Winner of the Football Book of the Year Award, Cross British Sports Book Awards 2015
In a tiny, decaying aluminium smelting town in southern Tajikistan, a short drive from a raging war zone, Afghanistan take on Palestine in the first Asian qualifier for 2014's World Cup in Brazil. Every player on both teams is risking something by playing: their careers, their families, even their lives. Yet, along with thousands of other footballers backed by millions of supporters, they all dream of snatching one of the precious 32 places at the finals; and so begins a three-year epic struggle – long before the usual suspects start their higher-profile qualifying campaigns under the spotlight. 
Named after the greatest victory (and defeat) that the World Cup qualifiers have ever seen (Australia's 31-0 victory over American Samoa), Thirty-One Nil is the story of how footballers from all corners of the globe begin their journey chasing a place at the World Cup Finals. It celebrates the part-time priests, princes and hopeless chancers who dream of making it to Brazil, in defiance of the staggering odds stacked against them. It tells the story of teams who have struggled for their very existence through political and social turmoil, from which they will very occasionally emerge into international stardom. 
From the endlessly humiliated San Marino to lowly Haiti; from war-torn Lebanon to the oppressed and fleet-footed players of Eritrea, in Thirty-One Nil James Montague gets intimately and often dangerously close to some of the world's most extraordinary teams, and tells their exceptional stories.

Thirty-One Nil: On the Road With Football's Outsiders: A World Cup Odyssey

Sports & Outdoors

Montague, James

Miscellaneous

Bloomsbury Sport

Winner of the Football Book of the Year Award, Cross British Sports Book Awards 2015 In a tiny, decaying aluminium smelting town in southern Tajikistan, a short drive from a raging war zone, Afghanistan take on Palestine in the first Asian qualifier for the World Cup. Every player on both teams is risking something by playing: their careers, their families, even their lives. Yet, along with thousands of other footballers backed by millions of supporters, they all dream of snatching one of the precious 32 places at the finals; and so begins a three-year epic struggle - long before the usual suspects start their higher-profile qualifying campaigns under the spotlight. Named after the greatest victory (and defeat) that the World Cup qualifiers have ever seen (Australia's 31-0 victory over American Samoa), Thirty-One Nil is the story of how footballers from all corners of the globe begin their journey chasing a place at the World Cup Finals. It celebrates the part-time priests, princes and hopeless chancers who dream of making it to Brazil, in defiance of the staggering odds stacked against them. It tells the story of teams who have struggled for their very existence through political and social turmoil, from which they will very occasionally emerge into international stardom. From the endlessly humiliated San Marino to lowly Haiti; from war-torn Lebanon to the oppressed and fleet-footed players of Eritrea, in Thirty-One Nil James Montague gets intimately and often dangerously close to some of the world's most extraordinary teams, and tells their exceptional stories.

Thirty-One Nil: On the Road With Football's Outsiders

Business & Money

Industries

Once upon a time football was run by modest local businessmen. Today it is the plaything of billionaire oligarchs, staggeringly wealthy from oil and gas, from royalty, or from murkier sources. But who are these new masters of the universe? Where did all their money come from? And what do they want with our beautiful game? 
While almost cloaked in secrecy, the billionaire owner has to raise his head above the bunker when it comes to football ownership--a rare Achilles heel that allows access to worlds normally off limits journalists and outsiders. In The Billionaires Club, James Montague delves deeper than anyone ever dared, to tell this story for the first time. He criss-crosses the world--from Dhaka to Doha, from China to Crewe, from St. Louis to London, from Bangkok to Belgium--to profile this new elite, their network of money, and their influence that defies geographic boundaries.
The Billionaires Club is part history of club ownership, part in-depth investigation into the money and influence that connects the super-rich around the globe, and part travel book as he follows the ever-shifting trail around the globe in an attempt to reveal the real force behind modern-day soccer.
At its heart The Billionaires Club is an international football book about some of the biggest clubs in the world. But it is also about something bigger: the world around us, the global economy, where the world is headed, and how football has become an essential cog in this machine.

