Arena Sport New Titles 2016

ARENA

SPORT

NEW TITLES 2016

www.arenasportbooks.co.uk

‘

Arena Sport was launched in June 2013. Since then, the list has grown to seventeen published titles, with a further eight due for publication in 2015. We have had a number of notable successes, particularly with the English language edition of Neymar Jr’s autobiography, Neymar: My Story, and official histories of two major rugby teams – Behind the Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions and Behind the Rose: Playing Rugby for England – as well as the official history of Gleneagles, Jewel in the Glen, which was published in advance of the 2014 Ryder Cup.

Working in conjunction with BackPage Press, one of the UK’s most exciting new sports publishers, we have published the bestselling Pep Confidential: The Inside Story of Pep Guardiola’s First Season at Bayern Munich and the biography of Chelsea and Spain superstar Diego Costa, Diego Costa: The Art of War. We have great plans to develop this successful partnership over the coming years.

’

All those at Arena Sport have a deep love of sport and sports publishing and are committed to growing a dynamic and exciting list that explores a gamut of global sports and their major stars written either by the protagonists themselves or by the very best writers in their field.

Peter Burns Sports Editor Arena Sport peter@birlinn.co.uk

ARENA SPORT West Newington House 10 Newington Road Edinburgh EH9 1QS Tel: +44 (0) 131 668 4371 Fax: +44 (0) 131 668 4466 info@birlinn.co.uk

PUBLICITY AND MARKETING DIRECTOR / DEPUTY MD Jan Rutherford jan.ppw@janrutherford.co.uk RIGHTS Maria White maria@booklink.co.uk Mobile: +44 7866713512

SALES DIRECTOR Laura Poynton laura@birlinn.co.uk SALES LIAISON MANAGER Vikki Reilly vikkir@birlinn.co.uk

SCOTLAND Seol Ltd West Newington House 10 Newington Road Edinburgh EH9 1QS Tel: +44 (0) 131 668 1456 Fax: +44 (0) 131 668 4466

ENGLAND AND WALES Compass IPSL GW Business Centre Great West House Great West Road Brentford, Middlesex TW8 9DF Tel: +44 (0) 208 996 5764 pat@compass-ips.london

IRELAND Brookside Publishing Services 16 Priory Hall Office Park Stillorgan Co. Dublin Ireland Phone (office): +353 (0)1 2784225 Phone (mobile): +353 86 225 2380

New Titles Behind the Thistle

Playing Rugby for Scotland David Barnes & Peter Burns with John Griffiths DAVID BARNES is a freelance journalist, covering rugby for various newspapers.

He is the co-author of Jim Renwick’s autobiography, Centre of Excellence, and of the bestselling Behind the Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions.

PETER BURNS is the editor for Arena Sport and the author of White Gold: England’s Journey to World Cup Glory and a contributor to Behind the Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions.

JOHN GRIFFITHS is Britain’s foremost rugby historian and author of numerous books on the subject, including Rugby’s Strangest Matches, Rugby’s Greatest Characters and British Lions, and has worked as consultant historian on Behind the Rose: Playing Rugby for England and Behind the Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions.

Featuring the thoughts of 175 players who have represented Scotland since the very first Test match in 1871, Behind the Thistle gives a unique insight into the drama and emotion of playing for Scotland in that most rarefied of environments – Test match rugby.

From the very first game all the way through to the present day, David Barnes, Peter Burns and John Griffiths delve into the heart of Scottish rugby as Scotland’s greatest players recount the ecstasy of victory and the despair of defeat, colouring their stories with humorous anecdotes and heartwarming memories.

Behind the Thistle provides inside access to nearly 150 years of private moments in the changing room, on tour, on the training ground, and during the tumultuous heat of battle itself, as well as the post-match antics. This is the story of what it is really like to play rugby for Scotland, revealing the sacrifices and joys experienced by those who have shed blood, sweat and tears in pursuit of glory in the navy blue jersey.

