A stand-out novel inspired by the incredible true stories of female football legends like Lily Parr and Alice Woods. They can take our ball, but they can never stop the game. Polly Nabb is no stranger to trouble. When her brother Joe is sent to serve in the trenches, all Polly wants is to kick a ball about and forget the war. Mam has other ideas, and makes her stay home to help with endless chores. But football is something Polly is prepared to fight for - it's her life! She's determined to do whatever it takes to fulfil her dream and show the world that football is not just for boys . . . The war years: a time of trailblazing female footballers, like the legendary Lily Parr, who played to sell-out crowds. Polly's dramatic wartime story celebrates those bold young players who changed attitudes to women on the pitch and salutes the unsung heroes on the Home Front too. 'Absolutely magnificent! A glorious tale of football, friendship, feminism and social history.' Emma Carroll 'A very entertaining and enjoyable read.' LoveReading4Schools 'A powerful story.' Sophie McKenzie 'A gripping read.' School Reading List

Through stunning infographics and high-quality illustrations, the world of soccer is brought to life. Full of facts and stats, players and personalities, this is the beautiful game as you have never seen it before. Whether it is uncovering the most goals scored in an international tournament, or comparing the left-foot of the world's best players, the intriguing and often surprising truths of soccer are uncovered. From the legend-makers Brazil and their world cup wins, the tallest and shortest players to have graced the game, to pitting the top players against each others, these striking and fun infographics put the game's most intriguing questions to the test. Who has scored more from the penalty spot, Ronaldo or Messi? Which goalie has the safest hands? Who has received the most red cards?

While kicking a ball through the dusty streets of his Brazilian hometown, young Edson Arantes do Nascimento was given the nickname Pelé so casually that no one remembers its meaning. Today, the name is famous worldwide as belonging to history's greatest soccer player. Here, in Pelé's own words, is his incredible life story: his five goals in the last two games of the 1958 World Cup at the tender age of 17, his glory years with his Brazilian club FC Santos, his role in four World Cup tournaments, his comeback as a member of the storied New York Cosmos, and his lifelong role as goodwill ambassador for the world's favorite sport. Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Every year many wrong decisions are made by Referees during football matches; as a result, teams are knocked out of Champions Leagues by fake goals – penalties are awarded to players who dive in the penalty area; offside goals are allowed and legitimate goals are ruled out as offside goals. Many nations miss out on World Cup qualifications because of red cards that were issued to their players for fouls the players had not committed; and in leagues all around the world, teams are relegated because of refereeing errors while teams that may have been relegated, remain in higher divisions. Sadly, there have been death threats made on Referees after video replays showed that they made mistakes which cost teams and nations valuable points, qualifications and trophies. And these death threats are not only irresponsible but criminal. But If Referees are humans and not angels as FIFA wants us to believe; do they need help, and can video technology be the answer? Should video replays be approved to help Referees avoid these monumental errors or should the game continue as it is without video technology or video replays? This book is one of the most unique books you ever read; rather than using words or phrases as titles of chapters as it is in almost every book you and I have read; the titles of chapters of this book are actually sentences; yes, each chapter title, is a sentence – they are sentences made by fictional commentators in four of the more popular football or soccer leagues in the world. Each title sentence covers a specific Referee decision in football. Chapter one is titled with a sentence that covers the award of a penalty to a player who dives in the penalty box. Chapter two has a sentence title that exemplifies a commentator’s reaction when a fine goal is disallowed, and chapter three’s sentence title, deals with the issue of an unwarranted second yellow card to a player whilst the title of chapter four, is: a sentence that shows a commentator’s lamentation when a player is unjustly sent off; and finally chapter five carries in its title, a sentence of a commentator describing the worst decision he has ever seen in three decades of football commentary while calling for football authorities to consider the introduction of video replays to aid Referees.

For years, the clich?s of the football world have been used as everyday boardroom language, with phrases such as 'what's the score?' and 'we're playing the long game' becoming commonplace. Business and the Beautiful Game cleverly applies the analogy of football to the world of business and in doing so compares and contrasts the key elements in the world of commerce to the parellels of the beautiful game. This unique book uses signposts founded in football folklore to help the reader absorb as much information as possible. For example, 'Tactics' replaces the customary 'Summary' signpost to emphasise the key points whilst maintaining the football theme. Chapter headings draw on essential components of the beautiful game that can be equally well applied to management, for example 'Captaincy' represents 'Middle Management'. This clever and non-linear structure allows readers to dip in and out of the sections they want to focus on. Combining the vital elements of wit and wisdom, this book makes useful observations without taking the business world too seriously. It's an entertaining read for anyone wanting a fresh outlook on the world of business.

You and beauty. What choices would you make? If you were made an offer to become one of the most beautiful people in the world but you would never be able to have a sexual orgasm, would you accept or reject this offer? If God asked you to become ugly for the rest of your life in exchange for eternal life in heaven, would you accept God’s offer? Would you give up your beauty if this was the only way to save your child’s life? When a beautiful and a much less attractive person have sex, is the less attractive person more obligated to sexually please and satisfy their more beautiful partner? Should a man ask a woman who dyes her gray hair to let him see her without it dyed so he can see how old she looks before he becomes sexually or romantically involved with her? If given the choice between being an unattractive, straight person or a beautiful gay person all of your adult life, which would you choose? Would you stay or move out of your neighborhood if a whole lot of unattractive people moved in?

This edited book focuses on strategic aspects of innovation in the context of resilience during and after a crisis. It investigates the strategies that firms utilize in order to cope with change especially in the competitive global marketplace. The book contends that, by design, entrepreneurship is strategic and innovative in every decision and action of a business. The goal of this book is to focus on the innovation and resilience behind these strategies in order to understand the business motivations. In particular, it focuses on the uncertainties initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights the growing research and practice experiences of resilient entrepreneurial businesses and innovations that continued to be stable and successful. The book thus extends current research on strategic entrepreneurship by integrating it with the field of resilience. This will help to bridge the gap between practice and theory with regard to strategic entrepreneurship. Furthermore, it enables an effective advancement of strategic entrepreneurship research in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Did I only dream about Archie Gemmill scoring one of the greatest goals ever in beating Holland 3-2 in the 1978 World Cup? Did Jim Baxter really play 'keepie uppie' and torment the life out of the weary World Cup winners England in 1967? Were Celtic really the first British team to win the European Cup? Have we obsessives become untethered from reality? Are we hanging on to a world real or imaginary, where football dominated our lives to such an extent that it 'was more than a game', indeed 'more important than life itself'? Has my natural childhood football environment and each of its overlapping parts – cultural, religious, identity, class, political, intellectual, psychological, sociological, philosophical and, sadly, tribal – created the conditions for distorted and highly selective lapses of memory and reality? I don't think so. In this personal and thought-provoking book, former footballer and First Minister Henry McLeish examines his own and his country's dysfunctional relationship with football. Read this book and rethink your own relationship with the beautiful game in the country that took it to the world.