A Beautiful Game: The World's Greatest Players and How Soccer Changed Their Lives

by Tom Watt

From Tom Watt, author of My Side , the best-selling autobiography of David Beckham, comes A Beautiful Game . Combining stunning photographs with the world’s greatest players sharing their personal stories of how soccer transformed their lives, this inspiring book is an intoxicating celebration of the “beautiful game.” Available in time for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Genres: Soccer, Football, Sports, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2009

About the author

Tom Watt is an English actor, writer, and broadcaster. Television, film, and stage credits include EastEnders, Patriot Games, and Fever Pitch. Tom has been broadcasting about soccer extensively in the UK and the US. He coproduced the innovative children's sports series Rookies for Channel Four television and created the successful Row Z for BBC Choice TV. After presenting sports shows over the past ten years for BBC and independent radio and television stations, he is currently the lead presenter for BBC London's soccer coverage and hosts weekly programs for Arsenal's club TV channel.

As well as writing about soccer for every major UK newspaper, Tom is the author of several books about the game: The End, a groundbreaking oral history of Arsenal FC; A Passion for the Game, 90 first-hand accounts of life behind the scenes in English soccer; The Greatest Stage, the official history of Wembley Stadium; and, most recently, My Side, the bestselling autobiography of David Beckham. Tom also produces schoolbooks based around soccer, the latest of which, a 12-book series called The Jags, was published earlier this year.

Reviews

[David Blankenship · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little coffee table book of pictures and reflections by many players who were at their peak c. 2010.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fun read for avid football fans such as myself. Tom Watt combines many of the aspects that make football such a wonderful game: cooperation, compassion, sportsmanship etc. and provides a plethora of different stories about famous football players who've overcome adversity to realize their dream of playing professional football.
Watt separates his book into different sections; different attributes of which he believes is crucial to a good football player: hope, determination, passion etc. He attaches to these traits, stories of various football players whose backgrounds are relevant to that section. I remember Frank Ribery's story, and how he grew up in a relatively poor neighborhood in France. He did not have the best of upbringings, but what kept him going was his passion for football. Every time he got a chance - be it in the middle of the road, a playground or at home - he gathered a group of friends and played football. Whenever he was feeling down or had received some bad news - he went and played football. For many of these famous players, football is not so much of a job, but a hobby, an enjoyable pass-time. What makes it so fascinating and interesting is that they are getting paid for something that they absolutely love - something that they'd do even if it weren't part of their job description.
Other stories are very inspiring as well, with many players coming from broken homes or dangerous neighborhoods, and impressing scouts enough to give them a shot in the big leagues. You see these people play football on a weekly basis, and you think that they were born to do these things. You would never think of how much trouble, pain and suffering they had to endure to get to where they are today. Truly a remarkable book.

[CD · Rating 3 out of 5]

A coffee table fund raiser book for UNICEF about the beautiful game, soccer. Soccer luminaries from all corners of the globe tell stories of their relationship to soccer. Great photographs from Getty Images highlight this collection of short bio/memoirs that are topically sorted. From the escape from poverty and violence to the opportunity to see the world in ways that are available only to a few people, these tales add joy to the world of the futbol fanatique!

My copy is yet another 'special edition' with a deluxe binding and bound in special library grade acid free plastic/acetate(whatever it is called!). Another big book of photos that I was drawn to and also got to contribute to a worthy cause that I've supported one way or another for years.

A final personal note to those whom it concerns:

The ball has been rolled to my feet in that timeless invitation many times. That I know this tradition I thank Chris and for his sharing of love for the beautiful game. Many thanks from years distant to Phil who taught me the game and that football was something other than helmets, shoulder pads, or a PE class. To the hundreds of people I've joined for an impromptu few minutes or hours that I don't know your names but who were all a lot better than I, thanks. For those I've had the privilege of imparting something to you about this passion, thank you for being interested. We have all shared the fun and joy so well expressed in this book.

[Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that this book was a good choice to read if you are into the sport and have a love for the sport like I do. The way the author used every player from different countries and told them to explain about there life's and how soccer helped them achieve there goals and dreams. Every player had a background story and would tell us about the good times and about the bad times each player had.

[Leora · Rating 5 out of 5]

a must for the soccer lover's coffee table collection ...

[Dorion Zambuchini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every soccer fanatic should read this book.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many varied backgrounds of the world's best soccer players and their account of how they became so great in their sport.

[Alisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabulous stories and insights

[Cathf2 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got this book less for the text and more for the photographs, which are awesome.