Hugh McIlvanney is a living legend in sports journalism. A regular winner of the UK Sports Writer of the Year Award, he is the only sportswriter to have been voted Journalist of the Year and in 2005 he was named as one of the top British journalists of the modern era.

This book represents the best of almost 40 years of excellence in football writing for The Scotsman, The Observer and the Sunday Times, including accounts of epic matches and profiles of managerial giants from Matt Busby and Bill Shankly to Jack Charlton, Terry Venables and Alex Ferguson. It provides essays on footballing greats such as Pelé, Best and Maradona, looks at disasters from Ibrox to Hillsborough and celebrates some of the most spectacular World Cup competitions.