve.

 

Before we start, a word about what's in and what's out. The book has to be predominantly about Leicester City to qualify, which means some fantastic reads are omitted. So no place for these:

 

Steve Claridge - Tales From The Boot Camps

Mark Bright - From Foster Child to Footballer

Martin O'Neill - On Days Like These

Gordon Milne - Shankly, My Dad and Me

 

 

Right, let's go:

 

 

 

12)   Jamie Vardy - From Nowhere. My Story.       Jamie Vardy with Stuart James, 2017  

 

 

 

A fine account of his career up to the title win in 2016.  What we really need now is an update, with the full story of all the dramas of recent seasons.

 

 

11)  Here, There and Everywhere - The Steve Walsh Story.   David Joss Buckley, 1996

 

 

Steve Walsh wasn't one of my favourite players, but I loved every page of this. The quality of the writing helps it to rise above the standard footy fare.

 

 

10)   Lineker - Golden Boot.    Rob Hughes, 1987

 

 

The definitive Lineker biography has yet to be written. This is a slim volume, written fairly early in his career, which means a good proportion of it is devoted to his time with us. It’s Rob Hughes’ way with words and his coverage of Lineker’s family history that make this a must-have for City fans.

 

 

9)   Minding My Own Football Business.   Barrie Pierpoint with Matthew Mann, 2020.

 

 

 

I was in the anti-Pierpoint camp during the battle of 1999, but I have to admit, this is a really impressive piece of work. Telling the story of his nine years at Filbert Street, it is pretty one sided, but you get a great feel for what the club was like in the nineties. I really wanted Martin O’Neill to tell his side of the story in his book, but he barely gave it a mention, so Barrie’s version lies unchallenged at the moment. The best Leicester book published in the last five years (just beating the Rowley Brothers story).

 

 

8)    Fearless - The Amazing Underdog Story of Leicester City.     Jonathan Northcroft, 2016

 

 

Of all the books published in the wake of our title win, just two really stood out. One was David Bevan’s ‘Unbelievables’, written from the perspective of a City fan. But I can’t be handing out these gongs to friends, so let’s give it to the other candidate, Jonathan Northcroft, who took time to tell the story in real depth.

 

 

7)   O'Neill - Crest of a Wave.     Geoff Peters, 1998.

 

As mentioned, Martin’s recent autobiography is disqualified from this list, but instead, here’s a beautifully written tale of his first two years at Filbert Street. It followed a similar book, ‘Starting A Wave’, by Brian Little, which might have been included here had the prose style not been so faithful to Little’s less-than-inspiring manager-speak.

 

 

6)   Muzzy - My Story.    Muzzy Izzet with Lee Marlow, 2015

 

 

 

Neil Lennon, Muzzy Izzet and Robbie Savage were the heart of Martin O’Neill’s team, and their autobiographies should be side by side on every City fan’s bookshelf.  Muzzy’s story just shades it here. 

 

 

5)   Gibbo - The Davie Gibson Story.      Dave Gibson with Chris Westcott, 2013

 

 

 

Most City fans who recall the glory days of the early 60s pick Gibbo as their favourite player, and this book tells his story with real style. Of others from the ‘Ice-Kings’ era, Frank McLintock’s ‘True Grit’, despite being aimed mainly at Arsenal fans, gives you great insights into those times, and Gordon Banks’ autobiography 'Banksy' is also worth getting hold of.

 

 

4)   Can't Buy That Feeling.   Simon Kimber and Gary Silke, 2018

 

 

Full of little nuggets of LCFC history, this collection of interviews from the Fox Fanzine is beautifully edited and illustrated. A simple idea perfectly realized.

 

 

3)  One Hump or Two?    Frank Worthington, with Steve Wells and Nick Cooper, 1994

 

 

 

Of 1970s City players, you’d think it would’ve been perfectionist Peter Shilton who published the classic, and free-wheelin’ Frank who put out the rush-job. In fact, it’s the reverse. Shilts’ autobiography feels half-finished, while this rollicking read satisfies on every level - backing up the wild stories with a wealth of footballing detail. Not far behind this is another candidate from the Bloomfield years – Keith Weller’s highly recommended ‘White Tights and Bright Lights’.

