Foul Play dissects the age-old subject of cheating in all its absurdity. From plain old doping to claiming a marathon victory despite having driven the middle section of the race, from match-fixing to diving for a penalty - cheating in sport is as old as sport itself.There are plenty of well-known cases of cheats being found out in sport: Ben Johnson, for example, was stripped of his 100m Olympic medal after a positive drugs test; South African cricketer Hansie Cronje was ...

One second in time may separate the great athlete from the merely good. Seb Coe has made every second count. From an early age he has been driven to be the best at everything he does. Since the moment Coe stood alongside a 'scrubby' municipal running track in Sheffield, he knew that sport could change his life. It did. Breaking an incredible twelve world records and three of them in just forty-one days, Seb became the only athlete to take gold at 1500 metres in two successive Olympic Games...

The most high-profile referee this country has ever seen, the controversial and opinionated Graham Poll exposes the myth that referees are the game’s silent men, and opens the lid on the shocking and often unbelievable world of football that few outsiders get to see.Seeing Red is Graham Poll’s incisive insight into football from his prime position as the man in black, the one in control, the eye that sees all. A Premier League referee since 1991 and ten years as an international re...

The Beautiful Game -- we all love it, but it can sometimes leave us scratching our heads in disbelief or open-mouthed in wonderment. Football Extreme is a collection of the craziest, funniest and most extreme things ever to have happened in the world of football. From the FA Cup to the World Cup, Football Extreme is packed with bizarre facts and figures, amazing stories and incredible footballing feats. Discover how a bald 57-year-old ended up playing for Doncaster Rovers, how a remote isl...

Nick Hornby, author of the bestselling soccer classic Fever Pitch, offers an insightful account of an extraordinary sports season. Concentrating on a number of significant games in British soccer during the 2011–2012 season, Hornby chronicles the emotional, political, and societal highlights and woes that played out on the field. There were alleged racist clashes, revealing the deep cultural fissures still present in British life. There was a fairy-tale return for the legendary Th...

The story of one young African boy's journey to UK Premiership soccer stardom.From the Zambian plains to Wembley, this is the story of the boy who was born to be a Bluebird. Earnie follows Robert Earnshaw’s journey from the Zambian village where he was born to Bedwas, where he was spotted playing for the B-team of his local club when he was 12 years old. At 16 he joined Cardiff City on a YTS training scheme to become one of the club’s top scorers. He reflects on his Welsh success a...

The world of the international rugby referee has always been a closely guarded secret … until now.As a Durban schoolboy, Jonathan Kaplan watched rugby at Kings Park every Saturday, dreaming of the day he would represent his country. Now, three decades later and at the age of 47, he reflects on the career highs and lows that saw him retire as the most capped international, Super Rugby and Currie Cup referee of all time.But records and milestones are just a part of an intrigu...

Ex-referee and now fearless writer and football pundit, Graham Poll is no stranger to controversy. His latest book is an entertaining and provocative reappraisal of the major incidents in World and English football down the years – from Geoff Hurst’s goal in ‘66, through Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ to the infamous Battle of the Bridge in 2009.Graham Poll, England’s highest profile referee of the last two decades, refereed over 400 Premiership games, involving more than 1.5 million spe...

What can Roger Federer teach us about the secret of longevity?What do the All Blacks have in common with improvised jazz musicians?What can cognitive neuroscientists tell us about what happens to the brains of sportspeople when they perform?And why did Johan Cruyff believe that beauty was more important than winning?Matthew Syed, the 'Sports Journalist of the Year 2016', answers these questions and more in a fascinating, wide-ranging and provoc...

With 49 trophies won - 38 of them at Manchester United - during a glittering 39-year managerial career, Sir Alex Ferguson will be remembered as the most successful coach in world football. At the age of 71 he finally brought the curtain down on his time in football management at the conclusion to the 2012/13 season; in Ferguson: The Legacy, Michael Grant and Rob Robertson extract three key profiles from their best-selling book The Management: Scotland's Great Football Bosses

This Cognito Guide is for the young club or school cricketer aspiring to become an opening batsman. It focuses on how to prepare to face the opposition when your team depends on you and all eyes are on you. It discusses strategies for staying in, for getting off the mark and how to progress to build a match-winning innings. Using examples from Test cricket and the author's 30 years experience opening the batting in competitive and "friendly" cricket, this is Cognito Guide helps the aspirin...

Words of wisdom from Ron Barassi providing motivation and inspiration to forge success and satisfaction in sport and in life.Ron Barassi is an iconic figure in Australian sporting culture, with a record of personal and team success that is unrivalled. Beyond sport, he has become a greatly respected elder in our broader society.In Wisdom, he shares with us 31 maxims and quotations that he has collected and which have been integral in forging that reputation....