Conversations with masters of football literature, including Michael Calvin and Paddy Barclay and John Nicholson. Brian Glanville's 90th birthday celebration in September 2021 was in two parts: a documentary about his life and work, and a chat with his son Mark.

The Football Literary Society Presents...Eminences

The doyen of football criticism in the English language turns 90 on September 24 2021. His age means he’s not well enough to pop into the Library but all his books line the shelves.

Arsenal fan Brian is best known for updating his Story of the World Cup every four years, and in recent years for his World Soccer column. His achievements cannot be summarised in this paragraph so it’s recommended that you listen to a documentary which features contributions from previous Library visitors Leo Moynihan, Nick Szczepanik, Paddy Barclay and Rob Steen.

There’s also a conversation, direct from casa Glanville, with Brian’s eldest son Mark, who praises his dad’s fiction and Chelsea Casuals, the team which Brian ran for several decades.

A very happy birthday to the man who either influenced, or should be an influence upon, every football critic.

Brian Glanville At 90 - Introducing The Writer

Brian Glanville At 90 - A Chat With His Son Mark

The first time Jon Spurling came into the Football Literary Society, he was plugging a book about football in the 1970s. This time, he's written about the following decade in the fantastic Go To War Football on the Brink in the '80s, in which he runs through the good, ugly and even worse about the game in the years before the Premier League was founded. 

Find the book, published by Biteback, here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Go-War-How-Rocked-Football/dp/1785907492

Jon Spurling Returns

Michael Calvin is the Watford-born author of some of the most critically acclaimed football books of the 21st century: Family, about Millwall FC; No Hunger in Paradise, about youth football; State of Play, taking the pulse of the game; Living on the Volcano, about football management; and The Nowhere Men, which took him on the road with scouts. He also worked on Joey Barton’s memoir No Nonsense. Before his books filled the shelves, his reports filled the pages of several broadsheet newspapers.

You can read Family here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Family-Death-Football-Frontline-Proper-ebook/dp/B072J2H7XD/

Michael Calvin - First Half

Michael Calvin - Second Half

A fan of Norwich City, who follows the Canaries home and away, Mick Dennis was on Fleet Street when newspapers were still based there. A 40-year career in print ended in the 2010s, whereupon Mick wrote three books in the Tales From The City series.

Here, in a chat of two halves, he talks Norwich City then and now, as well as his work on Graham Poll's memoir Seeing Red. The show went live on the day that Watford and Norwich played each other in a Premier League game.

You can buy the TFTC series here: https://www.talesfrom.com/our-books/norwich

Mick Dennis - First Half

Podcasts from Jonny Brick, including radio shows from the Football Literary Society. View his portfolio at jonnybrick.com, with information on Now That's What I Call NOW (2018) and A Country Way of Life (2018).

Jon Spurling Returns

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