 

 

2)  Bring Back The Birch.     Alan Birchenall with Paul Mace,  2000

 

 

Birch’s achievements on and off the pitch deserved celebrating in a high-quality publication – and this did the job splendidly. He says at the start that he wants it to be about all the special people he’s met rather than a game-by-game review, but the scrapbooks he gave Paul Mace to work with were so well stocked that each stage of his career is covered more than satisfactorily. 

 

 

1)  Of Fossils and Foxes.  The Official, Definitive History of Leicester CIty FC.         Dave Smith and Paul Taylor. 4th edition,  2016

 

 

This is so far ahead of the field it’s untrue. It’s not only the best Leicester book, it’s the best history of any club I’ve ever read (and I’ve got a shelf full of them). No doubt you already own a copy, but do yourself a favour and dive into some of those player profiles you’ve never read before – each one condensing hours and hours of research into a punchy mini biography. The other parts – the season-by-season narrative, the line-ups, the stats section – are similarly authoritative. Don’t try looking for any factual errors – you’ll have more luck finding a needle in a haystack.

 

 

So that's the top twelve.  It should be pretty easy to get hold of all the books mentioned here.  abebooks.co.uk is good for second hand stuff.

 

 

Well, I said it was a personal selection, and I'd love to hear some other views.

Edited 22 August by kushiro

[davieG]

I've got 6 of those will take a look at the others.

[ftfagos]

The Unbelievables

 

Bit of an unwieldy title but good for a medium haul read.

[kushiro]

You could make a list of 'Leicester City books that should have been written' - by all those legends of the club who never thought it worth writing their story down on paper:

 

Jimmy Blooomfield

Matt Gillies

Johnny Duncan

Peter Hodge

Arthur Chandler

Sep Smith

Len Shipman 

Graham Cross

 

So sad that none of them ever published an autobiography.

Crossy's still with us. Here's hoping...

Edited 22 August by kushiro

[Lineker's Lugs]

I haven't read all of these but of those I have, Fearless is the best by a mile.  Crest of a Wave was dreadful - appallingly written drivel.  I remember getting it for Christmas and being excited to read it, but it took about an hour and a half and I was so disappointed. 

 

Of Fossils and Foxes stands apart as it's a different sort of book, but all versions are brilliant, though I said in the questionnaire for the second that my favourite game was the 4-0 win at Derby and it appeared in the book as the play-off final win over them instead.  There have been a fair few games since that I'd choose instead mind you!

[ozleicester]

[CPepFox]

I've only 3 of the suggested... will do some purchasing and reading in very near future! Thank you for providing me more time to books!!!

[ithuriel]

Still have Littles book somewhere.

Tainted his legacy the way he left but at the same time, started the ball rolling where I'm concerned towards the modern era of LCFC.

Three  Wembley play off finals on a shoestring and our first ever win at Wembley at the seventh attempt.

[DennisNedry]

That Walshy one is a great birthday present idea for my old man, cheers!

[kushiro]

Let's leave Leicester aside. How about the best general football books?

 

I'm so glad I haven't added up my total expenditure over the years as it might be more than Chelsea's transfer budget. 

 

Here's the best ten:

 

10)  Journey To Wembley     Brian James

9)  The Far Corner   Harry Pearson

8)  The Ball Is Round   David Goldblatt

7)  Only A Game?    Eamon Dunphy

6)  Villa Park 100 Years    Simon Inglis

5) All Played Out     Pete Davies

4)  Hillsborough: The Truth    Phil Scraton

3)  League Football And The Men Who Made It   Simon Inglis

2)  Battle For The Valley    Rick Everitt   

1)  My Father And Other Working Class Football Heroes    Gary Imlach

 

 

Two in there by Simon Inglis, and it could easily have been more. It might have been like those 'Best Ever Albums' lists where the top ten is mostly Beatles records.  Actually, if there was a fire, I think I'd grab the Inglis books before the Beatles CDs.  

