Sport & Games

1923: THE MYSTERY OF LOT 212 AND A TOUR DE FRANCE OBSESSION

by Ned Boulting

read by Ned Boulting

running time 10hrs 16mins

In the autumn of 2020 Ned Boulting (ITV head cycling commentator and Tour de France obsessive) bought a length of Pathe news film from a London auction house. All he knew was it was film from the Tour de France, a long time ago. Once restored it became clear it was a short sequence of shots from stage 4 of the 1923 Tour de France. No longer than 2.5 minutes long, it featured half a dozen sequences, including a lone rider crossing a bridge. Ned set about learning everything he could about the sequence - studying each frame, face and building - until he had squeezed the meaning from it. It sets him off in fascinating directions, encompassing travelogue, history, mystery story - to explain, to go deeper into this moment in time, captured on his little film. Join him as he explores the history of cycling and France just five years after WWI - meeting characters like Henri Pélissier, who won the Tour that year but who would within the decade be shot dead by his lover using the same pistol with which his wife had killed herself. And Theophile Beeckman - the lone rider on the bridge.

5000-1: THE LEICESTER CITY STORY

by Rob Tanner

read by Leighton Pugh

running time 7hrs 30mins

The inside story of Leicester City’s triumph on winning the Premier League in May 2016, to ecstatic celebrations in the city and around the world. The team, under Claudio Ranieri’s inspired leadership, became the most unlikely champions in football history.

AFTER EXTRA TIME AND PENALTIES

by Mike Ingham

read by Mike Ingham

running time 7hrs 30mins

BBC Football correspondent, Mike Ingham, MBE, shares a candid, comprehensive, and sometimes, controversial account of how the world of broadcasting and football changed beyond recognition throughout his career. He recalls England's campaigns in tournaments over the last half century with a detailed and eyewitness account of what the atmosphere was really like over the years behind the scenes in the England camp.

BAGHDAD FC: IRAQ'S FOOTBALL STORY (X Rated)

by Simon Freeman

read by Bob Rollett

running time 10hrs 20mins

This is an account of how the game of football turned ugly in Saddam's Iraq. A tale of human strengths, failings and resilience. Saddam's crazed and evil eldest son emerges as a villain of demonic proportions. If he could treat national heroes this grotesquely what hope was there for the ordinary Iraqi? X rated, contains graphic violence.

CALLING THE SHOTS: THE CAPTAIN'S STORY

by Michael Vaughan

read by Richard Worland

running time 5hrs 38mins

England cricket captain Michael Vaughan delivers an account of his two years at the helm. He focuses on leadership, his approach to captaincy and his decision-making and man management strategies. He also includes a full analysis of the 2005 Ashes series.

THE DAMNED UTD (X Rated)

by David Peace

read by Bob Rollett

running time 12hrs 44mins

Controversial football manager Brian Clough, is on his way to take over at the country's most successful, and most reviled, football club: Leeds United. The battle he faces there will make or break the club - or him. This novel tells the story of a world characterised by fear of failure and hunger for success set in the bleak heart of the 1970s. X rated, contains offensive language.

ENGLAND: THE BIOGRAPHY: THE STORY OF BRITISH CRICKET 1877-2018

by Simon Wilde

read by Jeremy Neville

running time 16hrs

It is 140 years since England first played Test match cricket and, for much of that time, it has struggled to perform to the best of its capabilities. It was only in the 1990s that Team England began to receive the best possible support from an ever-increasing backroom team. As England play their 1000th Test, this is an insight into the ups and downs of their story.

THE FINAL INNINGS

by Christopher Sandford

read by Fred Parker

running time 12hrs

The declaration of war against Germany in 1939 brought an end to the Golden Age of English cricket. Using unpublished letters, diaries and memoirs, Christopher Sandford recreates that last summer. Few English cricket teams began their first post-war season without holding memorial ceremonies for the men they had lost: He pays homage not only to these men, but to the lost innocence, heroism and human endurance of the age.

GET HER OFF THE PITCH!

by Lynne Truss

read by Lynne Truss

running time 8hrs

Lynne Truss spent four years as sports writer for The Times and here she gives us a perceptive and very funny insight on being a woman in a traditionally male-dominated world.

THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD CUP

by Brian Glanville

read by Bob Wilson

running time 5hrs

Brian Glanville's dramatic history of the world's most famous football tournament has become the most authoritative guide to the World Cup. Since the very first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930, his classic account is a vivid celebration of the great players and legendary matches in the competition - as well as a bold attack on those who have mismanaged the 'beautiful game'.

