THE FIFTY: FASCINATING REFERENCE POINT FOR FOOTBALL

Pitch Publishing is a fantastic imprint.
They do all the great Got, Not Got series
and plenty of other retro sports titles.

James Brown, The Late Tackle, talkSPORT

Pitch Publishing show the way for enterprising
sports book publishers and remains a beacon
of hope for sports authors aspiring or established.

The Sports Bookshelf.com

Pitch Publishing, an outfit whose "pitch perfect"
commissioning of boxing material stands
as a rebuke to more established houses

Boxing Monthly

Pitch capture the real spirit of sport with entertaining
and clever ideas. They work out what the aficionado
would want to read, then deliver it with great verve.

Paul Hayward, The Daily Telegraph

Pitch have enabled me to write in the ways I enjoy most.
Their production support is superb, delivering eye-catching
designs, attentive proof-reading, energetic marketing and helpful advice.

Tim Quelch, Good Old Sussex by the Sea, Orient to the Emirates, Underdog!

Pitch are willing to back out-of-the-blue and innovative
ideas and turn them into viable, entertaining books.
They do so with great presentation and editorial flair.

Justin Parkinson, Then Came Massacre

Pitch saw the potential in my story, used their expertise
to polish it, published it and helped inspire thousands
around the world to get into the sport of triathlon.

Andy Holgate, Can’t Swim, Can’t Ride, Can’t Run & Can't Sleep, Can't Train, Can't Stop

The process of working with Pitch to produce Picking up the Threads
was enjoyable and rewarding, with the final edition surpassing
expectations and becoming a resounding success.

John Chandler, Picking up the Threads

Pitch will take a chance on books that other publishers won't
and realise that interest in football extends beyond the
Premier League and the top 20 countries in the FIFA rankings.

Steve Menary, Outcasts!

Pitch have the vision to look beyond the obvious,
seeking out interesting ideas and subjects and
matching them with the right target audience.

David Tossell, Tony Greig, The Great English Final, Grovel!, Natural

Pitch have been an absolute joy to work with,
contributing their passion, expertise, knowledge
and experience to help produce a brilliant book.

Sam Pilger, Ashes Match of My Life

Pitch took our original concept and further enhanced it,
using their knowledge, experience and expertise, and helped
make Got, Not Got one of the football books of the year for 2011.

Derek Hammond, Got, Not Got series of books

Pitch bought into the concept of development through football,
channeling profits and proceeds from Eleven into helping
some of the most disadvantaged young people in the world.

Steve Fleming, Eleven

In the highly competitive world of sport publishing,
Pitch have consistently demonstrated the happy
knack of spotting, nurturing and promoting winners.

Neil Dunkin, Anfield of Dreams

13 Nov

THE FIFTY: FASCINATING REFERENCE POINT FOR FOOTBALL

The Fifty by Jon Driscoll has been getting rave reviews, and none better than TalkSPORT presenter Adrian Durham.

The Drive Time host labelled his work: "Thought provoking, opinionated, and full of facts. A fascinating historical reference point for football."

The book, which published last Monday, has also featured on Arsenal video podcast Raw Reactions and audio podcast Outside Write, with Jon lining up plenty of media appearances to promote his excellent new book.

The Fifty tells the story of football through its best and most influential players, from the 19th century to the modern day.

Most of the 50 are household names - Pele, Charlton, Maradona, Jimmy Hill, Matthews, Best, Zidane and Messi - and those who aren't certainly deserve to be.

You'll read about football's first black superstar Jose Andrade, a 1930 World Cup winner with Uruguay who died in poverty.

There's Lily Parr, a Woodbine-smoking behemoth of the women's game who is more famous now than when she died.

Then there's Robbie Rogers, the second male footballer in Britain to come out as gay. Though Rogers wasn't a great player, his story will restore some faith after Justin Fashanu's appalling experiences as a gay footballer in the 1980s.

Similarly, Jean-Marc Bosman made an indelible mark, not on the pitch but through the courts, changing the way footballers are treated forever.

It's not about the stats, tactics or managers - this is the players' story, from war heroes and match-fixers to superstars and an African president.

As for the author, fans will likely recognise Jon's voice from the television or radio airwaves, he is a football commentator as well as writer and journalist.

He commentates on English and European matches for Sky Sports, the EFL and UEFA. Previously he has worked for BBC Five Live's Sports Report and Match of the Day, and was one of the founding reporters and producers at TalkSport Radio.

He also writes for When Saturday Comes and Football Espana and presents the La Liga Weekly podcast.

JD is a @talksport original from 2000. Great guy, and I've been looking through my copy of this book, it's such an education. Thought provoking, opinionated, and full of facts. A fascinating historical reference point for football. Great work @DriscollFC https://t.co/inH1KkVo8W
— Adrian Durham (@talkSPORTDrive) October 19, 2020