The Billionaires Club: The Unstoppable Rise of Football’s Super-rich Owners WINNER FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR, SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2018

Once upon a time football was run by modest local businessmen. Today it is the plaything of billionaire oligarchs, staggeringly wealthy from oil and gas, from royalty, or from murkier sources. But who are these new masters of the universe? Where did all their money come from? And what do they want with our beautiful game?   In The Billionaires Club James Montague delves deeper than anyone else has dared, to tell this story for the first time. It is part history of club ownership, part in-depth investigation into the money and influence that connects the super-rich around the globe, and part travel book as he crosses national boundaries in an attempt to reveal the real force behind modern-day football.  Whilst almost always cloaked in secrecy, the billionaire owner has to raise his head above the bunker when it comes to football ownership - a rare Achilles heel that allows access to worlds normally off limits for journalists and outsiders. And so Montague criss-crosses the world - from Dhaka to Doha, from China to Crewe, from St Louis to London, from Bangkok to Belgium - to profile this new elite, their network of money and their influence that defies geographic boundaries.  At its heart The Billionaires Club is a football book, about some of the biggest clubs in the world. But it is also about something bigger: the world around us, the global economy, where the world is headed and how football has become an essential cog in this machine.

The Billionaires Club: The Unstoppable Rise of Football's Super-rich Owners WINNER FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR, SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2018

BLOOMSBURY

Once upon a time football was run by modest local businessmen. Today it is the plaything of billionaire oligarchs, staggeringly wealthy from oil and gas, from royalty, or from murkier sources. But who are these new masters of the universe? Where did all their money come from? And what do they want with our beautiful game? 
While almost cloaked in secrecy, the billionaire owner has to raise his head above the bunker when it comes to football ownership – a rare Achilles heel that allows access to worlds normally off limits journalists and outsiders. In the Billionaires Club James Montague delves deeper than anyone ever dared, to tell this story for the first time. He criss-crosses the world – from Dhaka to Doha, from China to Crewe, from St Louis to London, from Bangkok to Belgium – to profile this new elite, their network of money and their influence that defies geographic boundaries.
The Billionaires Club is part history of club ownership, part in-depth investigation into the money and influence that connects the super-rich around the globe, and part travel book as he follows the ever-shifting trail around the globe in an attempt to reveal the real force behind modern-day football.
At its heart The Billionaires Club is a football book, about some of the biggest clubs in the world. But it is also about something bigger: the world around us, the global economy, where the world is headed and how football has become an essential cog in this machine.

1312: Among the Ultras: A Journey With the World's Most Extreme Fans

'Brilliant and daring' Guardian You can see them, but you don't know them. Ultras are football fans like no others. A hugely visible and controversial part of the global game, their credo and aesthetic replicated in almost every league everywhere on earth, a global movement of extreme fandom and politics is also one of the largest youth movements in the world. Yet they remain unknown: an anti-establishment force that is transforming both football and politics. In this book, James Montague goes underground to uncover the true face of this dissident force for the first time. 1312: Among the Ultras tells the story of how the movement began and how it grew to become the global phenomenon that now dominates the stadiums from the Balkans and Buenos Aires. With unprecedented insider access, the book investigates how ultras have grown into a fiercely political movement, embracing extremes on both the left and right; fighting against the commercialisation of football and society - and against the attempts to control them by the authorities, who both covet and fear their power.

1312: Among the Ultras: A Journey With the World’s Most Extreme Fans

Biographies

Ebury Press

Review\nA vibrant account of sport in the world's most volatile region--GQ 
Passionate and moving and provides further evidence of the universality of football.--Jonathan Wilson, Four Four Two 
An excellent book, which is so, so much more than a book about sport or football; it is also a travelogue and a treatise on the politics of the Middle East.--Independent 
A courageous, amusing and informative work--Telegraph\n'Passionate and moving and provides further evidence of the universality of football' Jonathan Wilson, FourFourTwo The definitive story of the Middle East's unstoppable rise to football superpower, and the road to the Qatar World Cup When James Montague first began covering football in the Middle East two decades ago, people asked him what future there could possibly be for the beautiful game in one of the most volatile regions in the world. In the years that followed, it would become one of the biggest stories in global sport, from the from revolutionary ultras of the Arab Spring and the takeover of some of the world's biggest clubs by the Emirati super rich, to Qatar's controversial journey towards hosting the 2022 World Cup finals. The only Western journalist covering the story on the ground from the very beginning, James Montague tells the definitive tale of the region's rise to ultimate power player in the global game in a fully revised and updated edition. Travelling to every country in the Middle East and meeting fans, players, workers and campaigners, he paints an unforgettable picture of football in a controversial, vibrant and surprising new world.

