Fever Pitch

Chronicled from the perspective of a besotted ten-year-old Arsenal fan, through disillusioned adolescence, to an adult "who should know better", this book examines the absurdities, idiosyncrasies and traumas of everyday life and football. It won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. Interweaving his personal and familial upheavals with the varied fortunes of Arsenal over two decades, Nick Hornby has produced an insight into what it is like to be a fan. Combining anecdote with a wider commentary on the state of the game, the book touches upon many issues, from pre-match entertainment to the availability of FA Cup tickets, hooliganism, the tragedies at Heysel and Hillsborough, non-League and school football, and Arsenal's reputation as a boring team.