Between The Lines: Recent Episodes
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The stories behind great sportswriting. Interviews with journalists and authors about an outstanding piece of writing on sport. From BackPage.
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John Greechan's top tip - get as close to the story as possible (featuring Maradona and a trip to Buenos Aires)
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Welcome to the second episode in the new season of Between the Lines. This is Martin's chat with John Greechan on his excellent new Ange Postecoglou biography.
As always, we discuss process and explore John's research trip to Melbourne earlier this year.
Enjoy
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To celebrate the publication of Andriy Shevchenko's autobiography, My Life, My Football, we break down the story behind the book: why it took three years for the English language edition to reach bookstores, the significance of the war in Ukraine, what matters most to an elite footballer like Shevchenko when he tells his story, and what happens when you get two world-class strikers in the same room.
This episode features Martin and Neil from BackPage and the Ballon d'Or of translation, Mark Palmer.
Find out more about Sheva's book, including where to buy it, here.
Find out more about our cover designer, Kulbir Gharra
Michael Cox's Athletic piece on Shevchenko, My Game in My Words
Gary Lineker's interview with Shevchenko
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In this episode, Neil and Martin talk to Mark Palmer, the translator of The Immortals, Arrigo Sacchi’s memoir of Milan’s 1988-89 season, which ended with the first of two back-to-back European Cup triumphs for the great team of Baresi, Maldini, Rijkaard, Gullit and Van Basten.
The Immortals brings to life the training diaries of Sacchi and captures in time one of the greatest club teams in football history.
In this interview, we talk about why this – and not an earlier Sacchi autobiography – was the right one for us; Mark’s task in bringing the eccentricities of Arrigo Sacchi to life; and what happened when we went to Sacchi’s hometown to meet the man himself.
Buy The Immortals here.
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Author Daniel Gray and photographer Alan McCredie toured Scotland collecting pictures and that form a charming and true portrait of football in that country, from a European night at Ibrox to the Highland League.
This is Martin's conversation with Daniel about how he and Alan found their subjects and what he learned from his travels.
Find out more about Snapshot and Nutmeg, the Scottish football periodical that Martin and Daniel mention, here.
And please also check out the new BackPage title on Liverpool's Premier League campaign, At The End Of The Storm
Returning to Between the Lines is Ben Reiter, author of Astroball, to talk about how the story he reported took a shocking turn - and how he went after it in a brilliant new six-part podcast, The Edge.
The incredible rise of the Houston Astros from the worst team in baseball to world champions is the story that made Ben's name. When, in November 2019, news of a cheating scandal engulfed the organisation and tarnished their achievements, Ben decided he had to return to the story to discover what happened and what, if anything, he had missed.
The result is, in our opinion, the sports podcast of 2020 and you don't need to be a baseball fan to understand or enjoy it.
Finally, please check out our latest title, produced in association with The Athletic: At The End Of The Storm - stories from Liverpool's historic title win. It's the perfect gift for the Liverpool fan in your life - and it's out now.
Henry Winter returns to Between The Lines to talk about an interview he did with Nigel Pearson, in which the two men went hiking across Dartmoor and swam in a chalk pit. It makes for great copy and is testament to Winter's skill at relationship building and what he sees as the power of The Times, under whose masthead he writes. Aspiring and developing sportswriters listen up - Henry's breakdown of his intro to this piece is a lesson from the best in how to set up what he calls 'the shop window'.
Finally, please check out our latest title, produced in association with The Athletic: At The End Of The Storm - stories from Liverpool's historic title win.
Martin talks to Sebastian Moffett about Japanese Rules, his examination of the intersection of Japanese culture and its emergent football scene at the start of the 21st Century.
It's a book Martin leant on while researching his own work on Shunsuke Nakamura and he asks Sebastian about the time he spent living and working in Japan, the techniques he used in the interviews for the book and how it impacted his life and career.
Find out about our latest book - At The End of the Storm: Stories From Liverpool's Historic Title Win
Welcome to a new episode of Between the Lines. This is the story behind our first Spotify Original podcast, which is out today! It is called 'Mutiny at Hearts' and tells the story of arguably the most explosive press conference in British football history in October 2006 - when three Hearts players led by club captain Steven Pressley turned on the club's megalomaniac owner, Vladimir Romanov.
The episode is available exclusively on Spotify.
Enjoy
LISTEN TO MUTINY AT HEARTS ON SPOTIFY NOW
Welcome to a new episode of Between the Lines. This is Martin’s chat with Oliver Kay about Forever Young: The Story of Adrian Doherty, Football’s Lost Genius. It’s one of Martin’s favourite sports books of the last decade and that’s why this episode is a bit longer than most… plenty to cover!
