Arena Sport Books

Butch Wilkins and the Sundance Kid chronicles the author’s decade-long obsession with televised sport during his teenage years in the 1980s. Charting similar waters to Nick Hornby’s classic Fever Pitch, but with the hopeless devotion of a teenager faithfully following his team around the country replaced by the hopeless devotion of a teenager faithfully following sport (any sport) around the TV schedules.It is memoir intertwined with nostalgia, ruminations on the changing face of sport during this time, portraits of its heroes and villains, and reflections on teenagehood and impending adulthood.Sweet, wise and witty, Butch Wilkins and the Sundance Kid is a hymn to televised sport in the 1980s — as well as to the decade itself — combining humour, insight and poignancy to vividly depict the way sport can transcend the television screen to impact on wider life, hopes and ambitions.

Rugby World Cup 101 is a compendium of fascinating facts, stats, stories, personalities and trivia — perfect for all fans of rugby from around the world.From the genesis of the tournament in 1987 all the way through to the present day, the Rugby World Cup’s rich history is distilled into 101 facts, stats and stories. This entertaining volume is an instructive, if sometimes irreverent — but always affectionate — guide to some of the groundbreaking firsts, controversies, innovations, characters, achievements and disasters that have taken place in rugby’s marquee event. Whether an expert or a novice, this is the perfect companion for rugby lovers everywhere.

One video can change your life.
When Zak isn't scoring goals for his local football team, Redwood Rangers, he is endlessly working on his freestyle videos with his dad. And when one of those videos goes viral, his whole life changes. As the views come rolling in, everyone wants a piece of him. Barcelona want him to shoot an advert with Messi. Major sports brands want to endorse him. Suddenly his face is on every sports channel. But as his celebrity status grows, Zak begins to realise that online fame isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Tekkers is an amusing and entertaining story about the power of social media with the core message that followers are great, but friends are even better.
This is the first book in a planned trilogy of books following Zak on his football and YouTube journey.

Winner of the Telegraph Sports Book Awards Children's Book of the Year
Small, skinny and short-sighted . . . and dazzlingly talented.
Jimmy Joseph loves rugby. All he dreams about is one day playing for his country in a World Cup, or winning a Test series for the Lions with a last-minute drop-goal. But when he kicks an up-and-under in the schoolyard and accidentally hits the new head of PE, Mr Kane, on the head, he makes a powerful enemy.
Jimmy and his best friends – Manu, Scott and Kitty – try to prove their worth on the rugby field, but to no avail. Mr Kane has it out for them, and he's being helped by team captain Mike Green, well known as the school bully.
Can Jimmy and his friends overcome the tyranny of Mr Kane and help Mike see the error of his ways? Or will the combination of bullying, pressure and dirty tactics derail the friends' rugby careers before they have even begun?
An epic new rugby series begins here!

English Rugby 101 is a compendium of fascinating facts, stats, stories, personalities and trivia — perfect for all fans of English rugby.
From the very first Test match against Scotland in 1871 all the way through to the present day, England's rugby's rich history is distilled into 101 facts, stats and stories. This entertaining volume is an instructive, if sometimes irreverent — but always affectionate — guide to some of the groundbreaking firsts, controversies, innovations, characters, achievements and disasters that have taken place in at Twickenham and around the world. Whether an expert or a novice, this is the perfect companion for those who follow the exploits of the red-rose warriors on the field and love to bask in light of their glorious (and sometimes inglorious) past.

No bicycle repair was ever made easier by turning your bike upside down. White shorts are for other people. A helmet perched on the back of your head is perfect if you ride your bike backwards — These and a host of other handy pointers jostle for attention within this A — Z guide to being a cyclist. It's an essential manual and source of wisdom for those who would be kings of the road. Many pitfalls await the unwary middle-aged-man-in-Lycra, but fear not, for the Guide is here to steer you through choppy waters. No more passing out halfway up a hill. No more ridicule in the work place. No more hurty knee. And no more sock crimes. Pearls of wisdom are scattered throughout this book like rose petals before a princess on her wedding day. For instance, who could deny that life is too short to drink bad coffee? That a noisy bike is marginally more annoying than a whiney toddler? Or that style should ever be sacrificed for speed? Written by experts who know everything there is to know about cycling, yet never forget that there is nothing funnier than a rabbit playing a trumpet, How to be a Cyclist is mandatory reading for all bike riders.