ISBN: 9781909715035 eBook: 9780857906014 Price: £14.99 Format: 234 x 156mm pbk Rights: World February 2016 400pp 3 x 16pp colour & b/w plates

Also Available

ISBN: 9781909715196 eBook: 9780857908162 Price: £25.00 Format: 234 x 156mm hbk Rights: World November 2014

ISBN: 9781909715127 eBook: 9780857905291 Price: £19.99 Format: 234 x 156mm hbk Rights: World September 2013

ISBN: 9781909715189 eBook: 9780857908445 Price: £19.99 Format: 234 x 156mm hbk Rights: World September 2015

1

New Titles Collision Course

The Olympic Tragedy of Mary Decker and Zola Budd Jason Henderson JASON HENDERSON began writing for Athletics Weekly in 1995 and has edited the magazine since 2001. Aged 45, he has covered four Olympics and written about athletics in The Sunday Times, Observer, Guardian, The Times and GQ. His passion for athletics was ignited as a teenager in the 1980s when he pestered his father to drive him from their home in Blackpool to track meetings as far afield as Cwmbran and Crystal Palace to watch Zola Budd’s early races in the UK.

Mary Decker’s clash with Zola Budd at the 1984 Los Angeles Games is one of the biggest and most controversial events in Olympic history. In a head-to-head that gripped the imagination of the world, the 3000 metres race pitted the experienced and glamourous world champion from the host nation against a prodigious, teenage waif from South Africa wearing a hastily-organised British flag on her vest and, memorably, no shoes on her feet.

Disastrously, a mid-race collision saw Decker tumble to the inside of the track after her legs tangled with Budd’s as the 18-year-old overtook the American in a battle for pole position. Distraught and unable to carry on, the tearful Decker watched in frustration as Maricica Puica of Romania stormed to gold while Budd, who was heavily booed by the partisan crowd in the closing stages, faded to seventh.

Using the famous Olympic moment as its focal point, Collision Course tells the story of two of the best-known and greatest athletes of alltime, analyses their place in history as pioneers of women’s sport, and lifts the lid on two lives that have been filled of sporting and political intrigue that, until now, has never been fully told.

2

ISBN: 9781909715363 eBook: 9780857909022 Price: £16.99 Format: 234 x 156mm hbk Rights: World All Languages June 2016 320pp 16pp colour plates

New Titles Behind the Ryder Cup The Players’ Stories

Peter Burns with Ed Hodge PETER BURNS is the editor for Arena Sport and the author of Behind the Thistle: Playing Rugby for Scotland, White Gold: England’s Journey to World Cup Glory and a contributor to Behind the Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions.

ED HODGE boasts 15 years’ experience in the sports media industry in Scotland across a variety of roles and is now PR & Media Executive for the Scottish Golf Union.

He is the author of Jewel in the Glen: Gleneagles, Golf and The Ryder Cup and Our Day in May: The Inside Story of St Johnstone FC’s First Major Trophy in 130 Years.

Enter the locker room: this is a history of the Ryder Cup like you have never experienced it before.

From the origin matches that preceded the first official transatlantic encounter between Britain and America at Worcester Country Club in 1927, all the way through to the fortieth instalment at Gleneagles in 2014, this is the complete history of the Ryder Cup – told by the men who have been there and done it.

With exhaustive research and exclusive new material garnered from interviews with players and captains from across the decades, Behind the Ryder Cup unveils the compelling truth of what it means to play in golf’s biggest match-play event, where greats of the game have crumbled under pressure while others have carved their names into sporting legend.

Also Available

ISBN: 9781909715080 eBook: 9780857906946 Price: £16.99 Format: 234 x 156mm hbk Rights: World November 2013

ISBN: 9781909715318 eBook: 9780857908858 Price: £20.00 Format: 234 x 156mm hbk Rights: World All Languages July 2016 480pp b/w & colour illustrations throughout

ISBN: 9781909715301 eBook: 9780857908599 Price: £9.99 Format: 234 x 156mm pbk Rights: World May 2015

3

New Titles Grand Prix: The Killer Years Extended interviews from the BBC Film John L. Matthews This is the story of when Grand Prix was out of control.

Mechanical failure, lethal track design, fire, and incompetence snuffed out dozens of eager young drivers, who had become almost expendable. It was the ‘60s and early ’70s and this waste of life was often televised for millions to see. With boycotts of the prestigious Belgian and German Grand Prix, drivers fought to get their voices heard but it would be a long and painful time before conditions changed.

Featuring many famous drivers, including three World Champions – Emerson Fittipaldi, Sir Jackie Stewart and John Surtees OBE – John L Matthews goes to the heart of these deadly years in the Grand Prix and tells the story in the words of the men who were there.

ISBN: 9781909715417 eBook: 9780857909053 Rights: World March 2016

Price: £8.99 Format: 198 x 129mm pbk 208pp

The Rise and Fall of the Secret Agent

Fully revised and updated edition of The Secret Agent: Inside the World of the Football Agent A completely revised and updated edition of the criticallyacclaimed The Secret Agent with 20,000 words of new material.