Enjoy
Buy Forever Young
Buy At the End of the Storm
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Matt McGinn, author of Against the Elements: The Eruption of Icelandic Football, picks Don McRae's boxing classic Dark Trade as his all-time favourite sports book
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Welcome to a new episode of Between the Lines. This is Martin's conversation with Matt McGinn about his excellent book Against the Elements: The Eruption of Icelandic Football. This is one of the most well researched and interesting sports books of 2020 and if you’ve ever wondered why Iceland have enjoyed such recent success at international tournaments, then this will tell you how it happened. And here’s a clue: it’s not just the indoor facilities. As always, the story behind the story is what we focus on and you’ll hear how Matt interviewed Icelandic musicians and powerlifters, and even spent time aboard a fishing trawler as he sought to capture the elements of Icelandic characters which have bred their sporting success.
Enjoy
BUY AGAINST THE ELEMENTS
BUY AT THE END OF THE STORM
This is Martin's chat with James Pearce, the brilliantly connected Liverpool writer for The Athletic. A lot of James' writing makes up our latest book, At the End of the Storm, which also featured in last week’s episode – and is released today. The book is a collection of pieces from The Athletic telling the story of Liverpool’s historic title triumph, and James is the star of the show.
You’re going to hear a little bit about James’ background and how his years at the Liverpool Echo primed him for taking his coverage of the club to a new level when he joined The Athletic in the summer of 2019. You’ll also hear him break down a piece he wrote after Liverpool’s Super Cup win over Chelsea in August. This is a brilliant episode with a writer at the peak of his power. Enjoy
Buy At the End of the Storm
We're back, listeners!
Apologies for the extended hiatus. We were publishing a book... and this is a peek behind the scenes of how it all came together in double-quick time.
It's called At the End of the Storm: The Stories Behind Liverpool's Historic Title Win, and it is in partnership with The Athletic. It's out a week today - October 15.
This is Martin and Neil from BackPage chatting to Polaris' Pete Burns (the book is a co-publication between BackPage and Polaris) about how it all came together.
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Just a quick one to say that we are taking a break till August, when we will be back with more weekly episodes.
Meantime, if there's a book or piece you'd like to see us feature, drop us a line backpage@backpagepress.co.uk
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Matt Spiro is an English football writer, broadcaster and commentator who has lived in France for the past 18 years.
Matt has used that experience, access and perspective to write Sacre Bleu: From Zidane to MBappe, a football journey.
It’s a book that tells the story of the modern history of the French national team, from one World Cup win, in 1998, to another, 20 years later.
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Have you ever wondered how a book makes its journey to being a movie? Well, if you have, then this episode of Between the Lines is for you.
This is Martin's chat with John Carlin whose magnificent book Playing the Enemy was made into the Clint Eastwood directed film Invictus starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela.
The story of how that came to be is frankly one of the most amazing tales you'll ever hear.
Enjoy
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Welcome to a new episode of Between the Lines. This is Martin's conversation with John Carlin who wrote Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that made a Nation.
John’s book was later made into a Clint Eastwood film called Invictus starring Morgan Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon as Springboks captain Francois Pienaar. Much more of that to come in tomorrow’s bonus episode.
Playing the Enemy tells the story of how Mandela used the 1995 Rugby World Cup as a political tool to help build and consolidate the extremely fragile democracy in South Africa at the time. It is a portrait of Mandela the politician. The great persuader.
As always, we focus on process: we talk about John’s audiences with Mandela and how his six years working in South Africa informed the book and lots more.
John is based in Barcelona and if you listen closely, you might just be able to hear the waves lapping gently on the shore as he talks. Spain’s lockdown was particularly severe and it’s nice to think about people in that beautiful country beginning to be able to live their lives again.
Enjoy
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Welcome to a new episode of Between the Lines. This is Martin's conversation with award-winning sportswriter Ian Ridley. If you listened to last week’s episode you will have heard Ian discuss his excellent book Floodlit Dreams.
This conversation is about Addicted, Tony Adams’ groundbreaking autobiography, first published in 1998. Ian ghostwrote the book with Tony and breaks down that process in impressive detail.
The book is a brutally honest account of Tony’s descent into alcoholism, his spell in prison and subsequent recovery with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Addicted was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, and it is no wonder. The book is on most lists of the best football books of all-time and had a huge impact on popular culture in the late nineties.
Enjoy.
