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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 spor...

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit backpagepress.substack.com

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...

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 Revolut...

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. SUBSCRIBE to BackPage mailing list Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit backpagepres...

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...

Screenwriter Neil Forsyth tells us why Ian Ridley's Floodlit Dreams is his all-time favourite sports book. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit backpagepress.substack.com

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 no...

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit backpa...

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! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in...

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 fu...

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 v...

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...

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit backpagepress.substack.com

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-Engli...

German football expert Raphael Honigstein tells us why David Remnick's King of the World is his all-time favourite sports book Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit backpagepress.substack.com

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 t...

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss th...

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 s...

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...

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...

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...

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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers...

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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. This is a public episode. I...

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 ou...