Late Christmas Shopping Ideas for the Discerning Football Fan

Have you done your Christmas shopping yet? If you are like me (i.e. male and disorganised) then of course you haven’t. When it comes to the Christmas shopping I usually reserve my energy for one mad dash around December 24th and this year will probably be no different. I will be forced to wait in queues, I will be forced to plough through the freezing cold and I will no doubt have to duck and weave around all the other latecomers scuttling around the high street frantically trying to burst in front of each other to snatch that last copy of the X-Factor’s greatest moments. Ho ho ho indeed.

This year however I did get a slight head start. Someone was recently telling me about this amazing new invention called ‘the internet.’ Apparently you can buy goods and services on it and the best thing is they are delivered straight to your door. Amazing.

Anyway, to save you having to go through those last minute shopping nightmares we’ve done a little research around the ‘net’ here at Just-Football.com and come up with some gifts for the football enthusiast. Here are some recommendations for you from our Amazon store, listed at the top of the page. As I mention on the store homepage all prices are the same as on the main Amazon site, the only difference being we receive a small commission which helps keep Just Football running. Don’t worry, we’re not going all Rupert Murdoch on you. But if you are thinking of some last minute purchases either for a friend, family member or yourself (go on, you’ve earnt it) then we’d be delighted if you would consider purchasing through us. Ok so here’s whats good:

1) The Ball Is Round by David Goldblatt.

A definitive history of global football. Goldblatt chronicles the history of world football in this in-depth, lengthy, masterpiece of a book. Looking at the game on a social, political, economic and cultural level, The Ball is Round is an absorbing examination of the game of football and a must-read for anyone interested in how football evolved into what it is today. In my opinion the best football book around by a distance.

2) Why England Lose & Other Curious Phenomena Explained by Simon Kuper & Stefan Szymanski.

Want to know why England lose? There’s a book for that. Kuper applies high-powered analytical tools to assess and dissect various myths and common thinking about football. Why do England lose? Why do Newcastle always buy the wrong players? Why are football clubs so irrational and why is transfer spending usually completely wasted? These are just some of the questions Kuper and Szymanski take to answering over the course of a book that balances ‘a football writer’s skill with an economist’s brain.’

3) Inverting the Pyramid: A History of Football Tactics by Jonathan Wilson.

I’m hoping to pick this up myself over Christmas as I had a quick browse of it recently in Waterstones and it looks very good. If you’re the sort of person who sits in the pub after the game and rearranges all the pint glasses on the table into a neat formation to demonstrate exactly how the manager organised his back four all wrong then this is the book for you. Wilson pulls apart the modern game to trace the history of football tactics and the movers and thinkers who developed the strategies that revolutionised the sport. Comprehensive and detailed, you won’t find this book next to the bedside table of pundits on Match of the Day.

4) Football Manager 2010 (PC)

Only if you have some time off over Christmas, are unemployed, a student or extremely disciplined should you purchase the latest instalment of Football Manager. It is quite simply the most addictive thing this side of crystal meth, so Andre Agassi reliably tells me. One of the fastest selling computer games of all time, in Football Manager 2010 you take control of the team, buy the players, set the tactics, choose the formations and set your team on the path to either glowing success or miserable failure. This latest FM has an improved 3D match engine and a whole host of other features to distract you from the Queen’s speech and Simon Cowell’s latest number one record. I once won the Champions League with Sheffield United. Beat that.

5) FIFA 10 (Xbox 360 / PS3)

If you like football games but aren’t in it for the long-haul career of a football manager then FIFA 10 is the one for you. As Pro Evolution Soccer let standards slip in recent years so FIFA has upped it’s game, with EA Sports doing a good job in not only bridging the gap but actually leapfrogging their rivals. FIFA 10 has vastly improved the leagues and manager modes, and the advanced controls syste
m and slicker gameplay mean this is pretty much the best instalment yet.

6) Farewell but not Goodbye, a Commemorative Edition – My Autobiography by Sir Bobby Robson.

There are several other books I wholeheartedly recommend in our store but if I had to put forward one other must read over Christmas I would advise checking out the autobiography of the late, great Sir Bobby Robson, who passed away earlier this year. Sir Bobby takes us through his life from growing up in the North East to working in the mines of Langley Park to his playing days and managerial career. Written with the charm and wit for which he was well renowned, the book is an entertaining autobiography that celebrates the life of one of the British game’s true greats.

Check out the Just-Football.com store for further recommendations of great football books, DVDS and games for Christmas.

Xmas