Check out Floodlit Dreams
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Welcome to a new episode of Between the Lines. This is Martin's conversation with award-winning sportswriter Ian Ridley about his book Floodlit Dreams, which documents his spell as chairman of his hometown club, Weymouth FC. We’ve wanted to have Ian on the podcast for a while and when a previous guest, Neil Forsyth, chose Floodlit Dreams as his all-time favourite sports book, we thought it was time to get him on. If you’ve ever dreamed of taking over your own club, then this is for you. As usual, we also dive into the writing process and the behind-the-scenes stories that go into making a book.
Enjoy
Check out Floodlit Dreams
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Publisher and writer Pete Burns tells us why FitzSimons on Rugby, by Pete FitzSimons, is his all-time favourite sports books.
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Welcome to a new episode of Between the Lines. Our guest this week is Pete Burns, MD of Polaris Publishing, who have a growing list of authors including Tom English, Nick Cain, Stuart Barnes and Seth Burkett. Polaris brought out Matt Jansen's brilliant autobiography last year and we also co-published our Pep's City title with them in 2019.
In this episode, we discuss how COVID-19 has impacted sports publishing. As Pete says, the cost of the pandemic could be severe for publishers and booksellers in an increasingly challenging industry. Here, Pete explains his own strategy for surviving the crisis, by supporting writers and tailoring his list to suit the shifting landscape.
Polaris Publishing
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Journalist and author James Morgan tells us why Andre Agassi's autobiography, Open, and David Winner's Brilliant Orange are his all-time favourite sports books.
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Welcome to a new episode of Between the Lines. Our guest this week is James Morgan, who wrote the first book we ever published as a company, back in 2010. It was called In Search of Alan Gilzean and it was nominated for Football Book of the Year.
Our conversation this week is on a piece he wrote for The Herald about the day in 1964 when a bunch of Celtic players turned up in a small Donegal town to play in a lucrative summer cup competition called The Kennedy Cup. Incredibly, they actually played in disguise to protect their identities. This was less than three years before they became champions of Europe in Lisbon.
It’s a fantastic, distinctively Irish tale, but the story behind it is also interesting. James’ work is always built on extensive research and I think you’ll enjoy hearing about the way he goes about building up the story.
Enjoy
Read James' piece
Buy In Search of Alan Gilzean
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Welcome to … a shorter episode of Between the Lines.
We had a technical issue with the episode scheduled for this week, so we will be back next week with a full-length episode.
In the meantime, here's some links to stuff mentioned in this mini-episode...
James Morgan's piece for next week's show
BackPage's definitive list of sports documentaries and movies
Eat Sleep Work Repeat - The 4-Day Revolution
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Children's authors Matt and Tom Oldfield tell us why Mike Calvin's The Nowhere Men and Playing for Keeps, by David Halberstam, are their all-time favourite sports book.
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Welcome to a new episode of Between the Lines. This is Martin's conversation with Matt and Tom Oldfield, two brothers who between them have written the Ultimate Football Heroes series of books for children aged between 7 and 12.
The series features stars such as Messi, Ronaldo, Virgin Van Dijk, Kevin De Bruyne and many more. As always with Between the Lines, we focus on the story behind the books - the path to publication, writing style and the enormous commercial success of the books which have now sold over 400,000 copies.
We think you’ll really enjoy this one. And if you have young children at home at the moment, this might be the perfect time to introduce them to this series.
Enjoy
Ultimate Football Heroes
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Screenwriter Neil Forsyth tells us why Ian Ridley's Floodlit Dreams is his all-time favourite sports book.
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Welcome to a new episode of Between the Lines. This is Martin's conversation with the acclaimed screenwriter Neil Forsyth about an amazing feature he wrote for Nutmeg Magazine on Jim McLean, the legendary Dundee United manager. Neil is a very talented writer who started off in journalism and went on to write the Bob Servant books which were made into radio and TV series starring Brian Cox.
He's now predominantly a screenwriter and has had some notable successes in recent years, including the one-off BBC drama 'Eric, Ernie and Me' about Morecambe and Wise. He also wrote the brilliant four-part crime series Guilt which screened on BBC Two in 2019 to huge critical acclaim. Neil's piece on Jim McLean is a real labour of love and is one of the best pieces of sports feature writing in recent years.
Read Neil's article
Nutmeg Magazine
Welcome to a new episode of Between the Lines. We asked you, the listeners, to submit your favourite sports docs and movies. The response was phenomenal. Listen right to the end for a great bit of movie trivia!
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Welcome to another episode of Between the Lines. This is Martin's chat with John Greechan, chief sports writer of the Scottish Daily Mail, about a piece he wrote on his favourite sports movies and documentaries. If you are stuck for something to watch during this period of lockdown, get ready for an exhaustive list of brilliant suggestions.
Enjoy!
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Eight years ago, BackPage produced Football Manager Stole My Life, an epic journey through 20 years of fandom around a computer game (Football Manager, nee Championship Manager) that has become part of football culture.
