Received this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in return for an honest review. This review is based entirely on my own thoughts and feelings.

Overall rating : 3*
Writing skill : 3*
Subject : 4*
Originality: 3*

I was excited to receive this ebook having loved football from as early as I can remember. It reads somewhat like a blog, with each chapter being stand alone yet with a constant theme; the love of football, and lower league football at that. Having watched local teams in the Hellenic league right up to my team at Old Trafford many times, I know first hand it draws in the widest mix of people, all for that one reason, the game.
Guy takes us on a journey not only up the length of the country, but across the world. The chapters on Bhutan and the visit to the Faroe Islands were a great insight into an otherwise unknown territory for me.
My only reservation on the context is the suggestive way Guy says everyone should abandon watching the games on the tele and down the pub and get out to watch local teams. I'm all for that, having done it many times myself, but unless you're loaded and have most saturdays free, a vehicle and family or friends interested in going too, it just don't always play out that you can go. Lower tier teams rely on gate money, and program sales exactly as Guy shows us with the likes of Accrington Stanley, but for some its not an option that arrises all too often.
I will watch the results trickle in on a saturday afternoon with an extra close eye on the teams highlighted within the pages of this book over the next few seasons. If you like me love football and relish game days, this book is for you.

I have been a casual fan of soccer (which I'll call football for the rest of this review) for only a short period of time. It has been on the radar but way in the distance. For some reason this year my love for football has grown stronger, watching the MLS playoffs then the Premier League and Bundesliga, I have grown into a fan of watching on television, getting donuts and coffee on a Saturday morning to watch the televised Tottenham or Borussia Dortmund games. Mat Guy's hypothesis is that even though this is fine, there is nothing better than to follow a smaller club, one in the neighborhood that needs your financial help as well as your support. He proves this theory by going to smaller games throughout Europe and a bit in Asia, watching clubs that are small but interesting and writing about them. The purpose of this adventure for him is that his local team Salisbury had defunct and left him without a team to root for on a weekly basis. The way that he described the atmosphere of all of the games, even those with 50 to 100 people in the stands made me think about my local football team. The Kokomo Mantis FC play in a stadium within walking distance from my house. I missed the entire inaugural season last year, and to Guy, this is a tragedy. All teams, especially the small ones need support, and as he explained all of this travels, I realized that I needed to get Manis season tickets and not only understand Mat Guy's point of view but act upon it.

I enjoyed reading this book, the short chapters stood alone, so this makes it feel more like a short story collection, a bit choppy from chapter to chapter, but that is expected. There are two standout chapters smack in the middle of the book, where he goes to watch the Tibetan national team and when he takes a friend who has been through a traumatic event in her life and they meet a footballer who is returning from his own traumatic even and how the two become friends through the love of football. Those two chapters will stand out for me long after the book is finished and I am moving onto other stories because they really evoke the human spirit and emotions of being part of a community, even when you do not know everyone. That is the angle that Guy does not explore but I will say. He has proven that through this sport, everyone is part of a community, and even when we are down or going through tough times, it feels as if football can carry us through.