READER, I have some strange dreams, as my poor wife's bruised shins will sadly attest. Often they involve football, hence her getting the odd, inadvertent, night-time kick.
To make soccer dreams, especially day-dreams, come true, however, I need only turn to Pitch Publishing.
My wife isn't that hard done-by anyway, of course; for her birthday this year we went to Brussels for the weekend. My mind, admittedly, turned to thoughts of Belgian football.
'I wish there were a good history of Belgian football', I dreamt… A quick Google later and up popped 'Golden', by James Kelly.
The sub-title, 'Why Belgian football is more than one generation' proved more accurate than the title. Belgium's so-called 'Golden generation' crashed and burned at this World Cup. Having fortuitously scraped past Canada, the Belgians lost 2-0 to Morocco, then couldn't beat Croatia, going out after a goal-less draw.
The eagle-eyed among you will have spotted that Belgium's group included two of this year's semi-finalists, the stage 'the Red Devils' reached in 2018. In this writer's opinion they were a better side then than the eventual winners France, but c'est la vie.
Kelly's book recalls how Belgium have regularly punched above their weight. My first awareness was them reaching the 1980 European Championships finals, with great players such as the bearded Eric Gerets, burly Jan Ceulemans, Frankie van der Elst, Rene Vandereycken, and goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff.
Augmented by Enzo Scifo – he of the 'foot like a traction engine – Belgium went on to qualify for six consecutive World Cups, and reached the 1986 World Cup semi-finals, before Diego Maradona did for them.
In this writer's opinion they were the best team at the 2018 World Cup, but were again defeated in the last four by the eventual champions, France.
Qatar was tournament too far for Belgium, but the likelihood is that they'll go on finding gold.
World Cups past and present are covered in superb detail by Pitch Publishing.
Going back to '66: The World Cup in real time', next is 'Brazil 1970: How the Greatest Team of All Time won the World Cup'.
I've previously written about 'Blood on the Crossbar' by Rhys Richards, about the 1978 Mondial in Argentina, and there's a book due about next year concerning Espana '82.
Pitch already has the story of 'Scotland at the World Cup Spain 1982' and 'In the Heat of the Midday Sun: the indelible story of the 1986 World Cup' is penned by Steven Scragg, who has already written superb histories of the European Cup, Uefa Cup, and Cup-Winners' Cup.
It may well be best to forget Italia '90 but there is 'USA 94: The World Cup that changed the game' and 'When Asia Welcomed the World Cup: The 2002 World Cup Revisited'.
Right up to date, Pitch has 'Qatar 2022: The tiny nation that dreamed big' – written in advance of the most recent tournament – and ?????
There are also two books about the hard luck stories are other world cups - 'The Nearly Men: the greatest teams never to win the World Cup' and 'The Great Uncrowned: Football's most celebrated losers' ; presumably the authors of these tomes would wish to be rated the second best of the two… Into that category must come '1982 Brazil: the Glorious Failure'.
Overviews of the global game's biggest tournament include 'Glory and Despair: The World Cup 1950-2018' and 'The Making of the Fifa World Cup'.
'No Longer Naïve: Africa's growing impact at the World Cup' has proved rather prescient: Morocco made the headlines, becoming the first African – and also first Arabian – team to reach the World Cup semi-finals. However, also for the first time ever, all five African participants won at least one match at the finals.
Pitch's array of books is absolutely astonishing, amazing.
There really is almost something for everyone.
This year alone it published books about, in no particular order, 'The Re-birth of Ajax Amsterdam', the life and career of Don Howe, 'An Alternative account of FC Barcelona in Europe', and 'A Footballing History of Uruguay' – get this, covering the period 1878 to 1918.
There's also the story of Everton legend 'Dixie' Dean's time at Sligo Rovers, 'In the Shadow of Benbulben', told delightfully by Paul Little.
You want more niche? How about 'Newcastle United, The Great Days, 1904 to 1911'?; or '51 Shirts: Heat of Midlothian, Moments in Time'?; or 'Qarabag: The team without a city and their quest to conquer Europe'?; 'From Kids to Champions: The History of the FA Youth Cup'?
There's a book about 'Leicester City's Greatest Ever Match', entitled 'Three goalkeepers and seven goals'; if you know, you know – and if you're a Fox, you'll want to know it all. Deeper still, 'Leicestershire's Forgotten Football Rivalry' (between Fosse and Luffs, but you knew that….)
There are books about Fulham, Sheffield United, Leeds United, West Ham United, even little-known Manchester United. For the serious masochists out there, turn to 'Goodison Memories'.
Aberdeen's Greatest Games? Jim Smith at Derby County? Brentford's first Premier League season? Coventry City under Mark Robins? Pitch Publishing has those all covered.
The year Stoke City nearly won the league. How Dundee almost won the European Cup (full title 'Brawls, Bribes, and Broken Dreams').
Some of these subjects may seem silly to many, but they will mean a lot to some. From my experience, Pitch's authors always produce the goods, often in labours of love.
It's not just soccer: cricket has a few books devoted to it – including the story of Scotland's international side; there's tennis too (a John Lloyd autobiography); cycling; East German athletics; women's rugby; and boxing.
ONE book sure to appeal to many Irish News readers is 'The Immortals (Two Nines and other Celtic stories)' by Philip Vine (Pitch Publishing, RRP £19.99).
Taking its title from Liverpool boss Bill Shankly's post-match comment to his Celtic counterpart 'Jock' Stein after becoming the first British club to win the European Cup, in Lisbon in 1967 - 'John, you're immortal now' – this book ranges widely over an array of heroic Bhoys.
Celtic famously won nine consecutive Scottish league titles in two different eras. The second nine-in-a-row really doesn't compare, with Rangers absent from the top flight for four of those seasons, and still re-building for several years after that. Their own fault, of course, self-inflicted wounds, but the fact remains that Celtic were dominating a weakened division.
However, the team that dominated Scotland from 1966 to 1974 inclusive was iconic, and up against a very strong Rangers.
In all, Vine lists '135 Celtic Immortals', from the club's founder Brother Walfrid, through its longest-serving manager Willie Maley. It may seem presumptuous to include no fewer than 14 current players, and present boss Ange Postecoglou, but perhaps they are on their way to a third nine-in-a-row.
The team that stopped Rangers making it 10 in the late Nineties is celebrated too, notably manager Wim Jansen and Henrik Larsson. Most of these names will be familiar to Celtic die-hards, but Vine writes with style and passion, matching the qualities of those he honours.
My wife knows I love her immensely. But if I could marry a publishing house…