Kenny Millar was our detective, tracking down the scouts and real-life players that combine to create a database that is unmatched in global football. Iain Macintosh brought the funny, including a stint on the psychologist's couch. They both looked back on the work behind a book that helped fans of Football Manager realise they were not alone.
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Like James Montague's previous books – When Friday Comes; Thirty One Nil; and The Billionaires Club - 1312: Among The Ultras is the result of this writer’s determination to track down his story wherever it leads him – in this case to just about every corner of the football world, from where he reports on the Ultra culture – that hardcore of football fandom that we often see from the outside, but very rarely from within.
This time, for Montague that meant securing dark-alley meetings with far-right capos, late night sprints to avoid Indonesian thugs and Swedish cops and a sample of the atmosphere inside some of the most colourful and passionate football crowds on the planet.
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This is Martin BackPage speaking on another book podcast - yes, they do exist! - called Read All About It, where the host Paul Cuddihy asks guests to choose their five favourite and not so favourite books.
There’s some BackPage chat at the start where Martin talks about the development of the company and our Astroball book, then goes on to discuss his five choices.
Hope you enjoy and we’ll be back next week with a more regular episode of Between the Lines.
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BBC Scotland's chief sports writer Tom English tells us why Michael McCambridge's The Franchise: A History of Sports Illustrated Magazine is his all-time favourite sports book.
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Tom English’s book The Grudge, first published in 2010, tells the story of the Calcutta Cup match between Scotland and England in March 1990. Memorably, Scotland beat their old rivals at Murrayfield to win the Grand Slam. But this was more than a match. And more than a rare Scottish sporting triumph. It was one of the most memorable rugby matches in modern history, set against a wave of anti-English sentiment fuelled by Margaret Thatcher’s imposition of the Poll Tax on Scotland.
History, politics, class, it is all brought to life through incredible interviews with not just the victorious Scots, but controversial figures such as Will Carling and Brian Moore. Tom breaks down his audience with those key characters and reveals the agonising structural and stylistic decisions which made this one of the best sports books of the last 20 years. And one which has now been updated for a special 30th anniversary hardback edition.
Buy the new hardback edition of The Grudge
German football expert Raphael Honigstein tells us why David Remnick's King of the World is his all-time favourite sports book
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As the transfer of Erling Braut Haaland from Red Bull Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund was announced at the end of 2019, Raphael Honigstein set about uncovering the decision-making tree that brought the hottest young striker in football to the Bundesliga. It was, as he remembers, something of a detective story, and he spoke to almost every participant: scouts, agents, directors, and people close to the brilliant footballer himself.
A little over two months later, it already seems like a seismic pieceof business for Dortmund, and it's rare to read an inside account of a deal of this level. Raphael's piece is still available at The Athletic. If you haven't subscribed but are considering it, you can go through his own landing page to let them know who brought you in: https://theathletic.com/author/raphael-honigstein/
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In these bonus episodes, we ask our guests to talk about their favourite sports book. Tim Lee, a producer on the official film of the 2019 Champions League final, chose The Damned United, by David Peace.
Watch Tim's remarkable film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrG3C-R7D5s
Tim Lee was one of the producers of UEFA's official film of the 2019 Champions League final. Sometimes - often - these things can be a little sterile, but this one is an artful and uplifting look at the pinnacle of club football from every angle. Tim talks us through every one of them - the pressures the film makers were under, their mission to see the fans and the stadium workers as well as the superstars and the accidents that ended up producing some of the film's most memorable moments.
Watch the film online
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrG3C-R7D5s
Welcome to a new episode of Between the Lines.
It is nearly six years since we published Andrea Pirlo's autobiography, I Think Therefore I Play. It has been our bestselling book by a distance and made a huge impact on football culture.
Here, Martin and Neil from BackPage tell the origins story of the book - how they got the rights, their growing excitement as translated chapters arrived in their inbox and how they knocked Mary Berry off the top of the charts!
Mark Palmer also takes us inside the process of translating the book from its original Italian into English.
Enjoy!
Welcome to a new episode of Between the Lines.
This is Martin's conversation with Tim Parks about his 2002 book A Season with Verona.
It is a classic of football literature and one of the most referenced whenever we ask for people's all-time favourite sports books.
Tim is not your average sports writer. He is a celebrated author of fiction and was once shortlisted for the Booker Prize.
He brought all his creative imagination to this project, attending every home and away Verona game in the 2000-2001 season. That it turns out to be a dramatic campaign like no other, only adds to the story.
