Simon Hughes

By James Pearce, Oliver Kay, Simon Hughes and Other Award-Winning Writers of The Athletic As Liverpool ended their 30-year wait to be crowned champions of England, they were followed by their equivalent from the world of sports writing: a team of elite talents, assembled to leave all competition trailing in their wake. This is the story of Liverpool’s title win in the longest season, as told by the writers of The Athletic, with their blend of inside access and expert analysis; great ideas and beautiful writing. Articles include profiles of each of Liverpool’s title winners by their former youth team coaches; Oliver Kay watches Sadio Mane score against Manchester City in the company of the striker’s family, in his hometown in Senegal; James Pearce spends 90 minutes analysing Virgil van Dijk; plus there are exclusive interviews with Jurgen Klopp, and the club’s US owners. Read the stories behind a unique and historical season from a team of writers every bit as good as the footballers they were following.

Despite his consistency, his achievements and more-so, his visibility, he has never written an autobiography and a biography has never been written about him. He remains an enigmatic figure. We barely know how his teammates really feel about him and we do not know what he thinks of them. We do not really know about the world around him: how the events of the past decade in Egypt have impacted on his own life. We barely know what really motivates him. And we also know very little about where he is heading: whether a deal to join the exodus of high level European-based footballers in Saudi Arabia really interests him. This biography seeks to answer those questions by attempting to speak to the people who know him best through a mixture of on-record and off-record interviews. A definitive biography to remember.

The definitive biography of Liverpool legend and the most famous Egyptian footballer in the history of the sport, Mohamed Salah. Salah's achievements are, in many ways, unparalleled. A Champions League and Premier League winner, he is a two-time African Footballer of the Year who straddles two worlds. The first is the continent he comes from, as well as the Middle East. The second is Europe, where he has broken all sorts of goalscoring records at Liverpool, helping him to become the most identifiable Muslim player on the planet. And yet, despite his consistent success on the pitch, record-breaking, team victories and popular persona, little is known about the Liverpool forward, or the competing forces around him. That is, until now. Award-winning football journalist and author Simon Hughes expertly pieces together a fascinating portrait of this enigmatic football icon. From his relationships with his teammates to what motivates him; from how the events of the past decade in Egypt have impacted his life, to what's next in his career - Chasing Salah reveals all.

This is it. A guided missile leaves the hand of Jofra Archer and arrows towards you at 90mph. You must score two runs to win the World Cup. You miscue it and England triumph instead, a ground-breaking moment that captivates a global audience. Except you're not playing to 700 million people, you're actually at home, immersed in virtual reality. Technology is transforming sport, personalising fan experiences, and transforming sport's economics. Technology is also radically altering sporting performance, sharpening preparation, training and skills, and reinventing team tactics, as analysts drill down into the data revealing exactly where Jasprit Bumrah is going to bowl or where Jos Buttler is going to hit his next boundary. Technology's transformative impact has revolutionized the sports business, with a resulting increase in broadcast and digital media rights, enabling players like Virat Kohli or Ben Stokes to earn $2m for six weeks work. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been at the centre of cricket's reinvention. It has catapulted cricket into the global mainstream, spawning numerous imitators. It is one of only two professional sports leagues in the world, where all franchises are profitable. After only 12 years since launch: the IPL is valued at $6.3bn; accounts for over 30% of global cricket revenues; and over 60% of Indian sports revenues. What lessons can be learnt from its design and the rapid growth of its media rights? How it secures, develops and manages the world's best players? And how the IPL has dealt with governance, ownership and gambling challenges? But now cricket, along with all sports, has been rocked by coronavirus, with IPL season 13 postponed, and the English season decimated. How can the IPL inform cricket's evolution in a post Covid world? What are the imperatives for cricket's 'New Innings'? Award-winning cricket writer and broadcaster Simon Hughes - The Analyst - and technology entrepreneur Manoj Badale, lead owner of the Rajasthan Royals, one of the IPL's most forward-thinking franchises, dissect the global business of sport. They offer unique insights into the IPL's drivers and innovations and, with unprecedented access into dressing rooms and boardrooms, reveal lessons for the business of sport. An essential read for all those with a passion for cricket and an interest in the business of sport, this book is as innovative and ambitious as a Steve Smith century.

This is it. A guided missile leaves the hand of Jofra Archer and arrows towards you at 90mph. You must score two runs to win the World Cup. You miscue it and England triumph instead, a ground-breaking moment that captivates a global audience. Except you're not playing to 700 million people, you're actually at home, immersed in virtual reality. Technology is transforming sport, personalising fan experiences, and transforming sport's economics. Technology is also radically altering sporting performance, sharpening preparation, training and skills, and reinventing team tactics, as analysts drill down into the data revealing exactly where Jasprit Bumrah is going to bowl or where Jos Buttler is going to hit his next boundary. Technology's transformative impact has revolutionized the sports business, with a resulting increase in broadcast and digital media rights, enabling players like Virat Kohli or Ben Stokes to earn $2m for six weeks work. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been at the centre of cricket's reinvention. It has catapulted cricket into the global mainstream, spawning numerous imitators. It is one of only two professional sports leagues in the world, where all franchises are profitable. After only 12 years since launch: the IPL is valued at $6.3bn; accounts for over 30% of global cricket revenues; and over 60% of Indian sports revenues. What lessons can be learnt from its design and the rapid growth of its media rights? How it secures, develops and manages the world's best players? And how the IPL has dealt with governance, ownership and gambling challenges? But now cricket, along with all sports, has been rocked by coronavirus, with IPL season 13 postponed, and the English season decimated. How can the IPL inform cricket's evolution in a post Covid world? What are the imperatives for cricket's 'New Innings'? Award-winning cricket writer and broadcaster Simon Hughes - The Analyst - and technology entrepreneur Manoj Badale, lead owner of the Rajasthan Royals, one of the IPL's most forward-thinking franchises, dissect the global business of sport. They offer unique insights into the IPL's drivers and innovations and, with unprecedented access into dressing rooms and boardrooms, reveal lessons for the business of sport. An essential read for all those with a passion for cricket and an interest in the business of sport, this book is as innovative and ambitious as a Steve Smith century.