 

One that most people won't be familiar with is Rick Everitt's Battle For The Valley - a truly inspiring story of what fans can do if they get together and organise creatively. 

 

In the end, if you combine the Leicester and general lists, Of Fossils and Foxes would still have to be the overall winner.

 

 

Edited 24 August by kushiro

[Big_Nige]

3 hours ago, kushiro said:

Let's leave Leicester aside. How about the best general football books?

 

I'm so glad I haven't added up my total expenditure over the years as it might be more than Chelsea's transfer budget. 

 

Here's the best ten:

 

10)  Journey To Wembley     Brian James

9)  The Far Corner   Harry Pearson

8)  The Ball Is Round   David Goldblatt

7)  Only A Game?    Eamon Dunphy

6)  The History of Villa Park   Simon Inglis

5) All Played Out     Pete Davies

4)  Hillsborough: The Truth    Phil Scraton

3)  League Football And The Men Who Made It   Simon Inglis

2)  Battle For The Valley    Rick Everitt   

1)  My Father And Other Working Class Football Heroes    Gary Imlach

 

 

Two in there by Simon Inglis, and it could easily have been more. It might have been like those 'Best Ever Albums' lists where the top ten is mostly Beatles records.  Actually, if there was a fire, I think I'd grab the Inglis books before the Beatles CDs.  

 

One that most people won't be familiar with is Rick Everitt's Battle For The Valley - a truly inspiring story of what fans can do if they get together and organise creatively. 

 

In the end, if you combine the Leicester and general lists, Of Fossils and Foxes would still have to be the overall winner.

 

 

I used read loads of random football

books, but it home recently how out of the habit I am. On your list I’ve only read the Eamon Dunphy one, which was great 

 

Two of personal favourites 

 

 

[kushiro]

And to round off this thread, a tribute to the man whose first ever game was Aston Villa 8 Leicester City 3 in 1962. 

 

The Simon Inglis Top Ten:

 

10)  Played in Birmingham

9)  Sightlines

8)  Played in Manchester

7)  Football in the Dock

6) The Football Grounds of Britain

5) The Football Grounds of Europe

4) Engineering Archie - Arhcibald Leitch, Football Ground Designer

3)  Villa Park 100 Years

2)  League Footbal and the Men Who Made It

1)  Played in London - Charting The Heritage of a City At Play

 

Played in London is a truly astonishing piece of work. If you're heading for Craven Cottage today, here's just one page from the book:

 

[Spudulike]

Fearless is the best so far but still waiting for a book to do justice to 2015/16. I want a coffee table tome in a dairy style, a type of on this day, with photos, match reports, league table, quotes from the press, opposition, fans, Ranieri, to capture the feel and atmosphere of how the season unfolded. The sort of book that can be picked up and flicked through as a reminder and a talking point when your wife invites her friend around with her Spurs supporting husband! There's a gap in the market for this.

[Footballwipe]

Based on this thread I went and bought the Barrie Pierpoint book and the O'Neill, Crest of a Wave book.

 

I've just finished the Pierpoint one and I have to say quite how disappointed I was with it, to be honest. I won't go into the detail that I could but I found it really lacking.

 

Don't get me wrong, there's a decent level of inside detail in there, stuff I never knew and was really interested to find out, but the writing isn't fantastic, the quotes from fans seem completely pointless, the book wanders off at times and at the crunch moment, the bit we've all been waiting for, Pierpoint only scratches the surface.

 

He does preface this that he doesn't want to seem bitter, doesn't want to use the book as a revenge misson, that's fine, but there's so much more he could've gone into. Instead it's very much "I was right" and lots of people saying how amazing Barrie was.

 

It's a real shame, because the stuff about the Carling Stand is super, but it races through so many parts of our history. Don't regret buying it, though, despite me negging on it.

Edited 2 September by Footballwipe

[leicesterlad1989]

I'm a bit of a history nerd, so stumbling across this I was pleasantly surprised.

 

 

 

Edited 2 September by leicesterlad1989