Enjoy
p.s. If you enjoyed this episode, check out our documentary on another classic, The Miracle of Castel di Sangro, just a few episodes down on this feed
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In these bonus episodes we ask our guests about their favourite sports book.
In our last episode, we spoke to the director Mat Hodgson and producer Patrick Nathanson about their documentary film, I AM DURAN, about the boxer Roberto Duran. Patrick and Mat both cheated by selecting a short list of books, but the focus is on Fever Pitch for Pat and Mike Tyson's autobiography, Undisputed Truth for Mat.
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Director Mat Hodgson and producer Patrick Nathanson discuss the making of their film, I Am Duran, a brilliant documentary about Roberto Duran, who won world titles in four weight classes and was part of the legendary Four Kings of boxing during the 1980s.
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Welcome to a bonus episode of Between the Lines. Here. guest Si Lloyd, picks his favourite sports, Jonathan Wilson's Angels With Dirty Faces. And if you haven't heard our full episode with Si, on his amazing piece, United with Dad, then check it out. It's the one below this episode on the feed.
Neil and Martin
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This is Neil's conversation with Si Lloyd about a piece he wrote for Joe in December 2019 under the headline 'United with Dad'. It was written a few weeks after the death of Si's father, with whom he had spent most of his life going to watch Manchester United.
Si was overhwelmed by the response he received from what he'd written - and it was no surprise. Si connected with some deep truths about our relationships with the people who take us to the game, and also about the way football can sometimes be one of the last lights to dim inside the memory of someone living with dementia.
It reminded us of the work of Alzheimer Scotland's Football Memories project and others like it that use football reminiscence to improve the lives of people living with that disease.
Enjoy
Read United with Dad, by Si Lloyd
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In this bonus episode, we asked Guardian football editor Marcus Christenson for his favourite sports book of all time. Here he is talking about The Miracle of Castel di Sangro, by Joe McGinniss.
Enjoy
*And if you haven't heard our mini-documentary on Castel di Sangro, check it out now.
Welcome to a new episode of Between the Lines. In this one, the Guardian's football editor, Marcus Christenson, breaks down the herculean task of compiling the newspaper's list of '100 best footballers in the world'. The latest list, 2019, also saw the introduction of a women's top 100.
Enjoy and please check out the series below.
The 100 best footballers in the world
If you've not watched the Andy Murray documentary, Resurfacing, on Amazon Prime, you need to check it out. It's exceptional. Brutally honest and with astonishing access to the man himself. I chatted to tennis commentator and host of The Tennis Podcast, David Law, about how the documentary came together and his thoughts on how Murray came across.
Enjoy
Martin BackPage
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This is a short end-of-seaon wrap where we reflect back on season two and recommend a book and a pod from 2019. Oh, and ask you all to leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts!
Have a great festive season.
Martin & Neil
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This final episode of this season of Between the Lines is a documentary about one of the most beloved of all sports books, Joe McGinniss's 1999 hall-of-famer, The Miracle of Castel di Sangro.
McGinniss - an American who had previously written landmark books on US politics and true crime - read a magazine piece about an Italian team's improbable rise to Serie B and decided to spend a year of his life embedded with them. The resulting book has it all: tragedy, crime, glory and despair, hope and disillusionment.
This special episode would not have been possible without the co-operation of Joe's widow, Nancy Doherty. We'd love to know what you think about the podcast, and also your own thoughts and memories of this great book. Search for @BackPagePress on Twitter and Facebook.
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In the ninth episode in this new season of Between the Lines, 26-year-old Catalan journalist Pol Ballus tells us how he went from full-time waiter and part-time freelancer to inside the machine of Pep Guardiola's Man City.
Enjoy
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In the eighth episode in this new season of Between the Lines, Martin and Neil from BackPage take you behind the scenes of their latest bestseller, Pep’s City: The Making of a Superteam. They talk about the huge editorial challenges they faced and their productive relationship with both authors, Lu Martin and Pol Ballus.
Part two, Martin's chat with Pol, is out tomorrow.
Enjoy
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In 2006, David Goldblatt published 'The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football'. It was an extensive study of the beautiful game stretching back from its very origins into the early years of the 21st century. Job done. Or not.
The last decade or so has witnessed seismic shifts in football, from its economic transformation and politicisation through to the emergence of China and United States on the global stage. So, David went back to the drawing board and the result is another book, another epic study of the beautiful game by the best football historian in the business.
'The Age of Football: The Global Game in the 21st Century' is out now and fits inside a Christmas stocking, so long as it’s a very big stocking. This is a live event recorded at Waterstones in Glasgow where myself and David chatted about the process of completing such an epic project.
