After The Final Whistle

Download or read book After the Final Whistle written by Stephen Cooper and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2015-08-03 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As Britain’s Empire went to war in August 1914, rugby players were the first to volunteer. They led from the front and paid a disproportionate price. In 1919, a grateful Mother Country hosted a rugby tournament: sevens teams at eight venues, playing 17 matches to declare a first ‘world champion’. There had never been an international team tournament like it. For the first time teams from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Britain and France were assembled in one place. Rugby held the first ever ‘World Cup’. It was a moment of triumph, a celebration of military victory, of Commonwealth and Allied unity, and of rugby values, moral and physical. In 2015 the tournament returns to England as the world remembers the Centenary of the Great War. Values of teamwork, respect, discipline were forged and tested in war – and enjoyment of rugby helped men through it. With a foreword by Jason Leonard, this is the story of rugby’s journey through the First World War to its first World Cup, and how those values endure today. 'After The Final Whistle' is shortlisted for the 2016 Cross Sports Book of the Year award.

Download or read book The Autobiography written by Henry Shefflin and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2015-09-24 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The long-awaited autobiography of the legendary hurler Henry Shefflin In an era when Kilkenny established itself as the dominant force in hurling, one man stood out from a remarkable group of players: Henry Shefflin. Now widely regarded as the greatest player of all time, Shefflin has more All-Stars, Hurler of the Year awards and All-Ireland medals than any other hurler. But beneath the surface image of calm efficiency and effortless genius, his hurling life has included its share of bitter disappointments, agonizing injuries and intense rivalries. Now, in what will be an essential read, Shefflin tells his own story. 'The greatest player of this, or perhaps any, generation' Sean Moran, Irish Times 'There is a compelling story in a young man's rise from the rural middle class of south Kilkenny to being one of our finest sportsmen. He became much more than a hurler ... This memoir is cast in its author's likeness, honest but tactful, direct without being brusque' Irish Examiner

Download or read book Ken McGrath written by Ken McGrath and published by Black & White Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2016-10-13 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ken McGrath is an icon in Waterford and beyond. He won three All-Star hurling awards and embodied the defiance and panache that re-established his county as a hurling superpower. And in a career marked with skill and bravery in equal measure, Ken McGrath has overcome serious injuries to produce match-winning performances. But a dazzling playing career is only half the story. In the firestorm of the downturn McGrath lost his sports shop. Then he was stricken with a brain haemorrhage and later, after months of uncertainty in hospital, he was diagnosed with a heart problem which necessitated life-saving surgery. And it is a measure of the esteem in which he’s held that one summer’s evening, at Walsh Park, almost ten thousand supporters attended a benefit game to show their appreciation for one of the greatest-ever hurlers. Hand On Heart tells the tales of the great rivalries with Cork and Kilkenny, championship wins with Mount Sion and the on-field controversies that had everyone talking. It’s also the extraordinary and inspiring story of how Ken McGrath overcame serious illness after an incredible fight for life. As both a sporting and a human story, Hand On Heart is a truly remarkable and uplifting read.

Download or read book Jamie Johnson 6: Final Whistle written by Dan Freedman and published by Scholastic UK. This book was released on 2013-11-07 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After near-victory in the World Cup, Jamie has landed his ultimate dream job. But when disaster strikes, are his days of football glory about to become a distant memory?

Download or read book Jose - Farewell to the King written by Harry Harris and published by Kings Road Publishing. This book was released on 2016-02-25 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘I stay until they want me not to stay. No club moves me from Chelsea until Chelsea wants me to move because I want to be where I am loved’ - JOSE MOURINHO, JANUARY 2014 Yet in December 2015, the love affair came to an incredible and stunning end. This book chronicles the entire remarkable story of Jose Mourinho and Chelsea, with a critical insight into how and why it ended so dramatically. Confrontational, passionate, full of chutzpah, Mourinho is a masterful tactician, and surely the best boss in the history of Chelsea. Yet for a second time the Emperor of the Bridge, Roman Abramovich, cast him aside. The reason? Having won the Premier League, the team’s defence of the title proved to be one of the most bizarre periods in the club’s history. In his first stint at Stamford Bridge the self-styled ‘Special One’ won two League titles back-to-back, the FA Cup and two League Cups, and included a still-unsurpassed Premier League points-tally record of 95 in the 2004-5 season. On returning ‘home’ after a six-year absence, Mourinho received a welcome from an army of Chelsea fans who loved him every bit as much as they used to. He rewarded their faith in some fashion, sweeping aside newly rich Manchester City to soar to a third League title (with three games to spare), as well as a third League Cup. Then came the biggest collapse of any defending title-holder. Why did it happen? Who was to blame? Was there a players’ rebellion? Who panicked behind the scenes, and why? How much was the row with the fi rst-team doctor, Eva Carneiro, at the heart of Mourinho’s second sacking from Chelsea? The answers lie in this fully revised, updated and expanded edition of Harry Harris’s biography. It brings Mourinho’s story right up to date, showing exactly why English football would be infinitely poorer without the colourful, commanding, and controversial presence of the ‘Special One’.

Download or read book This is the Life written by Ciarán Murphy and published by Random House. This book was released on 2023-09-21 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A provocative look at how grassroots GAA interacts with life in Ireland, from the wittiest Gaelic games pundit at work today The GAA is Ireland's largest civil society organisation, woven into the fabric of families and communities - and yet most books about Gaelic games focus on the greatest players and inter-county teams. This is the Life is a book about the 99%: a witty and provocative look at grassroots GAA from the most intelligent and interesting Gaelic games pundit at work today. Ciarán Murphy - of Second Captains and the Irish Times - has an unmatched feel for the timeless elements of this world and a finger on the pulse of change. He looks at the plight of rural clubs that are losing their players to the cities - and he does so not only as a journalist but as a footballer who made the same move himself. He writes about working as an assistant in the clothing shop owned by the family of Jarlath Fallon - both Ciarán's sporting hero and the local postman. And he looks a things we usually prefer not to talk about, like the role of social class in the GAA. This is the Life is a book about the places the GAA comes from, the places it can take a person, and theings that make a local club worth fighting for.

Download or read book The Grid written by Gretchen Bakke and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-07-11 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revelatory look at our national power grid--how it developed, its current flaws, and how it must be completely reimagined for our fast-approaching energy future. America's electrical grid, an engineering triumph of the twentieth century, is turning out to be a poor fit for the present. It's not just that the grid has grown old and is now in dire need of basic repair. Today, as we invest great hope in new energy sources--solar, wind, and other alternatives--the grid is what stands most firmly in the way of a brighter energy future. If we hope to realize this future, we need to reimagine the grid according to twenty-first-century values. It's a project which forces visionaries to work with bureaucrats, legislators with storm-flattened communities, moneymen with hippies, and the left with the right. And though it might not yet be obvious, this revolution is already well under way. Cultural anthropologist Gretchen Bakke unveils the many facets of America's energy infrastructure, its most dynamic moments and its most stable ones, and its essential role in personal and national life. The grid, she argues, is an essentially American artifact, one which developed with us: a product of bold expansion, the occasional foolhardy vision, some genius technologies, and constant improvisation. Most of all, her focus is on how Americans are changing the grid right now, sometimes with gumption and big dreams and sometimes with legislation or the brandishing of guns. The Grid tells--entertainingly, perceptively--the story of what has been called "the largest machine in the world": its fascinating history, its problematic present, and its potential role in a brighter, cleaner future.