ILLUMINATED BY WATER: NATURE, MEMORY AND THE DELIGHTS OF A FISHING LIFE

by Malachy Tallack

read by Malachy Tallack

running time 8hrs 30mins

Travel-writer, novelist and singer-songwriter Malachy Tallack has been passionate about fishing since he was young. Growing up in Shetland, with its myriad lochs, he and his brother would roam the island in search of trout, and in so doing discovered a sense of freedom, of wonder and an abiding passion. Illuminated by Water is Malachy's personal attempt to understand that freedom and to trace the origins and sources of that sense of wonder. He shares the appeal of fishing, its intense joys and frustrations, the steadying effect it has both at water's edge and in the memory, and the contemplation of nature and landscape that comes with being an angler.

JOG ON: HOW RUNNING SAVED MY LIFE

by Bella Mackie

read by Bella Mackie

running time 6hrs 30mins

Divorced and struggling with deep-rooted mental health problems, Bella Mackie could barely find the strength to get off the sofa, let alone piece her life back together. Until one day she pulled on a pair of trainers and went for a run. Before she knew it, her mood was lifting for the first time in years. Her motivational story will encourage you to say ‘jog on’ to your problems and get your life back on track – no matter how small those first steps may be.

KEN JONES: BOOTS AND SPIKES

by Steve Lewis

read by John Evans

running time 11hrs

Ken Jones was a former British Lions, Wales and Newport wing as well as a sprinter good enough to win an Olympic silver medal. He was the Welsh sprint champion for seven consecutive years, using that pace on the rugby field to score 146 tries in 293 games for Newport, captaining the side in 1950–51 and 1953–54.

LANTERNE ROUGE: THE LAST MAN IN THE TOUR DE FRANCE

by Max Leonard

read by Ben Seymour

running time 10hrs 15mins

If you complete a bike race of over 3,000 kilometres in the slowest time, should you be branded the loser? Lanterne Rouge flips the Tour de France on its head and examines the stories of the riders who don’t win the trophy, and forces us to re-examine the meaning of success, failure and the very nature of sport.

MORE BLOOD, SWEAT AND BEERS: WORLD CUP RUGBY TALES

by Lawrence Dallaglio

read by Mike Duffin

running time 8hrs 30mins

World Cup-winning rugby legend Lawrence Dallaglio shares his favourite stories from his time at International rugby's greatest tournament. With razor-sharp wit and good humour he lets the reader behind the closed doors of the tournament, to see what happens on and off the pitch when the cameras aren't looking.

NEVER LEAVE A MAN BEHIND: AROUND THE FALKLANDS AND ROWING ACROSS THE PACIFIC

by Mick Dawson

read by Edward Peel

running time 9hrs

Mick Dawson tells the story of kayaking around the Falkland Islands with friend and fellow Royal Marines veteran Steve Grenham, who was struggling to cope with the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and the extraordinary tale of his 2,500-mile voyage in a rowing boat with his friend and former Royal Marine Commando Steve 'Sparky' Sparkes, who was not only a rowing novice, but also blind. Sparky and Mick succeeded in rowing across the finish line after a truly epic voyage of over 2,500 miles from Monterey Bay in California to Waikiki, Hawaii. They'd hoped to break the record for a two-man rowboat and finish in less than fifty-five days, but a hurricane interfered with their plans. It took them eighty-two days, sixteen hours and fifty-four minutes to complete the race, but it was an even greater achievement for that, and Sparky became the first visually impaired person to row across the Pacific. The race with Sparky was the second expedition of an organisation Mick had set up a few years earlier, The Cockleshell Endeavour, designed to help another former Royal Marine and friend, Steve Grenham, by kayaking with him around the Falklands, where both former commandos served during the 1982 conflict with Argentina.

THE OLYMPICS' STRANGEST MOMENTS

by Geoff Tibballs

read by Roger Stephens

running time 8hrs 30mins

To mark the 2012 Olympics in London, this book recounts the bizarre, controversial, inept, heroic and plain unlucky moments from the first modern games in 1896 to the glories of Beijing, 2008.

PASSING THE TORCH: SPORTSWOMEN WHO INSPIRE

by Mary Peters (editor)

read by Kay Morrison

running time 6hrs 30mins

Former pentathlete, Lady Mary Peters, has inspired a generation of athletes, ensuring her passion for sport has passed down to young people for many years to come. She initiated this series of interviews with sportswomen across a variety of disciplines. It gives a lively insight into their initial motivation, the highs and lows of competing, the physical and mental benefits of exercise and the camaraderie of female sport.

QUOTE....UNQUOTE

by Nigel Rees

read by Miscellaneous

running time 9hrs

Ever since 1976, Quote... Unquote chairman Nigel Rees has quizzed a host of well-known personalities on the origins of popular sayings, both familiar and obscure, and encouraged them to contribute their own quotes, anecdotes and catchphrases. But - to paraphrase Chaucer - all good things must come to an end, and with Series 57, the long-running panel game takes its final bow.