Thanks to David for this interview and check him out on Twitter @davidsgoldblatt. And please check out the rest of this season of Between the Lines. The rest of the episodes from this season feature interviews with Ben Reiter, Oliver Kay, Lawrence Donegan, Daniel Gray and Hugh MacDonald. Finally, if you’ve enjoyed this, please leave us a review, tell a friend, spread the word.
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Welcome to sixth episode in this new season of Between the Lines. This is my conversation with Hugh MacDonald about the sportswriting legend Hugh McIlvanney, specifically his legendary piece on Welsh boxer Johnny Owen. This is a fascinating chat not least because Hugh brings a personal element it. The two men formed a strong friendship towards the end of McIlvanney’s life and Hugh delivered the eulogy at his old friend’s memorial service.
Thanks to Hugh for agreeing to this interview. Follow him on Twitter @redblaes. The first five episodes of this season feature interviews with Ben Reiter, Oliver Kay, Lawrence Donegan, Andy Mitten and Daniel Gray. Finally, if you’ve enjoyed this, please leave us a review, tell a friend, spread the word.
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Welcome to fifth episode in this new season of Between the Lines.
This is my conversation with Daniel Gray about the sportswriting legend Hugh Mcllvanney, in particular Hugh’s piece on the death of Jock Stein. Headlined ‘Worshipped by His People’, it appeared in the Observer on September 15 1985, just five days after his death. Daniel is something of an expert on Hugh McIlvanney and hosted a sold out ‘Reading Workshop’ at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2019. Here he talks about the impact of the piece and the legend of McIlvanney, who passed away in January 2019.
Thanks to Daniel for agreeing to this interview. Follow him on Twitter @d_gray_writer and at danielgraywriter.com And check out some of his own brilliant books, including Black Boots and Football Pinks, and Saturday 3pm.
The first four episodes of this season feature interviews with Ben Reiter, Oliver Kay, Lawrence Donegan and Andy Mitten.
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When Andy Mitten was commissioned to go to Mexico in search of Diego Maradona, he could have been forgiven for thinking twice. Not only was the Argentine legend one of the most elusive footballers in the world, he was also managing the Mexican second division club Dorados, who happen to be based in the State of Sinaloa. If you happen to have heard of Sinaloa, it is probably because it is home to the Sinaloa cartel, one of the biggest drug-trafficking organisations in the world. More El Chapo than El Diego.
So, what did Andy do? Well, he slipped out early from a night match at Old Trafford and began his epic journey. The result was a spectacular piece of Gonzo journalism which appeared in Four Four Two in the summer of 2019. Here, Andy tells us what it was like to write one of the most memorable pieces of his career.
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Welcome to the third episode in the new season of Between the Lines!
This is Martin's conversation with Lawrence Donegan about his classic 1998 book, Four Iron in the Soul. The book tells of Lawrence's year spent caddying for Ross Drummond, then the 438th ranked golfer in the world
Lynne Truss said in The Times: 'Not since Bill Bryson plotted a random route through small-town America has such a breezy idea for a book had a happier or funnier result'.
Listen to Lawrence reflect on the influence of Bryson, and George Plimpton, on the book, and how he pieced together this classic of sports literature.
Enjoy!
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For his first piece since leaving The Times to join the new staff at the UK office of The Athletic, Oli Kay chose to take Matt Jansen back to the moment when his life and career changed forever.
The result was one of the most personal and touching football interviews you are likely to read - more impressive still as it came in the middle of a wave of coverage around Matt's new autobiography. Oliver had history with Matt and believed that his subject would be open to this bold and risky approach. And he was right.
Welcome to the first episode in the new season of Between the Lines!
It's playoff time in Major League Baseball and Ben Reiter is back on Between the Lines to talk about Astroball: The New Way to Win it All.
Astroball is the story of how the Houston Astros went from one of the worst teams in the history of the sport - nicknamed The Disastros - to a dynastic, long-term winning machine with an analysis, recruitment and development strategy that is the envy of decision makers in international pro sports. Like the Astros themselves, Ben's book focuses on both the human stories behind a superstar team and the new seams opened up in the sports-data revolution.
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Welcome to our first live episode of Between the Lines. This is a conversation between Jonathan Northcroft, chief football writer of The Sunday Times, and his counterpart at the The Times in Scotland, Michael Grant. It’s chaired by, Martin BackPage and it took place at Glasgow’s Aye Write book festival on March 29. Jonathan is the author of Deadlines and Darts with Dele and Michael wrote the definitive book on the early years of Sir Alex Ferguson, Fergie Rises.
As always, we focus on process. The boys tell us about their best and worst interviews (hello Gareth Bale) we talk about the place of match reports in the modern media and the joys of watching live football rather than from the comfort of the armchair.
