Our last installment of The Footballer’s Guide to the Holidays features those last-minute gifts you need to save the holidays. Each will save you a trip to the mall, providing instant gratification after a few clicks. And they are good for all those buyers that are on a budget since every gift is under 15 bucks.
1. Football Manager Handheld 2015
The first selection is an obvious one, thanks to our friends at Sports Interactive and Sega. FMH 2015 is an absolute bargain and must-have at less than ten dollars ($9.99 U.S. to be exact). It will cure your Football Manager fix, providing you a full-featured experience on the go. We like to think of it as a simplified version of the PC/Mac edition, but one that is still very fulfilling and enjoyable.
It’s a great choice for beginners or hardcore fans alike; it literally has something for everyone. It’s realistic and demanding, enough to keep you busy for countless hours. Sports Interactive wouldn’t put their name on it if it wasn’t quality and this is simply one of the finest things I have ever seen on a mobile device or tablet.
We tested it on the Android platform and found it to be very responsive. The game itself was easy to navigate and was a whole lot of fun to put it simply. You can’t go wrong with this one as it is a quick and easy download on both Apple and Android devices. The lucky recipient of this gift will literally be on their way to building a football dynasty in a matter of minutes.
Now on to our all-time favorite reads, all available on Kindle…..
2. Red Dragons: The Story of Welsh Football
We take this pretty seriously now that we have over 160 reviews on the site. This is a book that we couldn’t forget as it was quality from cover to cover. Phil Stead did an incredible job capturing the true spirit of Welsh football from its origins to the modern game.
It’s hard to imagine Welsh football different than it is today. This sure seems to be a golden generation for the Red Dragons, particularly with the likes of Gareth Bale, Joe Allen, and Aaron Ramsey all starring for the national team. This in addition to the success of Welsh clubs at the higher levels of English football, particularly Swansea City and Cardiff City.
Red Dragons is a book built with incredible research and a masterful style with the end result being an immensely enjoyable read, our favorite title from 2012.
3. Distant Corners: American Soccer’s History of Missed Opportunities and Lost Causes
When David Wangerin tragically passed away in 2012, the American soccer scene lost its best historian and scholar. Both Distant Corners and its predecessor Soccer in a Football World were world-class, arguably the best titles on American soccer ever written.
This title shows America’s long history in the game, one that is not easily explained. American soccer is a rather complex animal, one with a long and varied history with influences from all over the world. Wangerin shows us that we should be proud of our soccer history and that the sports is really and truly an American game (and has been so for over 100 years).
The sad fact is that no one has risen to fill Wangerin’s spot in the soccer scholar elite, but maybe that just isn’t possible after all.
We also enjoyed Ian Thomson’s Summer Of ’67: Flower Power, Race Riots, Vietnam and the Greatest Soccer Final Played on American Soil, which describes perhaps the best summer in American soccer history. It was a time when America was the epicenter of everything soccer, even if it was for just a few months. This was before the rise and fall of the NASL and decades before the creation of MLS.
4. The United Tour of Manchester
This offering from Amberley Publishing is the Travel Channel of football books, offering a thorough journey through the Greater Manchester area. The stories and photographs are equally great, each offering a lot of reminiscing for the reader. It’s a great journey brought to you by Iain McCartney and Tom Clare with the former being one of the world’s foremost experts on Manchester United. Simply put, it must be good if such an expert is leading the way.
The United Tour of Manchester is available for less than ten dollars, which is a lot less than an actual trip across the pond. Right?
We hope that you enjoyed The Footballer’s Guide to the Holidays! We’ll have even more reviews of great football products in 2015.