Muhammad Ali is one of the most remarkable sports personalities and celebrities of our time. He is a legend who transcended boxing and rose above all sport. A man of mythic proportions, Ali rose to become a prominent feature of our cultural landscape.
Through exclusive accounts from family members, close friends, associates and adversaries, Fiaz Rafiq has compiled a compelling and intriguing insight into a sporting legend. Muhammad Ali's story is an epic one, one of bravery, courage, hope, skill and indomitable will. Muhammad Ali: The Life of a Legend is an oral biography of the greatest icon of world sport who continues to influence millions.
Among those interviewed include, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Chuck Wepner, Joe Bugner, Angelo Dundee, Don King, Jim Brown, Lou Gossett Jr., Dr. Harry Edwards, Butch Lewis, Sugar Ray Leonard, Evander Holyfield, some close family members and some of the top sports journalists who worked with Ali, and many more.

Welsh Rugby 101 is a compendium of fascinating facts, stats, stories, personalities and trivia — perfect for all fans of Welsh rugby.
From the very first Test match against England in 1881 all the way through to the present day, Welsh rugby's rich history is distilled into 101 facts, stats and stories. This entertaining volume is an instructive, if sometimes irreverent — but always affectionate — guide to some of the groundbreaking firsts, controversies, innovations, characters, achievements and disasters that have taken place in the Principality over the years. Whether an expert or a novice, this is the perfect companion for those who follow Wales's exploits on the field and love to bask in light of its glorious (and sometimes inglorious) past.

Writing your CV or getting ready to do an interview for a job? Chances are you have lots of questions. Should I? What if? How can I? Help! This book gives highly practical and instantly actionable advice on 101 issues, questions and scenarios most frequently encountered by people when applying and interviewing for jobs. When you don’t have your own personal CV and interview coach on speed dial this book is the next best thing . . . and costs a lot less. Straight-talking, instructive and using templates and worksheets to help you give the employer exactly what they want to see and hear, it will make the task of securing your ideal job significantly easier and a lot less stressful.

Celtic is a club like no other. Its story is a unique one, of a football club founded to raise money to help alleviate poverty within the predominantly Irish immigrant community of Glasgow's East End. Yet, from its inception, Celtic has been a club open to all. From those humble and charitable origins, Celtic have gone on to become one of the most famous names in world football. In 1967, they became the first British club to win the European Cup, while domestically they have won, to date, 47 league titles, 36 Scottish Cups and 16 League Cups. The story of Celtic continues — of success on the field, backed by a strong organisation off it, and all underpinned by a commitment to remain true to the charitable roots of the club. This is just the latest chapter . . .

Labels such as 'icon' or 'legend' are rarely attached to one individual to the degree that they are to Bruce Lee. He only made a handful of films, yet four and a half decades after his untimely death at the age of 32, the Little Dragon's influence on culture is as strong as ever.
Named among Time magazine's 100 most influential people of the 20th century, Lee wasn't just an actor and martial artist, but a director, inventor, husband, father and philosopher. His martial art, jeet kune do, is still practised around the world, while UFC champions credit him with inspiring the growing sport of mixed martial arts. His films kick-started a global kung fu boom and retain the power to awe today, while his thoughts — collected in a series of books from Lee's own notes — still inspire.
Bruce Lee: The Life of a Legend is a unique oral biography that combines the memories of Lee's original students, close friends, co-stars and colleagues — those who knew him best — to provide a candid view on the action movie star adored by millions, capturing the essence of a complex man in a way no straightforward narrative ever could. Further, for the first time ever in print, legendary professional boxing, bodybuilding and MMA champions and personalities from the motion picture industry pay homage to Lee, giving a blend of unique perspectives on a man who changed the face of their respective sports.

From being the most dominant club in Scottish football history, Rangers F.C., one of the most famous and powerful names in British sport, was sold to venture capitalist Craig Whyte in 2011 . . . for £1.
When Whyte walked through the gates at Ibrox, the club was mired in debt and plagued with a toxic culture which seeped everywhere — from the corridors of power to a sectarian hard core in the stands. The 'great Whyte hope' was touted for a time as Rangers' saviour but he was soon hung out to dry as the fall guy for Rangers' misery as the unthinkable happened. The club was plunged into liquidation and the reformed club suffered the indignity of demotion to the third division, the lowest echelon of Scottish professional football.
The demise of Rangers saw Whyte's reputation eviscerated on the pages of every newspaper in the country, his name vilified on radio shows, TV programmes and blogs as every aspect of his professional and personal life was picked over. In 2012 he was arrested and accused of fraud. He was put on trial where he faced the full might and resources of the government for his role in the downfall of the club. Although he was ultimately acquitted of all charges, he had to endure years of false accusations from some media outlets and multiple death threats from obsessed fans.
Full of startling revelations, this is the previously untold story of greed, corruption and scandal at the heart of Rangers F.C., told, definitively, by the man who was at the very centre of the storm.