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This is an episode which was released in July 2018. We are reposting it because it is a fitting reflection on the career of Andy Murray, who announced his imminent retirement from professional tennis on January 11 2019
Hugh MacDonald has been a journalist for 47 years but the most fulfilling day of his professional life came in the summer of 2013 when he watched Andy Murray win Wimbledon for the first time. Hugh had followed the Murray story for years, got to know the family and became the go-to Andy Murray reporter for media around the world. Around 6pm on July 7, he faced the task of distilling Murray’s achievement into a 1200 word news story for the front page of The Herald newspaper in Scotland. Hugh rose to the occasion and wrote a lucid, powerful and at times deeply emotional piece about the biggest moment in the history of Scottish sport. This is the story behind that article. Enjoy.
Read 'Murray, The History Man' http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13112754.Murray__the_history_man/
Jonathan Northcroft approached the World Cup in Russia this summer with a sense of trepidation. Little did he know that he would fall in love with the football and the country. In Deadlines and Darts with Dele, Jonathan offers a behind-the-scenes view of what it's like to be a frontline reporter at the biggest show on earth. In this episode, he talks to Neil BackPage about how his daily Facebook diary turned into a book; he talks England, access. match reporting, interviewing. If you listen to this podcast to hear the stories behind the stories, you're going to love this conversation.
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Chances are you came to Michael Calvin’s writing through his later books The Nowhere Men, Living on the Volcano or Hunger in Paradise. Well, before all that, there was Family, Mike’s first book in which he was given unlimited access to a season at Millwall FC. The book also has a fascinating back-story, with Mike having self-published the first edition which was then nominated for Football Book of the Year. Here we talk about how important access is to great sports writing and how he sets the scene for interviewees to bare their souls. Just a small note here… we also discuss Emma Hayes in this podcast. Emma is the current manager of Chelsea Women and has a chapter dedicated to her in Mike’s latest book State of Play. Enjoy
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Michael Calvin’s new book is called State of Play: Under the Skin of the Modern Game. And In it, he shines a light on the human stories of football. We hear from chairmen, journeymen, female coaches, performance coaches, rights campaigners and those who fight for the soul of the national game in the light of its rampant commercialisation. As always, you’ll get a strong sense of the themes of the book, but we also talk at length about the nature of sports writing and how the eloquent prose of Arthur Hopcraft, inspired the format of the book. Enjoy!
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Hugh MacDonald has been a journalist for 47 years but the most fulfilling day of his professional life came in the summer of 2013 when he watched Andy Murray win Wimbledon for the first time. Hugh had followed the Murray story for years, got to know the family and became the go-to Andy Murray reporter for media around the world. Around 6pm on July 7, he faced the task of distilling Murray’s achievement into a 1200 word news story for the front page of The Herald newspaper in Scotland. Hugh rose to the occasion and wrote a lucid, powerful and at times deeply emotional piece about the biggest moment in the history of Scottish sport. This is the story behind that article. Enjoy.
Read 'Murray, The History Man' http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13112754.Murray__the_history_man/
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If you only read one article during this year’s World Cup, make it Patrick Jennings’ extensive piece on Russian football legend Lev Yashin. The image of the flat-capped goalkeeper will be everywhere this summer as part of the branding for Russia 2018. And his story is an epic tale which Jennings tells in a gripping piece of long-form journalism on the BBC website.
Built around an incredible interview with Yashin’s widow, Valentina, in the Moscow apartment she used to share with her late husband, Jennings tells the story of a man who was forced to flee from the Nazis as a young boy and ended up becoming the only goalkeeper in the history of the sport to win the Ballon D’or. Yashin was the original sweeper keeper.
But it is the format of the article as much as the content which sparkles. Created by a team of more than a dozen BBC journalists, the article shows what is possible in digital journalism. Built using the visual storytelling platform Shorthand, the piece is fully interactive, with accompanying archive photographic and video footage and a scrolling timeline.
