IF ONLY – AN ALTERNATIVE HISTORY OF 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

04 Apr

IF ONLY – AN ALTERNATIVE HISTORY OF FOOTBALL

Imagine a world in which Scotland win the first-ever World Cup, where Derby County are champions of Europe and 1966 isn't the only year that England win anything.

Simon Turner’s If Only boldly turns football history on its head.

What was the greatest sporting clash of the 20th century? Ali-Frazier? McEnroe-Borg? How about Clough vs. Cruyff, when Derby County met Ajax in the 1973 European Cup final?
Ramsey’s Double; why the first nation to win both the World Cup and European Championship really should have been England
The greatest clash between England and Scotland: Bannockburn, 1314? Wembley, 1967? Or Rome, 1984 when Dundee United met Liverpool in the European Cup final?
Forget 1966; the first of the home nations to win the World Cup should have been Scotland. If Only tells how that incredible triumph could have come 36 years earlier
The greatest overachievers of all time? Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest? Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester City? If Only explains how it could have been Jim McLean’s Dundee United
England vs Argentina 1990; If Only reveals how England could have avenged the Hand of God in the most bitter World Cup final of all time
Should Leeds United have won the European Cup in 1975? Probably. Could Leeds really have won the Champions League in 2001? Certainly!

If Only: An Alternative History of the Beautiful Game is a fiercely original counterfactual history of football. It is often tempting to believe in the grand sweep of history; to conclude that the triumphs of football's greatest teams were simply inevitable. The truth, however, is that history can turn on what appear, at first glance, to be infinitesimally small events. Behind all those triumphs lie the countless disappointments of teams that were denied glory by a cruel bounce, the width of a crossbar or a dubious refereeing decision. Challenging the perception that the outcome of great clashes could never have been any different to what they were, If Only reflects on what our football history could have been, what it might have been and, in some cases, what it probably should have been.

If Only makes an enthralling journey along the paths that fate forgot. Featuring breathless depictions of the greatest games never played, it will delight the dreamer in every football fan.

It’s out now. Or possibly tomorrow if you live in a parallel universe.

Click here for more information, or to read a sample from If Only.