Ian Macleay

Joe Cole, a talented product of the famous West Ham youth system, was hailed as a child prodigy by no less than Harry Redknapp. He made his first-team debut for the club at the age of 17—and his dedication to the Hammers saw him receive the captain's armband in his early 20s. Meanwhile a call-up to the England senior team marked his England debut at the tender age of 19. A versatile young playmaker, a series of solid performances in the claret and blue made him a valuable fixture at the East London club. But the lure of a move across town to Stamford Bridge proved too much to resist and in 2003 he donned a Chelsea shirt. Fortune has not always been in Cole's favor—in particular meeting tough competition for his position at Chelsea—and expectations, raised at an early age, have sometimes been hard to meet, but the attacking midfielder has continually produced a number of fine cameos which only serve to point the way to future achievement for club and country. Yet while he has worked hard to stay level-headed, his maturity off the pitch has not prevented his involvement in some colourful incidents in recent years. Taking it all in his stride he is set to become a major figure at the top of English football. This is the ultimate biography of the Hammers and Blues' enigmatic dangerman.

The Biography of Joe Cole

Cole Play

Brian Mears

Terry Venables

In the blistering high summer of 2003, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich acquired Chelsea Football Club. It was a sensational event that sent shock waves reverberating around the global village that is celebrity football in the twenty-first century. Chelsea, the institution, was transformed overnight into arguably the most powerful club in the world by virtue of the vast fortune bestowed upon them by their benefactor. This was an amazing twist to a story that started almost a century before on a piece of wasteground in west London. The genesis of Chelsea, founded in 1905, was pioneered by the Mears family, who would remain at the helm for more than two-thirds of that century. Brian Mears was a particularly significant figure in his role as chairman throughout the colourful period from the end of the swinging '60s until the early 1980s. In this follow-up to the seminal Chelsea: Football Under the Blue Flag, Mears and Macleay recount the events that have engulfed London's most glamorous club over the years. Its exciting major players, including Hughie Gallacher, Roy Bentley, Jimmy Greaves, Peter Osgood, Alan Hudson, Kerry Dixon, Dennis Wise, Gianfranco Zola and Frank Lampard, have become creatures of myth. Meanwhile, managers such as Tommy Docherty, Dave Sexton, Glenn Hoddle, Ruud Gullit, Gianluca Vialli, Claudio Ranieri and Jos Mourinho have proved to be some of the most flamboyant and controversial in the history of the game. Chelsea: The 100-Year History is peopled with unforgettable characters like the peerless Terry Venables and the late Matthew Harding. It is an embodiment of Mears' own passion for the club as he traces some of the most important matches and crises in its sometimes tragic trajectory from glory to impoverishment and back again to a glorious 100th season.

The 100-Year History

Chelsea

In the blistering high summer of 2003, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich acquired Chelsea Football Club. It was a sensational event that sent shockwaves reverberating around the global village that is celebrity football in the twenty-first century.Chelsea, the institution, was transformed overnight into arguably the most powerful club in the world by virtue of the vast fortune bestowed upon them by their benefactor. This was an amazing twist to a story that started almost a century before on a piece of wasteground in west London. The genesis of Chelsea, founded in 1905, was pioneered by the Mears family, whose dynasty was to remain at the helm for more than two-thirds of that century. Brian Mears was a particularly significant figure in his role as chairman throughout the colourful period from the end of the swinging '60s until the early 1980s. In this follow-up to the seminal Chelsea: Football Under the Blue Flag, Mears and Macleay recount the events that have engulfed London's most glamorous club over the years. Its exciting major players, including Hughie Gallacher, Roy Bentley, Jimmy Greaves, Peter Osgood, Alan Hudson, Kerry Dixon , Dennis Wise, Gianfranco Zola and Juan Sebastian Veron, have become creatures of myth. Meanwhile, managers such as Tommy Docherty, Dave Sexton, Glen Hoddle, Ruud Gullit, Claudio Ranieri and Gianluca Vialli have proved to be some of the most flamboyant and controversial in the history of the game.

A 100-Year History

The story of Malcolm McLaren is the story of England in the last half century. Expelled from a string of art colleges, he met and fell in love with designer Vivienne Westwood. They became the Bonnie and Clyde of punk as they set out to turn the fashion world upside down with their Kings Road boutique SEX and its eye-popping creations.It was also the birthplace of the Sex Pistols and in 26 short months blew the music business apart. McLaren masterminded it all: discovering lead singer John Lydon, achieving a No 1 single without airplay and outraging a nation with 'God Save the Queen'. The Pistols imploded in a horror story of heroin, murder and suicide. A beleaguered Malcolm went into self-imposed exile in Paris as years of lawsuits commenced. The rift was never healed and this book examines the complex relationship between the two which was the hub of the group. Malcolm's own musical career was no less amazing. His 1983 album Duck Rock mixed African music with hip-hop and was responsible for bringing the fusion to a wider audience in the UK. Other collaborations included working with such diverse talents as guitar hero Jeff Beck and the legendary Francoise Hardy. In later years he even ran for Mayor of London, funded by Alan McGee - former Oasis supremo.

Malcolm McLaren - The Biography: The Sex Pistols, the anarchy, the art, the genius - the whole amazing legacy

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is an Old Trafford legend. After three injury-ravaged years, he blazed back to reignite his career and that of his club, Manchester United. His fantastic goals have thrown out a challenge to the Abramovich empire which had emerged in his absence and risen to dominate the Premiership, challenging Man United's position as the world's greatest club. Famous for his youthful looks and uncanny ability to score in the dying minutes of important games, often coming on as a 'super-sub', he's one of football's most cerebral and naturally gifted strikers.His last-gasp winner in injury time against Barcelona in 1999's Champions League final helped secure the crowning glory of Man Utd's glorious Treble. Plagued by a knee injury, Solskjaer has nonetheless earned sixty caps for Norway, and continues to put them away to deadly effect for his club, who never tire of singing 'You Are My Solskjaer' whether he's on the pitch or not. And he's committed his future to Old Trafford with the prospect of coaching duties after 2008, where his knowledge of the game, skill and attitude can continue to benefit his adopted home.In this informative and insightful book, sports writer Ian MacLeay charts the highs and lows of The Baby Faced Assassin's career to provide an in-depth look at both the man and the striker who looks set to go down in history alongside Denis Law and Jimmy Greaves. It is a must-read for any sports fan.

The Baby Faced Assasin - The Biography of Manchester United's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Wayne Rooney, England's record goal scorer, is one of the most feared and respected strikers to have graced the Premier League in the last decade. He is certainly its most famous icon, appearing on the front pages of the newspapers nearly as often as on the back. Wayne started his glittering career as a teenage wonder at Everton, the club he had staunchly supported as a boy. A self-confessed and fiercely passionate blue-blood, Rooney was raised in Croxteth, a product of the rough district just outside the shadow of Goodison Park. After a white-hot start, the teenager joined regional rivals, Manchester United, in a seismic transfer and, in his deeply successful time at Old Trafford, won sixteen major honors, played in three World Cups, married his childhood sweetheart, and began a young family, throwing off his reputation as the gifted "wild-child" of English football. Yet, in the summer of 2017, the prodigal son returned to his first club, providing Evertonians with a sense of pride and football fans everywhere with a classic narrative. His warm reception made it clear that Rooney still has a special place in the hearts of Toffees fans, and the saga embodies the pride and passion that has propelled the Premier League to become the most exciting--and profitable--in the world. Told by veteran football writer Ian MacLeay, this is the definitive story of Rooney's explosive, emotive, and turbulent return to Everton Football Club, and the historic season which followed.

Ian Macleay

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