_________'WE ARE LIVERPOOL - THIS MEANS MORE.' JÜRGEN KLOPPAllez Allez Allez is the inside account of Liverpool FC during the Klopp era, including the 2018/19 campaign which saw the club compete in the most gripping Premier League title race in history and become Champions of Europe for the sixth time. Featuring access to management, players and staff, Allez Allez Allez explains how Liverpool have emerged from what Jürgen Klopp described as the “depression” of 2015 to achieve feats that have eluded an entire generation of supporters. Through original research and exclusive interviews, Simon Hughes takes readers into Melwood, the club’s training ground, and behind the dressing room door. He takes them to Chapel Street, where the club’s business is determined, and to America, where it is owned. He takes them into Anfield, where many of the most important moments are defined, and he takes them on to the pitches of the Premier League and the Champions League, as we revisit how Liverpool stormed their way to the top of the Premier League this season.

In the winter of 2016 Simon Hughes began a journey through English football's most successful region, meeting the players, the managers, the chairmen and owners that shape the mood of a changing time. From the Premier League to grassroots, in On the Brink, Hughes examines how the landscape of the game across the north west is shifting: how geography explains the way things are; how industry defines identity; how money threatens existence -- and what Brexit might mean for the future.

Following the success of Simon Hughes’ Red Machine and Men in White Suits, books which depicted Liverpool FC’s domination during the 1980s and its subsequent fall in the 1990s, Ring of Fire focuses on the 2000s and the primary characters who propelled Liverpool to the forefront of European football once again. With a foreword by Steven Gerrard, this is the third edition in a bestselling series based on revealing interviews with former players, coaches and managers. For Liverpool FC, entry into the 21st century began with modernisation and trophies under manager Gérard Houllier and development was then underpinned by improbable Champions League glory under Rafael Benítez. Yet that is only half of the story. The decade ended with the club being on the verge of administration after the shambolic reign of American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. In Ring of Fire, Hughes’ interviewees – including Jamie Carragher, Xabi Alonso and Michael Owen – take you through Melwood’s training ground gates and into the inner sanctum, the Liverpool dressing room. Each person delivers fascinating insights into the minds of the players, coaches and boardroom members as they talk frankly about exhilarating highs and excruciating lows, from winning cups in Cardiff and Istanbul to the political infighting that undermined a succession of managerial reigns. Ring of Fire tells the real stories: those never told before by the key players who lived through it all.

A revealing insight what it takes to become the perfect batsman, and how anyone can improve their own technique, helped by TV's The Analyst

Featuring some of the most colourful characters to have played for Liverpool Football Club during the 1990s, this book provides a rare insight into this fascinating era in Liverpool's long and illustrious history.

During the 1980s, Liverpool Football Club dominated English football, winning six league titles, two European Cups, two FA Cups and four League Cups. In Red Machine, Simon Hughes interviews some of the most colourful characters to have played for the club during that period. The resulting interviews, set against the historical backdrop of both the club and the city, provide a vivid portrait of life at Liverpool during an era when the club’s unparalleled on-pitch success often went hand in hand with a boozy social scene fraught with rows, fights and wind-ups. The players featured here include John Barnes, Bruce Grobbelaar, Howard Gayle, Michael Robinson, John Wark, Kevin Sheedy, Nigel Spackman, Steve Staunton, David Hodgson and Craig Johnston, as well as first-team coach Ronnie Moran. Their candid, ribald and sometimes scathing recollections provide an antidote to the media-coached, on-message interviews given by today’s players and combine to offer a unique insight to this exciting time in the club’s history.

Cricket defines Englishness like no other national pastime. This title presents the story of the mad characters who inhabit the game, the extraordinary lengths people go to watch and play it, and the tale of a national obsession.

The story continues from the award-winning sports classic, A LOT OF HARD YAKKAIn A LOT OF HARD YAKKA, Simon Hughes provided a remarkable insight into the way that county cricket worked, and the people who lived their life in that world. Now, in MORNING EVERYONE, he follows on by revealing what really goes on in cricket broadcasting and, from his unique viewpoint, assesses how the game is changing. As with his previous books, there are brilliant portraits of those he works with, from Richie Benaud and Geoff Boycott to Mike Atherton and Mark Nicholas. He shows how the life of a sportswriter is rarely as easy or as glamorous as it seems. As a former player himself, he has a fascinating insight into the current generation of stars, and highlights their achievements in the context of the battle for the Ashes - a true test of England's improvements in recent years. Funny, revealing and insightful, this is a book no cricket lover can be without.

Between 1980 and 1993, Simon Hughes was a regular on the county circuit, playing for Middlesex until 1991 before moving on to Durham at the end of his career. In that time, he played alongside some of the great characters in cricket: Mike Brearley, Mike Gatting, Phil Edmonds and Ian Botham. This is not an autobiography of a good county pro, but a look at the ups and downs, the lifestyle, the practical jokes and sheer hard yakka that make such a poorly paid, insecure job appeal to so many. Now a respected journalist and broadcaster, Simon Hughes has written a brilliant, amusing and wrily self-depracating book, packed with hilarious and embarrassing anecdotes about some of the greatest cricketers of the last 20 years.