RUN BRITAIN

by Nicholas Butter

read by Nicholas Butter

running time 9hrs 56mins

In the spring of 2021 as the UK's latest pandemic lockdowns were lifted Nick Butter set out from the Eden Project to become the fastest person to cover ever mile of Britain's mainland coastline on foot. Battling the most extreme winds Britain had seen in 100 years days of torrential rain and the unrelenting hills of Western Scotland and Cornwall Nick suffered two broken bones and countless injuries whilst taking on two marathons a day every day for 100 days. Covering an extraordinary 5250 miles running for over 12 hours a day struggling to take in the 8000 daily calories required to fuel his body Nick battled sleep deprivation and extreme weight loss as he pushed his body and mind to their limit. Supported by close friends and family Nick experienced spiralling lows and euphoric highs. As he traversed footpaths country lanes and busy A roads he passed through over two thousand coastal communities buoyed along by supporters cheering from windows balconies passing cars and pavements by school children and fellow runners and by the stunning sights and sounds of the British coast. Run Britain is Nick's account of his extraordinary adventure.

SAY THE WORD

by Frank Delaney

read by Miscellaneous

running time 2hrs 44mins

Frank Delaney's language based panel quiz game series revolves around the English language. This upbeat, fun word battle sees a host of well-known contributors battling to Say the Word first. The series is filmed in front of a live audience at a wide range of literary festivals in the UK and live in the BBC Studios. In each episode the contestants move through five varied quiz rounds, from creating new words derived from a known writers work, guessing the origins of words, guessing the spelling of hard English words, too untangling the dramatic riddles to find the connecting syllables. In the round Loose Change the contestants look at words that have changed meaning. Can they guess the old definition and come up with the true new meaning? The finale is the definitive round Say The Word where famous passages from famous literature works are read out with words missing. Will the contestants succeed in guessing the words, the novel and the author?

THANKS, JOHNNERS

by Jonathan Agnew

read by Jonathan Agnew

running time 7hrs 54mins

Jonathan Agnew, known to his legions of Test Match Special fans as 'Aggers', has at long last written a warm and witty personal tribute to his late colleague Brian Johnston, universally known as 'Johnners'. With an introduction by Stephen Fry.

UNBROKEN: MY STORY OF SURVIVAL FROM 7/7 BOMBINGS TO PARALYMPIC SUCCESS

by Martine Wright

read by Ann Stutz

running time 8hrs

Martine Wright lost both of her legs in the 7/7 bomb attacks. Not only did she survive her horrific injuries but she went on to play in Great Britain's seated volleyball team at the Paralympics, 2012. Martine continues to change the lives of those around her as a charity fundraiser and inspirational speaker.

VILLAGE CRICKET

by Tim Heald

read by Bob Rollett

running time 8hrs 15mins

At an annual cricket dinner, Tim Heald found himself wondering about cricket as a defining feature of English village life. To explore his thesis he travelled from Cornwall to Lancashire, from Kent to Sussex and even to Lords. He pored over Wisden, and even came out of retirement to play again.

WATFORD FOREVER: HOW GRAHAM TAYLOR AND ELTON JOHN SAVED A FOOTBALL CLUB, A TOWN AND EACH OTHER

by Elton John & John Preston

read by Alex Jennings

running time 8hrs 13mins

Britain in the 1970s was beset by unrest and unemployment, as inflation soared, fuel was scarce, and hooliganism was on the rise. And for Watford FC, the outlook was even gloomier. Rundown and rat-infested, Watford were an ailing side with holes in their kit and barely enough fans to fill a stand. Of the 92 clubs in the Football League, spread across four divisions, Watford were in 92nd place. Meanwhile, Elton John was the most successful rockstar in the world. With six-inch platforms, spangled jumpsuits, and peroxide hair, he was glamorous, gay, and seemingly a world away from the council house in Pinner where he had supported Watford FC as a child. Many assumed he would move to America. Instead, he bought the football club. Watford Forever is the remarkable story of Elton John's ownership of Watford FC and its transformational journey to the top of the First Division under iconic manager Graham Taylor. Perhaps most remarkably, four of the same players who had been written off as has-beens went with them all the way from the bottom to the top. Inspiring and infectiously funny, this is a tribute to football's unlikeliest friendship as Elton John and Taylor, a straight-talking former fullback with a love of Vera Lynn, beat the odds and their personal demons to save a club and a community. Immersed in the grime and glamour of '70s Britain, Watford Forever is one of sport's great underdog stories and a love letter to the beautiful game.