David Baddiel's Book Recommendations (Updated for 2026)

1

Fever Pitch

Nick Hornby

4.0

The Twentieth Anniversary Edition

*WINNER OF THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR*

Fever Pitch is Nick Hornby's million-copy-selling, award-winnning football classic

'A spanking 7-0 away win of a football book. . . inventive, honest, funny, heroic, charming' Independent

For many people watching football is mere entertainment, to some it's more like a ritual; but to others, its highs and lows pro

Recommended by David Baddiel, David Papineau, and Simon Kuper.

David Baddiel

In about 1990 there was this sea change in the way people expressed themselves about football – more emotionally. Nick’s book sets the stall out for that. [source]

David Papineau

Sporting fandom is very interesting philosophically: it’s a case of partiality, partisanship, valuing something when you can see that what you value isn’t going to be valued by other people. [source]

Simon Kuper

Nick Hornby doesn’t revel in, ‘Oh I’m such a football geek, isn’t that funny?’ He treats it as something suspect. [source]

Cover unavailable

2

One Night in Turin: The Inside Story of a World Cup that Changed our Footballing Nation Forever

Pete Davies

4.4

The memoir behind the documentary One Night in Turin, the inside story of a World Cup that changed our footballing nation forever

It was the World Cup semi-finals. On 4th July, 1990, in a stadium in Turin, Gazza cried, England lost and football changed forever.

This is the inside story of Italia '90 - we meet the players, the hooligans, the agents, the journalists, the fans. Writer Pete Davies was

Recommended by David Baddiel and Simon Kuper.

David Baddiel

The cover is Gazza crying, which is now rather clichéd, but then it was an icon of the change in attitude towards football and men, and how emotional they can be about football. [source]

Simon Kuper

It’s gripping and it’s written in a very sort of populist, laddish style, but it works. The characters make it work, and the setting of Italy during the World Cup. It doesn’t matter that that World Cup is now history. [source]

3

Black and Blue: How Racism, Drugs and Cancer Almost Destroyed Me

Paul Canoville

4.2

Paul Canovilles story is one of extreme racist bigotry, shattering career-ending injury, a decline into drug abuse, battles against cancer, family tragedy and a determination to beat the odds. Canoville was Chelsea's first black first-team player, making his debut in 1982. But as he warmed up on the touchline, his own supporters began chanting 'We don't want the nigger!' The racist bile continued

Recommended by David Baddiel.

David Baddiel

I met Paul Canoville at the FA Cup semi-final and, you know, heads up to him. He was the first black player at Chelsea debuted in 1982. He has ten kids by ten different women, which is also impressive. He’s 50 now and really looks very well, considering that racism, drugs and cancer almost destroyed him. I remember when a black player would get a lot of stick from the terraces, even from their own supporters. Now the players being black is just something we expect. He wasn’t a brilliant player but it’s an amazing story. [source]

4

The Story of the World Cup: 2018

Brian Glanville

3.9

Brian Glanville's dramatic history of the world's most famous football tournament has become the most authoritative guide to the World Cup. His classic, bestselling account is a vivid celebration of the great players and legendary matches in the competition from Uruguay in 1930 to Brazil in 2014 - as well as a bold attack on those who have mismanaged the 'beautiful game'. Fully revised and updated

Recommended by David Baddiel.

David Baddiel

We should have this in Five Books before the World Cup just because Brian Glanville is a very good sports writer. He is old now and a most esteemed journalist who always wears a big hat. He was born in 1931 and spent a lot of his career in Italy working for Corriere dello Sport. He first wrote this book in 1973 and it was originally called The Sunday Times History of the World Cup. It’s continually being revised and updated and it is very, very good for knowing what happened in each World Cup, at each football match. It’s the gold standard of sports writing. Sports writing is an interesting thing – Richard Ford has written two great novels about being a sports writer. There is a sort of poetry to it when it’s done well. At Euro 96 England played Germany again in another epic game that went to extra time and we lost again and I read a piece saying: ‘In extra time both teams played like they had nothing to lose, like they do in dreams.’ This book does emote and is not just a reference book. It’s got match reports and polemic and its purpose is to be a reference book, but it gives more of a perspective, more vision. [source]

Cover unavailable

5

Bottle: The Completely True Story of an Ex-Football Hooligan

Steve Fist, Ivor Baddiel

2.0

Steve Fist was the football hooligan's football hooligan. Between the years 1975 and 1991, not one day went by when he didn't beat the absolute living crap out of at least one person for being another team's fan. Bottle is a story about the extreme end of extreme violence, and a tale about the worst excesses of brutality, sadism, and senseless bloodshed.

Recommended by David Baddiel.

David Baddiel

This book is by my brother and is a parody of the hooligan’s memoir, which, as you probably don’t know, is a genre and there is a quite a big market for hooligans’ memoirs. [source]