The Sports Bookshelf

Review Here are a couple of fun titles for the festive season, although neither deserves to be passed over as a mere Christmas frippery. At first glance, The A-Z of Football Hates could easily be dismissed as such, as one of those easy-read gift items that book shops like to group around the pay point in the hope of tempting impulse buys. In fact, while there is plenty of fun to be had in Richard Foster's eclectic collection of things that irritate him about the national game, the author dissects each by way of reasoned critique rather than unstructured rant or sepia-tinted rambling. The writing has a light touch and a sense of humour but there is research to back up the arguments, too. The Definitive Guide to Everything that is Rotten in the Beautiful Game, to give the full subtitle, is as broad in its scope as you would hope for from something claiming to be definitive. Subjects range from the trivial, such as haircuts, coloured boots and Mexican waves, to the rat

It has not been the worst of years for the sports section of the publishing business.  In the lead-in to Christmas, the autobiography of motorcycle racer, TV presenter and all-round speed freak Guy Martin is at around 10th in the list of general best sellers -- ahead of Russell Brand and John Cleese and keeping company with Jamie Oliver's latest must-have cook book -- and of the two sports blockbusters of 2014 Roy Keane has blown Kevin Pietersen out of the water to claim a place in the top 20. Away from the mega-sellers, though, turning a worthwhile profit from a sports book remains a tough challenge, regardless of the quality of the writing.  The big publishing houses have seldom been more cautious about investing in a sports title with many showing little interest in anything that doesn't shout 'guaranteed best seller'. Yet there is one company that remains a beacon of hope for sports authors aspiring or established. Pitch Publishing , the Worthing-based outfit e