When Friday Comes: Football revolution in the Middle East and the road to the Qatar World Cup

History

Middle East

You can see us, but you don't know us. Ultras are football fans like no others. Fiercely loyal, organised, political and violent, they are a hugely visible and controversial part of the global game, their credo and aesthetic replicated in almost every league everywhere on earth. Their global movement of extreme fandom and politics is also one of the largest youth movements in the world, yet they remain enigmatic: an anti-establishment force that is transforming both football and politics. In this book, James Montague goes underground to uncover the true face of this dissident force for the first time. Ultras tells the story of how the movement began, emerging from the terraces of post-war Italy, the Balkans and Brazil, and how it has become a global phenomenon that now dominates the stadiums of Madrid, Munich, Moscow and Buenos Aires. With unique insider access, the book explains how ultras have grown into a fiercely political movement that embraces extremes on both the left and right; fighting against the commercialisation of football and society, the resettlement of refugees, the rise of fascism, opposition to dictators and the attempts to control them by the authorities who both covet and fear their power. It’s an unforgettable look at the volatile new forces in football, at a time when people power and anti-establishment voices are redefining politics – sometimes for better, sometimes for worse.

1312: Among the Ultras: A journey with the world’s most extreme fans

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

You can see them, but you don't know them. Ultras are football fans like no others. A hugely visible and controversial part of the global game, their credo and aesthetic replicated in almost every league everywhere on earth, a global movement of extreme fandom and politics is also one of the largest youth movements in the world. Yet they remain unknown: an anti-establishment force that is transforming both football and politics. In this book, James Montague goes underground to uncover the true face of this dissident force for the first time. 1312: Among the Ultras tells the story of how the movement began and how it grew to become the global phenomenon that now dominates the stadiums from the Balkans and Buenos Aires. With unprecedented insider access, the book investigates how ultras have grown into a fiercely political movement, embracing extremes on both the left and right; fighting against the commercialization of football and society – and against the attempts to control them by the authorities, who both covet and fear their power.

Europe

In January 2011 millions of Egyptians took part in mass protests that ended the iron rule of its military dictator, Hosni Mubarak. Across the Middle East, from Algeria to Yemen, millions took to the streets, overthrowing despotic and violent regimes that had clung onto power for generations.Meanwhile, on the football pitch, a different sort of revolution was taking place. The wealthy Gulf-based owners of Manchester City plotted the club's dominance of English football while Qatar celebrated its unlikely accession as 2022 World Cup hosts. Middle Eastern money impacted the fortunes of clubs in England, Spain, France and Italy.There has never been much to unite the Middle East. For decades, centuries even, words and images of a hostile, alien land have dominated the news agenda. But just under the surface, beneath the wars, the insurgencies and revolutions, there is one thing the region can agree on: football.For seven years James Montague has travelled the Middle East uncovering stories of the beautiful game's survival and resurgence. Whilst the region has often been divided, sometimes violently, along religious, political and ethnic lines, football is the Middle East's one, great uniting thread.Montague travelled to every country in the Middle East, from Yemen to Gaza to Lebanon to Egypt to Iran, to uncover the stories that proved much more than a region's obsession with the game.When Friday Comes is an account of Montague's journey across this volatile land, that saw him man the barricades with Egypt's football ultras, meet Libya's revolutionary national team players, chew qhat with the Yemeni FA and watch Hezbollah's very own football team in Lebanon.What started with a journey to understand a region blighted by despots, ended with the Arab Spring and the Middle East's huge wealth in natural resources being used to start a new era of dominance in world football.When Friday Comes will take you to every corner of the Middle East where football thrives and where the game played an important, sometimes crucial, part in the Arab Spring. But, more importantly, the Middle East and its extreme wealth also provides a window on this rising power, and how football in the rest of the world could be changed forever.

When Friday Comes: Football, War and Revolution in the Middle East

deCoubertin Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Montague, James. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Montague, James

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Montague, James. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Thirty-One Nil: On the Road With Football's Outsiders: A World Cup Odyssey

Thirty-One Nil: On the Road With Football's Outsiders

The Billionaires Club: The Unstoppable Rise of Football’s Super-rich Owners WINNER FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR, SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2018

The Billionaires Club: The Unstoppable Rise of Football's Super-rich Owners WINNER FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR, SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2018

The Billionaires Club: The Unstoppable Rise of Football’s Super-rich Owners WINNER FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR, SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2018

1312: Among the Ultras: A Journey With the World’s Most Extreme Fans

When Friday Comes: Football revolution in the Middle East and the road to the Qatar World Cup

1312: Among the Ultras: A journey with the world’s most extreme fans

1312: Among the Ultras: A Journey With the World's Most Extreme Fans

When Friday Comes: Football, War and Revolution in the Middle East