Behind Closed Doors: Life, Laughs and Football

***Includes a new foreword by Gary Lineker about football in lockdown***

Shortlisted for The Telegraph Sports Book Awards

'Lineker is nearly as good a presenter as I was a footballer' DIEGO MARADONA
'Hilarious, almost as funny as me' ALAN SHEARER
'This is Lineker unleashed. As a non-football nut I didn't expect to enjoy it, but between laddish anecdotes are passages of sudden tenderness. . . Lineker opens up, dislodging memories and reflections, not just about football but his whole life.' THE TIMES
_______________________________________________________________
'Football is a simple game. 22 players chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end the Germans always win.'

This book is inspired by the stories Danny and I have shared with each other about what life in football is really like: in the dressing room, in the commentary box, on the pitch and - with the appropriate pixellation - in the showers afterwards.

What's it really like to play with Messi? I wouldn't know, but I have starred alongside him in an advert for Walkers crisps. And, well, his performance was world-class.

And what is a life in football really like? You won't learn much from the dull-as-dishwater post-match interviews - it's a world of secrets, superstitions, laughs and personalities, and let me tell you, half of it you won't believe.

I've looked back at my playing days, from England to Leicester, Everton to Barcelona, Tottenham to, er, Nagoya Grampus Eight, and shared the chaotic behind-the-scenes secrets of Match of the Day - and Danny has chipped in with stories from a lifetime following the game as a fan.

From Italia '90 to Leicester's Premier League fairytale, from yellow cards to World Cup trophies (I've never been awarded either), from Gascoigne to Maradona, you'll find it all here - everything you always wanted to know about football, but didn't realise that you did.

Inspired by the No.1 podcast Behind Closed Doors

1131424404
Behind Closed Doors: Life, Laughs and Football

***Includes a new foreword by Gary Lineker about football in lockdown***

Shortlisted for The Telegraph Sports Book Awards

'Lineker is nearly as good a presenter as I was a footballer' DIEGO MARADONA
'Hilarious, almost as funny as me' ALAN SHEARER
'This is Lineker unleashed. As a non-football nut I didn't expect to enjoy it, but between laddish anecdotes are passages of sudden tenderness. . . Lineker opens up, dislodging memories and reflections, not just about football but his whole life.' THE TIMES
_______________________________________________________________
'Football is a simple game. 22 players chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end the Germans always win.'

This book is inspired by the stories Danny and I have shared with each other about what life in football is really like: in the dressing room, in the commentary box, on the pitch and - with the appropriate pixellation - in the showers afterwards.

What's it really like to play with Messi? I wouldn't know, but I have starred alongside him in an advert for Walkers crisps. And, well, his performance was world-class.

And what is a life in football really like? You won't learn much from the dull-as-dishwater post-match interviews - it's a world of secrets, superstitions, laughs and personalities, and let me tell you, half of it you won't believe.

I've looked back at my playing days, from England to Leicester, Everton to Barcelona, Tottenham to, er, Nagoya Grampus Eight, and shared the chaotic behind-the-scenes secrets of Match of the Day - and Danny has chipped in with stories from a lifetime following the game as a fan.

From Italia '90 to Leicester's Premier League fairytale, from yellow cards to World Cup trophies (I've never been awarded either), from Gascoigne to Maradona, you'll find it all here - everything you always wanted to know about football, but didn't realise that you did.

Inspired by the No.1 podcast Behind Closed Doors

19.49 In Stock
Behind Closed Doors: Life, Laughs and Football

Behind Closed Doors: Life, Laughs and Football

Behind Closed Doors: Life, Laughs and Football

Behind Closed Doors: Life, Laughs and Football

eBook

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Overview

***Includes a new foreword by Gary Lineker about football in lockdown***

Shortlisted for The Telegraph Sports Book Awards

'Lineker is nearly as good a presenter as I was a footballer' DIEGO MARADONA
'Hilarious, almost as funny as me' ALAN SHEARER
'This is Lineker unleashed. As a non-football nut I didn't expect to enjoy it, but between laddish anecdotes are passages of sudden tenderness. . . Lineker opens up, dislodging memories and reflections, not just about football but his whole life.' THE TIMES
_______________________________________________________________
'Football is a simple game. 22 players chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end the Germans always win.'

This book is inspired by the stories Danny and I have shared with each other about what life in football is really like: in the dressing room, in the commentary box, on the pitch and - with the appropriate pixellation - in the showers afterwards.

What's it really like to play with Messi? I wouldn't know, but I have starred alongside him in an advert for Walkers crisps. And, well, his performance was world-class.

And what is a life in football really like? You won't learn much from the dull-as-dishwater post-match interviews - it's a world of secrets, superstitions, laughs and personalities, and let me tell you, half of it you won't believe.

I've looked back at my playing days, from England to Leicester, Everton to Barcelona, Tottenham to, er, Nagoya Grampus Eight, and shared the chaotic behind-the-scenes secrets of Match of the Day - and Danny has chipped in with stories from a lifetime following the game as a fan.

From Italia '90 to Leicester's Premier League fairytale, from yellow cards to World Cup trophies (I've never been awarded either), from Gascoigne to Maradona, you'll find it all here - everything you always wanted to know about football, but didn't realise that you did.

Inspired by the No.1 podcast Behind Closed Doors


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781473572775
Publisher: Random House
Publication date: 09/19/2019
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 368
File size: 11 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Gary Lineker (Author)
Gary Lineker OBE is a broadcaster and a former professional footballer. He holds England's record for goals in FIFA World Cup finals, with 10 scored. He has presented the flagship BBC football programme Match of the Day since the late 1990s. Follow Gary on Twitter @GaryLineker and on Instagram.

Danny Baker (Author)
Danny Baker is an author, comedy writer, journalist and Radio DJ. He is the author of the bestselling memoirs Going to Sea in a Sieve, Going Off Alarming and, most recently, Going on the Turn. He still lives in south-east London. Follow Danny on Twitter @prodnose

Table of Contents

Introduction: 'The teams are in the tunnel…' 1

Chapter 1 'And we're under way.' 15

Chapter 2 'If they can just keep it tight for the first 20 seconds…' 35

Chapter 3 'It looked like he was shaping up to have a crack there.' 55

Chapter 4 'Oh, that's schoolboy stuff, surely.' 65

Chapter 5 'He'll be disappointed with that.' 85

Chapter 6 'All square at the interval' 99

Chapter 7 'They simply seem to want it more at present.' 115

Chapter 8 'Ordinarily you'd be expecting him to bury that.' 137

Chapter 9 'That's not the cleanest of connections but it's somehow gone in.' 145

Chapter 10 'You have to say that's magnificent.' 159

Chapter 11 'They're looking the more likely at the moment.' 175

Chapter 12 'I'm not sure how much the keeper knew about it.' 201

Chapter 13 'It would have been easier to score from there.' 225

Chapter 14 'This game is by no means over.' 235

Chapter 15 'He's got to be doing better there, surely.' 255

Chapter 16 'The referee thought about blowing up.' 265

Chapter 17 'I'm not sure what he was thinking there.' 277

Chapter 18 'You've seen them given.' 287

Chapter 19 'You can't say they haven't given it everything.' 301

Chapter 20 'The referee has clearly seen enough.' 313

Appendix 337

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