Extra Time, Daniel Gray

Whimsical, engaging and elegantly written, Extra Time shares 50 entries on a different delight of football. Extra Time will be loved by fans of Saturday, 3pm and new readers under football''s spell. In short, anyone who has ever felt the exultation of watching their team score two goals in quick succession, revelled in an irrational dislike of a certain club or cherished a local radio commentator. Balloons on the pitch. Goalkeepers going forward for corners. The crowd whistling to bring full-time closer. Jeering a disallowed opposition goal. The ball being cleared off the line. Can we count the ways in which we love football the little things which make it mean so much? Extra Time offers a half-century of joyous prose poetry salutes to the beautiful game. Each short chapter sings with affections for the game. This is relatable, observational writing on sometimes tender and always universal themes; the sportswriting equivalent of a comforting hug. Extra Time will help renew its readers'' love of football.