Football Murals: A Celebration of Soccer's Greatest Street Art: Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Sports Book Awards 2023

WATERSTONES BEST BOOKS OF 2022 - SPORT

'This book is a work of art about football's works of art... Loved it.' - Kevin Day, broadcaster

'A beautiful showcase of such a distinctive part of the game's culture... impossible not to get lost in the book' - Miguel Delaney, The Independent

'Gorgeous to behold... Unmissable' - Danny Kelly, TalkSPORT radio presenter

'I absolutely love this book' - Jules Breach, football presenter

On high-rise buildings, street corners and stadium walls in countries around the world, eye-catching murals pay tribute to footballing greats. From Messi and Ronaldo to Rapinoe and Cruyff, these striking displays are remarkable testaments to the awe and affection fans feel for these football legends and cult heroes.

Join renowned football writer and broadcaster Andy Brassell as he explores this fascinating phenomenon. Offering a fresh, highly visual perspective on the global game, Football Murals is the first book to celebrate these towering works of art.

Beckenbauer and Cruyff, Rooney and Ronaldinho, Totti and Salah, Zlatan and Zidane - being honoured with a mural cements a player's place in a club's heritage and links them to the heart of the community. This richly illustrated book showcases the most impressive examples, explores their inspirational qualities and examines what they say about these icons and their sport.

Written and curated by respected football writer Andy Brassell, this ground-breaking book features more than 100 murals from around the world, capturing the scale, grandeur and wit of this powerful and popular art form. Through a series of short essays and extended captions, Andy shares the players' stories, discusses the cultural politics and explains just why these men and women have been immortalised in mural form.

Covering such diverse topics as Home Town Glory, Football Fame and The Cult of the Coach, Football Murals addresses the issues important to fans worldwide. It spans Marcus Rashford's inspirational mural in a Manchester suburb, the George Best tribute on the East Belfast estate where he was born, the 15-foot depiction of Megan Rapinoe in St Paul, Minnesota, and the Naples 'shrine' to Diego Maradona.

'I can't tell you how nice it is for players to see their face on a mural.' - Jermaine Jenas, The One Show

ISBN-13: 9781399402804

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Publication Date: 11-01-2022

Pages: 176

Product Dimensions: 7.85(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.70(d)

Andy Brassell is a writer and broadcaster for The Guardian, The Football Ramble and Talksport, and a regular voice on television for Sky Sports and BT Sport. He has covered several FIFA World Cups and European Championships for newspapers, radio and TV outlets and still loves to discover new football cultures, having been to matches in 26 different countries.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1: Hometown Glory
Chapter 2: Johan Cruyff
Chapter 3: Wayne Rooney
Chapter 4: The Good Fight
Chapter 5: Pelé
Chapter 6: Big Moment Players
Chapter 7: Cristiano Ronaldo
Chapter 8: Back to Life
Chapter 9: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Chapter 10: Ada Hegerberg
Chapter 11: Football Fame
Chapter 12: Paul Gascoigne
Chapter 13: Francesco Totti
Chapter 14: Fifty Years of Hurt
Chapter 15: Lionel Messi
Chapter 16: This Is My House
Chapter 17: Ronaldinho
Chapter 18: Soul of the Game
Chapter 19: Megan Rapinoe
Chapter 20: The Cult of the Coach
Chapter 21: Diego Maradona
Chapter 22: Mohamed Salah
Chapter 23: When Love Breaks Down
Chapter 24: Franz Beckenbauer
Chapter 25: Murals Memorial
Chapter 26: Lucy Bronze
Chapter 27: Cult Heroes
Chapter 26: Zinedine Zidane

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