He was soon red carded for a two-footed tackle.
Christmas (and the holiday season as a whole) will soon be upon us, and you may be looking for presents for loved ones who are football/soccer fans. I thought I would do my best to point out a few items and sites that might be able to help you out, and for you to contribute your ideas and sites in comments.
So, to start with, let’s talk about jerseys/kits. To purchase these items, there are a literal ton of sites to use as these are extremely popular items. Some of the sites that are most well-known are:
Bear in mind that a lot of these online shops have some conditions in that you must order by a certain date to have your items shipped by Christmas. Some items will simply not be available before Christmas because of early demand, and right now, those are the national team kits because of the recent World Cup draw and upcoming World Cup.
As opposed to actual kits, there are those who also like to wear tee shirts either representing their favorite club or slagging off someone elses. To that end, I can offer you the following links:
- Objectivo
- Iffyton (a UK site)
- Jack the Lad
- Who Are Ya?
I’m not going to link to sites that sell boots, because mostly, you can get good boots at any sporting goods store or outlet store out there. Suffice it to say, they are everywhere.
The person you are buying for may enjoy reading books about the game, and for that, I can make the following recommendations (all Amazon links):
- The Miracle of Castel di Sangro – by Joe McGinniss. Tells the story of a small Italian village and their team’s rise to Serie B. An amazing and oftentimes funny story.
- Fever Pitch – by Nick Hornby. A recognized classic that tells the tale of the author growing up with British football.
- Bloody Confused – by Chuck Culpepper. An American sportswriter with no real knowledge of the fanaticism associated with club-level football spends a year following Portsmouth.
- The Beckham Experiment – by Grant Wahl. A step-by-step retelling of the journey of David Beckham from Madrid to Los Angeles.
- The Damned United – by David Peace. A largely auto-biographical piece surrounding the life of noted British manager Brian Clough as he built his career around leading Derby County out of obscurity, and a disastrous 44 day run as manager of Leeds United. Also recommended is Clough’s handwritten bio.
- The Fix – by Declan Hill. True accounts of match-fixing all over the world.
- Shit Ground, No Fans – by Jack Bremner. Ever wondered what they were singing at English football matches? Find out.
- How Soccer Explains The World – by Franklin Foer. A de facto primer on how soccer/football defines people around the world.
So, now you’ve bought a nice book or two, how about a movie to go along with them? There are not a lot of serious footy films out there, sadly. Here are a few I can recommend, though (all Amazon links).
- Green Street Hooligans – An American becomes immersed in an English football “firm” and ultimately learns some lessons. A fine movie but earned it’s R rating.
- Victory – Allied POW’s play their German captors, and you can probably guess the ending. Pele (!) is in it, though.
- The Miracle Match – Originally titled “The Game of their Lives”, a story of the American win over heavily favored England in the 1950 World Cup. Particularly poignant given this year’s draw.
- Dare to Dream – An HBO documentary about the 1999 US Women’s World Cup team that won it all.
- Goal! The Dream Begins – The first of a trilogy that shows a young man’s rise to the top ranks of English football.
And if you and your intended giftee have a good sense of humor, there’s always:
- Shaolin Soccer – The name alone should get you to buy it, but if you must know, good shaolin monks take on Team Evil in a battle for world supremacy. Yep.
Sadly, while it enjoyed a limited theatrical release in the US, the film version of The Damned United has not been released yet on DVD here in the States. When it becomes available, I highly urge you to pick it up, it’s really quite good.
In terms of video games, I would say there are two that are most preferred by serious gamers in terms of gameplay (all Amazon links):
There’s also Football Manager 2010, but it’s only available as a PC game. It involves what you would think, the player holds the role of club or national team manager and must deal with the day-to-day duties of that position. Quite good fun, though.
So that’s it for now. Put your recommendations or sites that I didn’t mention in comments and perhaps we can help a few lost souls out. Cheers and Happy Holidays!
And of course, Victory is Simmons approved….
I’d also reccomend subside sports for shirts, I’ve never ordered from them but they’ve got some good deals on older stuff. Also toffs.com was having a HUGE sale on a lot of stuff, a lot of nice stuff was about $20-30 but sadly the shipping from across the pond for a single shirt would have made it not worth it.
“That is my boy – Santiago!”
Goal was a pretty good movie, but the other two were utter crap
In the last six months or so I’ve read four or five soccer books; some are good, some are bad. The ones I’d recommend:
* Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Soccer – This is a great book; it goes into not only an explanation of the theory behind Total Football, but also the culture of the Dutch and how Total Football fed into it. If you ever wondered what World War II, land reclamation, and airport architecture had to do with soccer, this is the book for you (it’s incredibly interesting, I promise).
* Inverting the Pyramid – This one’s a little dry at times, but that’s probably to be expected from a comprehensive history of tactics and formations. If you’re wondering why Brazil’s 4-2-3-1 is completely different from Europe’s 4-2-3-1 – and why that’s the case – than this is the book for you. If your husband/boyfriend is always droning on about how Manchester United’s 4-4-2 isn’t really a 4-4-2 at all, this is the book for him (if your girlfriend/wife is doing this, then you need to buy her something far better than a book).
* Soccernomics – The easiest review (and probably the most accurate) is that this is like Moneyball light for soccer. I found myself slightly frustrated that certain topics (transfer market efficiency, the relationship of population and income to national team success, etc.) weren’t explored in depth a little more, but when a book leaves you wanting that’s probably a good thing. BONUS: this explains (before the draw was even done) why England will probably crap out in the World Cup.