Sport & leisure industries – The Bell Bookshop

The world’s biggest cash machine

Emma — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

‘Jaw-dropping revelations . . . The incredible story of [Man United] laid bare in new book’ – Daily Mail

‘A gripping tale, full of insight. Blackhurst is an enormously talented writer’ – City A.M.

From Chris Blackhurst, the former Editor of the Independent, comes The World’s Biggest Cash Machine, a gripping and tightly reported account of how the Glazers, owners of Manchester United, became the most maligned figures in the Premier League, and how they changed the beautiful game forever.

Manchester United’s supporters span the globe and cross generations. But, with few exceptions, they are united in their anger with the American family who bought their club in 2005, plunging it into record levels of debt. The Glazers’ reign has become synonymous with the financialization of football, and has coincided with fan protests and a decline of Manchester United’s fortunes on the pitch . . . if not on the balance sheet.

But what defines this secretive family, and do these astute businessmen deserve the opprobrium they receive? In this captivating account, informed by interviews with key figures behind the scenes, journalist and commentator Chris Blackhurst charts the gripping story of the world’s biggest football club – as well as exploring the wider transformation of the Premier League into a playground for billionaire owners.

‘Packed with insights and details that will both amaze and appal you . . . if it doesn’t make you angry, you need to check your pulse’ – Oliver Bullough, author of Moneyland, on Too Big to Jail

Fever pitch

Emma — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

THE INCREDIBLE FIRST 12 YEARS OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE AS TOLD BY THE LEGENDS WHO WERE THERE

‘I met Jack Nicholson and when a Hollywood superstar asks about Manchester United, you realise how big the Premier League is around the world’
David Beckham

Based on the acclaimed BBC Series, with a foreword by Alan Shearer

The Premier League is the most watched sports league in the world, broadcast into 188 countries and watched by 3.2 billion people worldwide. It revolutionised football, transforming the beautiful game into a multi-billion-pound business and making its biggest stars millionaires.

Fever Pitch tells the inside story of the formation of the league, from the early discussions with Rupert Murdoch about how Sky could be at the heart of this new league, to the bitter rivalries and radical new managers who changed the face of football forever.

With insight from football’s biggest names, this is the inside track on the Premier League as you’ve never heard it before. From David Beckham to Eric Cantona, Peter Schmeichel to Gary Neville, this book is full of exclusive interviews that give fascinating insight into the biggest sports league in the world from the people who made it happen.

‘The recognition our game gets is astonishing and the love of the Premier League is undeniable’
Alan Shearer

‘England is special. It is more than football, it is like the players are rock stars’
Eric Cantona

‘It’s what it should be about – enthralling, exciting, magic, taking risks, playing attacking football’
Gary Neville

Fever Pitch

Emma — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

THE INCREDIBLE FIRST 12 YEARS OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE AS TOLD BY THE LEGENDS WHO WERE THERE

‘The recognition our game gets is astonishing and the love of the Premier League is undeniable’
Alan Shearer

‘England is special. It is more than football, it is like the players are rock stars’
Eric Cantona

‘It’s what it should be about – enthralling, exciting, magic, taking risks, playing attacking football’
Gary Neville

Crickonomics

Emma — Thu, 26 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

LONGLISTED FOR THE CRICKET SOCIETY AND MCC BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2023. “Fascinating” The Observer “Illuminating” The Times “Crickonomics is packed with sufficient statistical analysis to have the most ardent cricket geek purring with pleasure” Mail on Sunday “An insightful, Hawk-Eye-like analysis of the numbers behind cricket” Financial TimesAn engaging tour of the modern game from an award-winning journalist and the economist who co-authored the bestselling Soccernomics. Why does England rely on private schools for their batters – but not their bowlers? How did demographics shape India’s rise? Why have women often been the game’s great innovators? Why does South Africa struggle to produce Black Test batters? And how does the weather impact who wins? Crickonomics explores all of this and much more – including how Jayasuriya and Gilchrist transformed Test batting but T20 didn’t; English cricket’s great missed opportunity to have a league structure like football; why batters are paid more than bowlers; how Afghanistan is transforming German cricket; what the rest of the world can learn from New Zealand and even the Barmy Army’s importance to Test cricket. This incisive book will entertain and surprise all cricket lovers. It might even change how you watch the game.