From mere coffee boy, to lowly scout, to multi-million pound wheeler dealer with the Premiership big guns and the cream of the Champions League, this book charts the Secret Agent’s fast and furious progress through the dressing rooms, board rooms and bedrooms of England’s top clubs. It doesn’t just lift the lid on the true face of professional football, it tears it off and hurls it across the room.

This is a no-holds-barred, jaw-dropping insight into the true power-brokers of the world game: the moneymen and dealmakers who grease the wheels – or, more accurately, the palms – that make the whole football machine tick..

4

ISBN: 9781909715431 eBook:9780857908155 Rights: World English Language June 2016

Price: £9.99 Format: 198 x 129mm pbk 304pp

Bestsellers Money

The Life and Fast Times of Floyd Mayweather Tris Dixon Floyd Mayweather Jr’s father was a boxer, as were his two uncles. His dad also dealt drugs and one day brought his work home with him, when he used his son as a human shield to stop a rival dealer from shooting him. The gunman instead shot his father in the leg, curtailing his own ring career.

Floyd Mayweather Jr has never married, has four children by two women, and is a habitual gambler. He is obsessed with money, almost as obsessed as he is about protecting his unbeaten record and his staggering aim to go 50 professional bouts without defeat. This is a goal that he achieved in late 2015, just shy of his 40th birthday, when he defeated Manny Pacquiao.

Tris Dixon explores his extraordinary life story in this searing, insightful and often brutal exposé of one of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen.

ISBN: 9781909715271 Price: £16.99 eBook: 9780857908438 Format: 234 x 156mm hbk Rights: World English Language 320pp November 2015

No Borders

Playing Rugby for Ireland Tom English Celebrated rugby writer Tom English embarks on a pilgrimage through the four provinces to reveal the fascinating and illuminating story of playing test rugby in the emerald green of Ireland – all the glory of victory, all the pain of defeat, and the craic behind the scenes. This is a searing portrait of the effects of politics and religion on Irish sport, a story of great schisms and volatile divisions, but also a story of profound unity, passionate friendships and the bonds of brotherhood.

Filled with exclusive new interview material with a host of Ireland rugby greats, No Borders unveils the compelling truth of what it means to play for Ireland in the heart of Dublin and around the world. This is the ultimate history of Irish rugby – told, definitively, by the men who have been there and done it.

ISBN: 9781909715189 eBook: 9780857908445 Rights: World September 2015

Price: £19.99 Format: 234 x 156mm hbk 352pp Illustrated throughout

5

ISBN: 9781909715110 eBook: 9780857901064 Price: £8.99 Format: 198 x 129mm pbk Rights: World June 2014

ISBN: 9781780271293 eBook: 9780857905321 Price: £7.99 Format: 198 x 129mm pbk Rights: World May 2013

ISBN: 9781909715134 eBook: 9780857906410 Price: £12.99 Format: 215 x 135mm pbk Rights: World September 2013

ISBN: 9781909715158 eBook: 9780857908032 Price: £12.99 Format: 215 x 177mm hbk Rights: World September 2014

ISBN: 9781909715196 eBook: 9780857908162 Price: £25.00 Format: 234 x 156mm hbk Rights: World November 2014

ISBN: 9781909715127 eBook: 9780857905291 Price: £19.99 Format: 234 x 156mm hbk Rights: World September 2013

ISBN: 9781909715097 eBook: 9780857906939 Price: £16.99 Format: 234 x 156mm hbk Rights: World English language November 2013

ISBN: 9781909715233 eBook: 9780857905697 Price: £25 Format: 250 x 246mm hbk Rights: World November 2014

ISBN: 9781909715165 eBook: 9780857908544 Price: £12.99 Format: 234 x 156mm pbk Rights: World English Language June 2014

ISBN: 9781909715202 eBook: 9780857908124 Price: £16.99 Format: 234 x 156mm hbk Rights: World English language May 2014

ISBN: 9781909715059 eBook: 9780857906403 Price: £12.99 Format: 215 x 135mm pbk Rights: World September 2013

ISBN: 9781909715066 eBook: 9780857906397 Price: £17.99 Format: 234 x 156mm hbk Rights: World August 2013

ISBN: 9781909715400 eBook: 9780857903266 Price: £12.99 Format: 234 x 156mm hbk Rights: World November 2015