RUGBY YEARBOOK INCLUDES WORLD CUP REVIEW
The 24th edition of the Wooden Spoon Rugby World Yearbook 2020 tells the story of the tournament from Japan’s opening match against Russia to South Africa’s dominant performance against England in the final. The highlights are remembered in the words of some of the leading rugby journalists with pictures from the sport’s top photographers – Uruguay beating Fiji, Wales’s win over Australia, Japan delighting the home fans with wins over Ireland and Scotland and of course, England’s sensational semi-final win against the All Blacks. South Africa’s success, the performance of their team and the leadership of their captain Siya Kolisi are now written into the history books but RWC 2019 will also be remembered for the way in which the Japanese nation took rugby to its heart and gave both players and supporters the time of their life during six fantastic weeks of competition. Wooden Spoon Rugby World Yearbook 2020 is a colourful record of a memorable year of rugby that has been enjoyed by fans not only in Japan but in clubs, bars and sitting rooms around the world.
The new edition of England Players’ Records1872-2020 reference book looks like being up to date for a long time yet as football goes into shutdown to combat the corona virus. The contents includes international statistics for all the players who took part in England’s recent successful qualification for the European Championships which are now due to be held in June and July 2021. Archivist Graham Betts has compiled statistics on 1246 players including recent debutants Abraham, Mings, Mount and Tomori while saying goodbye to the likes of World Cup winner Martin Peters who died in December 2019. The £20 paperback is also available as an ebook and as a limited edition slipcased version, signed by George Cohen MBE with only 66 copies available at £66 each.
The History of the Rugby World Cup tells the complete story of the greatest rugby show on earth.
England’s dramatic last ball victory over New Zealand in the final of this year’s tournament this month and given a massive boost to our History of the Cricket World Cup book. Written by Indian-born Peter Murray the full-colour illustrated coffee-table book gives a complete history of the tournament since 1975 and is now to be updated for the Autumn to include England’s first win. Exclusively discounted copies can be pre-ordered via the www.cricshop.com web-site.
Travelling football fans will welcome the latest edition of Football Grounds – A Fans Guide 2019/20 which gives details of all the Premier League and Football League grounds across the country including best pubs, directions and travel options. Compiled by Duncan Adams, who has visited all 92 clubs, and with a picture of the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the cover, discounted copies can be ordered through this site.
Our Kickstarter campaign to finance the production of this vital new animal charity book is 100% funded and will now be published this October. The Last Dance tells the incredible story of how the combined efforts of animal charities set about bringing to an end the atrocious tradition of dancing bears on the streets of India. Copies can be pre-ordered through this web-site or donations can still be made through our Kickstarter page to help the charities continue their rehabilitation work – visit 
Ian Darler, head groundsman at Cambridge United’s Abbey Stadium for 40 years, looks back on an eventful career in his autobiography, Life’s a Pitch, published by G2 this summer. From an apprenticeship that kindled his love affair with the turf to welcoming the world’s biggest football club to his stadium, Ian has met every challenge head-on, and encountered some of the greatest names in the sport along the way. He’s won just about every award the green-keeping industry has to offer, managed his stadium through tempestuous and terrific times and dealt with as many life-and-death situations as some paramedics. While turning out the kind of surface players dream of, he’s rubbed shoulders with some of football’s funniest characters, crossed swords with the occasional manager and coped with catastrophes that would have floored a lesser mortal. But Ian also talks bravely about the life-threatening incident that plunged him into a very dark place, and sheds light on the reasons why he works tirelessly to raise money for good causes.Throughout the book, men who have come to value Ian’s skill and devotion pay tribute to a man who, besides showing peerless skill as a groundsman, has shouldered the burden of two other roles: those of stadium manager and matchday safety officer. With a foreword by England legend and former Cambridge United manager Roy MacFarland, the trade paperback is priced at £12.99.
Although severely autistic, it hasn’t stopped Freddie Ellison from writing a highly-acclaimed children’s book, Oliver Storm and The Great Disappearance. The £7.99 paperback was released this month in a fan fare of publicity, while G2 is launching an EBook version to tie in with World Autism Awareness Day this month which encourages Member States of the United Nations to take measures to raise awareness about people with Autism Spectrum Disorder throughout the world. Freddie is being seen as a bastion of what autistic people can achieve – writing his own children’s book – and will be appearing on Good Morning Britain on April 5th at 8am and Sky News on the 3rd at 4.45pm. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6787403/Boy-16-overcomes-autism-struggles-write-novel.html The EBook, priced at £4, can be ordered via https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=9781782815518&i=digital-text&ref=nb_sb_noss
