The Totally Football Book

From the team behind the award-winning Totally Football Show, part of The Athletic and one of the world's leading football podcasts.

---

The Totally Football Book will feature the best writing from the Totally Football Show regulars, who by happy coincidence also happen to be among the finest football journalists around, and will be the definitive account of where football is at.

Containing a series of essays looking at the state of the game, with the combination of irreverence and analysis that everyone will know from the podcast and lots more besides.

Carl Anka will consider the shadow that Covid-19 still casts over the game, and asks what asterisks should be placed against the seasons impacted by the pandemic.

Daniel Storey looks at the war in Ukraine through the prism of football, thinking about the game's place in the wider world and how, even though such astonishing events should mean football doesn't matter, it still really does.

Sasha Goryunov takes a look at the astonishing rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester City, Tom Williams writes about the unique relationship between Gareth Bale and Wales, Elias Burke considers the work that Wayne Rooney has done under extraordinary circumstances at Derby, Katie Whyatt looks at Ella Toone and Lauren Hemp, two of the finest players in the women's game, Maher Mezahi profiles Aliou Cisse after he led Senegal to Africa Cup of Nations glory and much, much more.

There will also be a day-by-day account of the key events of the 2021/22 season, from the traditional curtain-raiser of the Community Shield right through to the Champions League final, with everything from transfers, fights, sackings, arguments...and plenty of actual football too in between.

And finally, of course, the quiz. The Inter Totally Cup crowned a new champion this year, and with the sort of trivia that has stumped even the podcast's finest brains, plus a set of teasers about the season just gone, you can test your knowledge against ours.