Sporting Events

The English rugby team has been scrummaging its way around the rugby fields of the world since 1871.

James Stafford’s An Illustrated History of English Rugby takes you on a thrilling journey through a century and a half of glory, failure, mediocrity and brilliance. 

Mixing stats and facts with player profiles, match reports and social history, this book is perfect for hardcore and casual fans aged eight to 80. Packed with delightful illustrations from Raluca Moldovan, this follow up to Stafford’s best-selling An Illustrated History of Welsh Rugby will give readers a new appreciation of the stars of today and the pioneers of yesteryear.

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This is a complete history of the England rugby union team – told by the players themselves. Based on a combination of painstaking research into the early years of the England team through exclusive interviews with a vast array of Test match stars from before the Second World War to the present day, world-renowned rugby writers Stephen Jones and Nick Cain delve to the very heart of the English international rugby union experience, painting a unique and utterly compelling picture of the game in the only words that can truly do so: the players’ own. This is the definitive story of English Test match rugby – a story etched in blood, sweat and tears; a story of great joy and heart-breaking sorrow; a story of sacrifice, agony, endeavour and triumph.

Behind the Rose lifts the lid on what it is to play for England – the trials and tribulations behind the scenes, the glory, the drama and the honour on the field, and the heart-warming tales of friendship and humour off it.Absorbing and illuminating, this is a must-have for all supporters who have ever dreamed of walking the hallowed corridors of Twickenham as a Test match player, preparing themselves for battle in the changing rooms and then marching out to that field of dreams with the deafening roar of the crowd in their ears and the red rose emblazoned on their chest.

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‘Compendious . . . The book does have an underlying mission, which is to argue for sport to be taken seriously as an object of study. And it shows how deeply sport is embedded in culture’ – Sunday Times

‘Vamplew is as informative and comprehensive as one could want . . . An outstanding guide to [sports’] role in history.’ – David Papineau, Wall Street Journal

Games People Played is, surprisingly, the first global history of sport. Wray Vamplew shows how sport has been practised, experienced and made meaningful by players and fans, and assesses how sports have developed and diffused across the globe. He examines not only how sport is sociable and health-giving, but how economics has turned sport into a huge consumer industry. Sport’s dark side – its environmental impact, the use of performance-enhancing drugs, discrimination and match fixing – is explored in detail. Covering everything from curling to baseball, boxing to motor racing, this book, now in paperback, will appeal to anyone who plays, watches or enjoys sport.

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Simply The Best is the fascinating inside story of eight heady seasons when Wigan RLFC were undisputed kings of rugby league, going 43 consecutive Challenge Cup matches undefeated and winning a record eight Challenge Cup trophies in a row at Wembley. The secrets behind the signings of Martin Offiah, Frano Botica and Joe Lydon. The enigma that is Ellery Hanley. The emergence of rugby phenomenon Jason Robinson. The wit of master playmaker Andy Gregory. All are revealed, along with the fun, the egos, the fall-outs, the spectacular tries, the drinking, the sacking of head coach John Dorahy, the magic of John Monie and the local legend who is Shaun Edwards: the only man to play in all 43 of those cup games and whose feisty spirit personified a team of charisma and panache. Edwards lifted the first and last of those trophies as captain before the greatest rugby league cup run in history was derailed by a swirl of complacency and revenge. At its heart, Simply The Best is a story of hard men and extraordinary achievement.

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****SHORTLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2019 RUGBY BOOK OF THE YEAR****

In 1999 Ulster became the most unlikely European champions in rugby history. A squad that included builders, students and lorry drivers, mixed with a handful of players of international quality, overcame the odds and helped to unite a divided nation through the power of sport.

‘The Last Amateurs’ tells the story of how a team went, in just fourteen months, from a record-breaking 56-3 defeat to Wasps, to securing their place in Irish history as the first European champions from Ireland.

Based on interviews with all the key members of the squad – including David Humphreys, Mark McCall, Simon Mason, Andy Ward and Jonny Bell – the book focuses on the players, their varied backgrounds and how the team came together. It also highlights the very different nature of the game, which has become increasingly monetised and sanitised in the years since.

‘The Last Amateurs’ is a celebration of the 1999 victory, and of a campaign that, in the end, managed to bring together the whole island of Ireland – Protestants and Catholics; rugby die-hards and GAA converts. United for eighty minutes, they created one of the most passionate and vibrant scenes the Heineken Cup competition had ever seen, as David Humphreys, alongside the injured Mark McCall, fought through the throng of jubilant pitch invaders to lift the trophy and crown Ulster kings of Europe.

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