May 17, 2014; the greatest date in St Johnstone Football Club's history. The day the Perthshire outfit saw 130 years of waiting to lift a major trophy come to a glorious end. In his first full season in charge, manager Tommy Wright and his team entered the history books after winning the Scottish Cup thanks to a 2–0 win over Tayside rivals Dundee United. Roared on by 15,000 fans, Saints achieved glory on an unforgettable afternoon at Celtic Park in Glasgow, capping a remarkable season for one of the game's perennial underdogs. With Stevie May, the club's talisman striker and semi-final hero, wearing the No 17 shirt, cup final day appeared destined for Saints, before two other Stevens — Anderson and MacLean — emerged as the matchwinners. Our Day In May tells the story of how St Johnstone won the Scottish Cup through the eyes of the management team and the players involved in the Fair City club's historic success. It's a story for any St Johnstone fan to treasure, a story told by those who are heroes forever. ALL ROYALTIES FROM THIS BOOK GO TO ST JOHNSTONE FC YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

Matt Jansen had it all. He was young, quick, audaciously skilful and, at the turn of the millennium, regarded as one of the most intelligent attacking talents in English football. His potential seemed boundless.After bursting onto the scene with Carlisle in 1997 and helping his hometown club win promotion, Sir Alex Ferguson had tried to lure him to Old Trafford — but foreseeing only bench spot at United, Jansen instead opted for Steve Coppell’s Crystal Palace. In 1998, he moved to Blackburn, where he formed an attacking triumvirate with Andy Cole and Damien Duff, and proved himself to be a constant threat for Blackburn and a lethal finisher, scoring 16 times in the 2001/02 season and earning himself a place in Sven Goran-Eriksson’s England squad.Widely tipped to be part of England’s campaign at the World Cup in South Korea and Japan, Eriksson instead surprised many with his conservative selection of Martin Keown over the rising star; Keown wouldn’t play a single minute at the tournament and England would crash out to ten-man Brazil — but Jansen didn’t see a minute of it. While England battled it out in the Far East, Jansen had taken a holiday to Rome where he was involved a serious traffic accident. He suffered a brain haemorrhage and slipped into a six-day coma.Jansen survived and, astonishingly, he was back playing for Blackburn just four months later. Physically he may have felt he was ready to return to top-flight football, but mentally he was nowhere near. Battling the spectre of the accident, he was unable to recapture the instinctive genius that had previously defined him. In an effort to reignite his career, he joined Coventry, Bolton and then Wrexham but he was never able to find his former footballing self and was finally forced to admit that his playing days were over. He has since channelled his energies into a new career as a coach — proving to be wise, erudite and compassionate in his new role, but also a continuing object of fascination for those who wonder what might have been.This is the story of a career destined for the stratosphere, cruelly snatched away by the vagaries of fate. Brilliant, bold, and at times brutal in its honesty, this powerful tale of shattered dreams and a life rebuilt is a testament to an inspiring, unconquered soul.

Young Tom Morris, the son of the legendary pioneer of golf, Tom Morris, was golf’s first superstar.Born at a pivotal moment in history, just as the new and inexpensive ‘gutty’ ball was making golf affordable and drawing thousands of new players to the game, his genius and his swashbuckling personality would set a game that had been frozen in amber for four centuries on the pathway to becoming worldwide spectator sport we know today.Exhaustively researched and beautifully illustrated, Monarch of the Green is a stirring and evocative history of Tommy’s life (which also includes, for the first time, a compilation of his competitive record in stroke-play tournaments, singles matches, and foursomes) and demonstrates how, in one dazzling decade, this young superstar dominated the sport like few others have ever done.

