Nowhere to Run
The ridiculous life of a semi-professional football club chairman
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Transworld Publishers Ltd
Published:10th Aug '23
Currently unavailable, our supplier has not provided us a restock date
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£10.99(9781804991701)
'A funny, heartwarming story, packed with memorable characters that you'll want to cheer all the way. Ave it!'
PETER KAY
‘This heart-warming, genuinely funny little book is just the thing to lift the spirits.'
DAILY MAIL
THE ULTIMATE FUNNY GIFT FOR FOOTBALL FANS
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On the second oldest football pitch in the world, Jonathan Sayer stands atop a beer crate to address the assembled fans of Ashton United FC. As his initial optimism begins to slip through his fingers, the new co-chairman and co-owner (alongside his dad) starts to realise the scale of the challenge ahead.
Battling to keep the club afloat, a record number of games without a win sees hope turn to despair as Jonathan contends with a mutiny from a group of octogenarian supporters, constant battles with the local council and a star striker who arrives on crutches despite somehow passing his medical.
As the on-pitch form continues to deteriorate and rifts appear between him and his father, Jonathan begins to make some increasingly desperate decisions: sinking his savings into an ever-spiralling wage bill, hiding in a freezing outdoor storage unit to avoid questions and even seriously contemplating bringing in a local priest to lift the 'Boxing Day Curse' by performing a late-night exorcism on the pitch.
Chronicling the euphoric highs and bitter disappointments of the less glamourous side of the beautiful game, Nowhere to Run is the hilarious, heart-warming tale of life in the hot seat of a non-league football club.
'Beautifully written and engaging... funny, warm and entertaining. And stupid. Really stupid. I loved it!'
MATT LUCAS
'Best captures the illogical romance of the sport. It’s about the soul of English football – something the Saudi Arabian league can’t emulate for all the money in the world.'
NEW STATESMAN
A funny, heartwarming story, packed with memorable characters that you'll want to cheer all the way. Ave it! * Peter Kay *
Beautifully written and engaging... funny, warm and entertaining. And stupid. Really stupid. I loved it! * MATT LUCAS *
Eat your heart out, Sheikh Mansour. * Michael Calvin *
Best thing I've read about Ashton and I was born there. * Justin Moorhouse *
Chronicles, in hilariously painful detail, [Jonathan's] first season in charge of Ashton. A proper fish-out-of-water tale. * Sunday Telegraph *
This heart-warming, genuinely funny little book is just the thing to lift the spirits. * Daily Mail *
Bills, bailiffs and players locked in car boots: the life of a non-League chairman. A funny book. -- Matt Dickinson * The Times *
A glorious chronicle of memorable highs, bitter disappointments and never-ending bills. * Mirror *
Great fun. * talkSPORT Hawksbee and Jacobs *
An entertaining romp about taking over and running an established Non-League club. * The Non-League Paper *
Hilarious. A fantastic read. * The Premier Non League Podcast *
The book best captures the illogical romance of the sport. This is a story about people and place, about unspoken words between a father and son, about tireless volunteers, Bovril at half-time, breeze-block terraces, and warm beer drunk under corrugated iron roofs. It's about the soul of English football - something the Saudi Arabian league can't emulate for all the money in the world. * New Statesman *
ISBN: 9781787636897
Dimensions: 240mm x 162mm x 26mm
Weight: 461g
256 pages