Five Books I'm Most Excited For in '24

Next year will be a banner year for soccer writing

Confession time - I barely met my Goodreads goal for 2023. It’s a little embarrassing that someone who reviews books regularly almost fell short of my moderately ambitious goals, but here we are.

What I will say is that 2023 will go down as a prime year for soccer writing. I started by reading The Beautiful Poetry of Football Commentary and on the way got to finally read Wilson’s Clough biographical masterpiece. These were a few of some of the really enjoyable reads about the beautiful game.

But looking ahead… my word. Based solely on the “what’s coming” lists from publishers, this could be an outstanding year for soccer writing. As I have said prior, the more the game becomes mainstream in the U.S., the more quality writing we in the U.S. are seeing. We now have access to books we never would have 10 years ago, and that’s wonderful for us fans.

To whet your appetite, I created a list of five books (plus one) I am excited to read next year. Maybe in 365 days I’ll look back and see if any of them met my expectations, but my guess is many will and a few will even exceed my anticipation.

Honorable mention - “The Team That Could Have Been: The Rise and Fall of Crystal Palace’s Team of the 80s”. My conflict of interest is Stephen Brandt is a great colleague and collaborator, and I have written the preface to his previous book. I highly recommend picking this one but can’t add it due to conflict of interest. But get it anyway.

Played in Germany: A Footballing Journey Through a Nation’s Soul by Kit Holden. His Union Berlin book was wonderfully done and showed he can capture nuanced feelings about sport in a way that makes for an interesting read. Pulling out to an entire nation that is having issues with its club, men’s and women’s national teams will be fascinating.

Va-Va-Voom: The Modern History of French Football by Tom Williams. Why this book now? Williams looks back over the past 40 years and uses interviews with key personalities to present the absolutely insane story of French soccer. Think about all that has happened since the 1980s with the men’s national team alone! Bloomsbury Sport, July.

How to Win the Premier League by Ian Graham. The man quietly behind Liverpool’s resurgence via data is now talking, and this book undoubtedly has some… interesting thoughts on what has happened in the Premier League the last five years. There may be no better insider’s look this year than this.

The Thinkers’ Factory: How Italian Coaching Conquered the World by Karan Tejwani. Readers should know by now my absolute love for Italian soccer, so give me a book about their coaching education and how it has changed soccer history, and I am in. Tejwani’s book on Ajax was well received so my expectations are sky-high for this one.

Smart Money: The Fall and Rise of Brentford FC by Alex Duff. My readers know I have a soft spot for the Brentford story. Duffy is a well regarded writer and his deep dive into the club from the troubled 1970s until today’s success looks like an interesting read. Little Brown Book Publishing, March.