Listed as one of the five worst international selections ever, and described in a book about Scottish rugby as ‘a full back slower than your average prop’, Ian Smith cheerfully won eight caps for Scotland in a career that saw him score every point for his team on his debut in an historic victory over South Africa (and in so doing became the first Scottish full back to score a Test try) and defeated a star-studded England team to lift the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield in the 1970 Five Nations.One of eight international full backs to have come out of Heriot’s FP, Smith also played for a dashing, innovative Edinburgh University side that revolutionised attacking back play. But this book is so much more than a story of a fleeting Test career. It is a window to another time, when a player could appear, as Smith did, for his club’s third XV and two weeks later make his international debut for his country. And then, eight Tests later, return to his club where he was only considered good enough to play for the second XV.

The School of Hard Knox chronicles the life and career of one of the most admired and respected coaches ever to grace Scottish football, Archie Knox.After his early days at Forfar Athletic, Archie became a key ally for Alex Ferguson at Aberdeen and Manchester United. Together they won the Scottish league title, Scottish Cup and, of course, on a never to be forgotten night in Gothenburg in 1983, they led the Dons to European Cup Winners’ Cup glory against the mighty Real Madrid.FA Cup success followed with United as Archie played a vital role in resurrecting the fortunes of a sleeping giant at Old Trafford. On his return to Scotland, he assisted Walter Smith – a one-time teammate at Dundee United – to historic triumphs at Rangers. They clinched Nine in a Row, won the Treble and came within 90 minutes of reaching the first-ever Champions League final.After moving to Everton, Archie also had spells with the Scotland national team as well as Motherwell and an emotional return to Aberdeen with Craig Brown. From Willie Miller and Alex McLeish, Bryan Robson and Ryan Giggs, Paul Gascoigne and Brian Laudrup, Archie has worked with some of the greatest players ever to grace British football. Through his own words and those who witnessed his wit, his work and his wisdom, this is the untold story of a remarkable career.

Fully updated to include Ireland’s historic victory over the All Blacks and their 2018 Six Nations Grand Slam.From Jack Kyle's immortals to Brian O'Driscoll's golden generation, this is the story of Irish rugby told in the players' words.Celebrated rugby writer Tom English embarks on a pilgrimage through the four provinces to reveal the fascinating and illuminating story of playing test rugby in the emerald green of Ireland – all the glory of victory, all the pain of defeat, and all the craic behind the scenes.But this is more than just a nostalgic look back through the years, it is a searing portrait of the effects of politics and religion on Irish sport, a story of great schisms and volatile divisions, but also as story of the profound unity, passionate friendships and the bonds of a brotherhood.With exclusive new interview material with a host of Ireland rugby greats, No Borders unveils the compelling truth of what it means to play for Ireland at Lansdowne Road, Croke Park and around the world. This is the ultimate history of Irish rugby – told, definitively, by the men who have been there and done it.

This edition is fully updated to include Mayweather’s battle with UFC star Conor McGregor.Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather is one of the most successful professional boxers of all time, with fifty professional victories in a glittering unbeaten ring career that has spanned two decades. Mayweather was born into a boxing family that was barely surviving on the poverty line. His father had enjoyed
a modestly successful career in the ring but had to make ends meet on the street. When a rival drug dealer arrived at the house and threatened to shoot him, Floyd Mayweather Sr picked up his son and used him as a human shield. Such were the ashes from which Floyd was to rise.This is the remarkable story of Floyd Mayweather’s ascent from these bleak origins to become the highest-paid sportsman on the planet. It is a story of greed, arrogance, abuse, extraordinary boxing ability and unrivalled ambition. In Money, Tris Dixon explores it all in a searing, insightful and often brutal exposé of one of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen.

In April 1956 and in April 2011, Ken Venturi and Rory McIlroy each carried commanding leads of four shots into the final day of the US Masters at Augusta National. The green jacket was theirs for the taking, but in their final rounds, both men self-destructed, each shooting 80 over their final 18 holes. For each player the collapse was complete and damning. Remarkably, after their shattering losses at Augusta, both men found salvation in the US Open at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda. Liam Hayes brilliantly pits the incredible struggles and victories of perhaps the single most naturally talented golfer from the 1950s and '60s against the most naturally talented golfer of today. Masters of Men uniquely, and dramatically, brings Venturi and McIlroy together in time, teeing off side by side, walking the same fairways, and facing the greatest challenges of their golfing lives. Over 50 years apart, Venturi and McIlroy experienced extremes of fortune, losing and winning on a scale seldom witnessed in sport. This is their