Enjoy
If you’re a fan of football biographies, chances are you’ll have read Ruy Castro’s 2004 biography of Garrincha. It is an astonishing, idiosyncratic tale of a man who overcomes physical disability to win the World Cup and become one of the most iconic Brazilian footballers of all time. It is a bonkers story of a man who lost his virginity to a goat and fathered enough children to fill a football team and a subs bench. Brazil-based journalist Andrew Downie translated Castro’s book into English for its UK publication in 2004. This is his insight into one of the craziest football books ever written
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Socrates was one of the most iconic footballers of the 20th century. tall and thin, with a thick black beard and talent to burn, he lit up Brazil at the 1982 and 86 World Cups. But the football was only part of the story - Socrates was also a qualified doctor and political activist who campaigned endlessly for social justice in Brazil. His was a remarkable story and Dr Socrates, Andrew Downie’s biography, is a remarkable book. Here's his conversation with Martin about it. Enjoy
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Henry Winter, chief football writer of The Times, talks about the experience of covering major tournaments as a journalist: from the press' relationship with the FA, the players who light up the interview room through to climbing trees in an attempt to glimpse England training sessions
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In '50 Years of Hurt', Henry Winter went in search of the answer to the biggest question in English international football: Why have England not won a tournament since 1966? Through interviews with participants from every World Cup, Winter explores themes like tactical conservatism, FA incompetence, press relations and the culture of fear which grips the players. There are shafts of optimism, however, for England fans ahead of this summer in Russia.
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In 2013, Graham book Spain: The Inside Story of La Roja's Historic Treble was released. Graham had behind-the-scenes access at all three tournaments and used his incredible insight to tell the story of the greatest achievement in the history of international football. This is Graham's conversation with Neil White, co-founder of BackPage who published the book and believes it is the best title his company have released.
To take advantage of a special offer to buy the book direct from BackPage, listen out for the offer code at the end of the show.
Enjoy
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In Football 2.0., Grant Wahl (Sports Illustrated) breaks down the technical and tactical revolution that has transformed football through interviews with one player in every key position on and off the pitch. Wahl sits down with world-class talents such as Manuel Neuer, Vincent Kompany, Xabi Alonso, Chicharito, Christian Pulisic, Roberto Martinez and Michael Zorc to analyse hours of game footage, gaining insights that only those at the top of the sport can offer. This is Martin's conversation with Grant.
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Archie Macpherson’s book 'Jock Stein: The Definitive Biography' was published in 2004 and updated four years ago. Built on a mountain of research and infused with Archie’s own knowledge through his decades-long professional relationship with Stein, this is by far the most complete view of Stein’s life that has ever been written. This is Martin's conversation with Archie
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In December 2017, Bleacher Report published James Montague's ground-breaking report from inside North Korea - the result of a journey over a decade in the making. His story brings together an Asian Cup qualifier, a nuclear bomb, an under-pressure manager, the world's largest stadium and a ballboy-based international incident. It's a trip.
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In 2010, journalist Nick Harris first produced an annual report called the Global Sports Salaries Survey, which compared athletes’ wages on a like-for-like basis from major sports around the world. In 2018, the report now covers all the major football leagues, NBA basketball, NFL, NHL, IPL cricket and more. Here Nick tells us how he pulls it all together thanks to a huge amount of expertise and an army of contacts around the world.
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Cycling journalist Richard Moore reflects on his critically-acclaimed book In Search of Robert Millar, a fascinating portrait of the famous Tour de France cyclist. It’s a book that combines biography with a real-life detective story
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Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl talks us through his 2012 profile piece about FC Barcelona. It was headlined ‘The World’s Team’ and for it, he was given unparalleled week-long access to the club’s new training facility, where he interviewed Xavi, Fabregas and Pique
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Dennis Bergkamp was a unique footballer, a player who inspired Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal to greatness in the nineties and noughties with an exquisite blend of technique, balletic grace and unforgettable moments. It was always going to take something special to encapsulate the Dutchman’s unique talents in book form. Written as a collaboration between David Winner, author of Brilliant Orange, and Dutch journalist Japp Visser, Stillness and Speed moves between hugely insightful interviews with Bergkamp and traditional biography.
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David Winner talks through his legendary exploration of Dutch football, Brilliant Orange. Published in 2000, it has become a classic of sports literature. Winner's book is both an idiosyncratic journey into the cultural and social forces which produced the greatest-ever generation of Dutch footballers - embodied in the legendary figure of Johan Cruyff - and a rollicking good football story.
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Sports Illustrated writer Ben Reiter talks through his 2014 cover story on the Houston Astros. His piece predicted that the Astros - then the worst team in baseball - would win the 2017 World Series. In November, he was at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, to see his prediction come true. This is the extraordinary story of perhaps the greatest long-shot in all of sportswriting.
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We're taking a short break for Christmas - full details here, as well as a preview of what's next from Between The Lines.And if you want to get us a present... nothing says Merry Christmas like a review on iTunes.
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Simon Kuper reports on sport and real life for the Financial Times, and is the author of several landmark football books. The first, Football Against The Enemy, made his name and won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award in 1994.
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Rory Smith spent 10 months building a story about the Manchester City midfielder İlkay Gündoğan's recovery from a serious knee injury. His feature ran in the New York Times earlier this year.
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Coming soon from BackPage: BETWEEN THE LINES, the stories behind great sportswriting.
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