Barça - The Year Of Living Gloriously

[scottish]

My new book should be available very soon.








Please DO all rush at once

[scottish]

My new book should be available very soon.








Please DO all rush at once

I still expect this book to be available very soon but there have been some changes regarding printing. Please follow THIS LINK to the correct sales outlet.

Prices will be:
Paperback
£11-95
€13-69
$18-76

E-Book
£4-95
€5-67
$7-77

Sterling prices will remain the same. Euro and USD may vary according to exchange rate fluctuations. Prices not including p&p

[scottish]

This is now AVAILABLE


There's a FREE sample chapter (pdf) HERE

[scottish]

Now available for Amazon Kindle

[killiegradge]

David

Just wondered what motivated you to write about Barca?Or is that too obvious?
How many matches did you get to go to?
Would you do it again for any other team?
Of course you should update the "Whos Who of Kilmarnock" if that was possible?

[scottish]

Answers as follows:

1.There has been surprisingly little written about Barcelona from a specifically English language perspective. There was Jimmy Burns's book of course but other than that not a great deal. Official club publications are often tri-lingual (Spanish, Catalan, English) but as a result there isn't a great deal of specifically English material. What I really want to write is an English language 'complete record' style book but that's a longer term project and at the moment I want to get my 'Forgotten Year' book finished before I even think about that.

2.Most but not all. Understandably, press space is at a premium for the biggest games and journalists writing match reports get priority over the likes of me. Of course I could (and did) attend matches as an ordinary punter but it is very difficult to write from a seat in the stands next to some mad mental local fan or, more usually, a tourist wanting to spend the 90 minutes taking photos of themselves and their family.

3.If the time and opportunity presented itself then I certainly wouldn't rule it out.

4.Richard Cairns and John Livingston have been working on that for some time though I don't know if they have a publication date set. As you'll know when the late Bill Donnachie compiled the original book over twenty years ago now research methods were unbelievably primitive compared to today so it isn't just a simple matter of adding details of players since 1989 for Richard and John but also of checking all the original entries and amending/introducing new information where possible.

[killiegradge]

Answers as follows:

1.There has been surprisingly little written about Barcelona from a specifically English language perspective. There was Jimmy Burns's book of course but other than that not a great deal. Official club publications are often tri-lingual (Spanish, Catalan, English) but as a result there isn't a great deal of specifically English material. What I really want to write is an English language 'complete record' style book but that's a longer term project and at the moment I want to get my 'Forgotten Year' book finished before I even think about that.

2.Most but not all. Understandably, press space is at a premium for the biggest games and journalists writing match reports get priority over the likes of me. Of course I could (and did) attend matches as an ordinary punter but it is very difficult to write from a seat in the stands next to some mad mental local fan or, more usually, a tourist wanting to spend the 90 minutes taking photos of themselves and their family.

3.If the time and opportunity presented itself then I certainly wouldn't rule it out.

4.Richard Cairns and John Livingston have been working on that for some time though I don't know if they have a publication date set. As you'll know when the late Bill Donnachie compiled the original book over twenty years ago now research methods were unbelievably primitive compared to today so it isn't just a simple matter of adding details of players since 1989 for Richard and John but also of checking all the original entries and amending/introducing new information where possible.

Many thanks for the reply.
I have experienced many football tourists on my regular trips to watch AC Milan at San Siro. We now have decent seats next to some real supporters which makes for a much more enjoyable experience.
Perhaps a book sponsoret by Ryanair or Easyjet would be good?
I will ask Richard today how the book is progressing. I think if I remember correctly there were copyright issues with Bill Donnachies widow?Of course the research methods used by Bill make his book an even more remarkable achievement.

[scottish]

Certainly in Barcelona it is better to buy tickets at the ground itself rather than through travel companies or even the tourist information office, which will sell a batch of tickets to tourists of assorted nationalities - something touched on here.

It would definitely make life a lot easier if airline or similar sponsorship could be achieved but their PR is not good at the best of times - Ryanair in particular - so I doubt if they'd be amenable. The problem in writing a 'sponsored' book is that he who pays the piper calls the tune.

I agree entirely re Bill Donnachie. No scotlandspeople site, no Litster disk and I don't know how much co-operation he got from Rugby Park which was less well staffed when he was writing. Mainstream made several dreadful errors with his book (see Page 161 for the worst) which Bill alerted them to at proof stage but which they failed to correct.

I don't know about copyright issues but after a two decades gap the time is definitely right for a new book.

[killiegradge]

I spoke with Richard Cairns today regarding the Whos Who. he is hoping to have it published in time for Christmas although he does say that may be a tad optimistic. It has been re researched and re written mainly due to a number of inaccuracies in the Bill Donachie book(whilst he admits it was a brilliant effort given the difficulties in research at that time).
It was being co written by Gordon Allison although unfortunately Gordon is not very well and suffering from Alzeimers.
It is likely to be printed by the programme printers (Fasprint??).
The only worrying comment from Richard was that the book would only be printed if we still had a club at the time!He did say that before KO though and not after.

[scottish]

Yes, I was aware of Gordon's illness. An awful condition at any time but to strike a man in his fifties is unbelievably cruel.

Fasprint did two of my Killie books and a terrific job at that.

Tell Richard to look on the bright side. If the club goes under at least he won't have to worry about updates or it ever being out of date.