Scotsman writers review their best reads from 2022

Scotsman writers review their best reads from 2022.

Aidan Smith has written a book celebrating Scottish football. The book is a Caledonian Classic. It's a tribute to Arthur Montford and a reference to the famous Jimmy Johnstone rowing boat incident. It also features testimonies from John Blackley, Tommy Hutchison and Donald Ford. Dundee managing director John Nelms wants to move his club to an out of town location.

Daniel Gray's book about the World Cup in Qatar is a masterpiece. He managed to record the football without the distraction of the stadium. He covered Dundee vs Raith Rovers and Rangers v Celtic from the street.

David Mason has written a book about Rangers. It's a comprehensive account of a football club by a respected club historian. Mason was installed as official Rangers historian in 1986. The book is up to date enough to include Michael Beale's appointment as manager earlier this month.

Renton Laidlaw wrote this shortly before his death in October 2021. He covered golf for newspapers, radio and television. Liedlaw was a popular figure in the game. He was in Kenya when he had a toothache and went to his own dentist instead of the recommended one.

Martin O'Neill's memoirs are a fascinating read. He wrote them himself. O’Neill played for Celtic, Nottingham Forest and Northern Ireland. He studied law at Queen's University in Belfast. The memoir is available in long hand.

Dundee came close to winning the European Cup in 1982. They lost the semi-final first leg 5-1 to AC Milan at San Siro. The second leg was won 1-0. Craig Brown believes the cup would have been Dundee's.

It's World Cup month. The book by David Winner documents Scotland's victory over the Netherlands in Argentina 1978. Barry Davies provides the introduction. It's worth £15.99. It includes contributions from Johnny Rep and Alan Rough.

Archie Macpherson is a prolific author in his 80s. He wrote a biography of Jock Stein and a chronicle of our World Cup misadventures. His latest book is about the people he has met during his broadcasting career. It's a riveting, rollicking compendium of vignettes.

Peter Alliss was a golf commentator before he became a producer at BBC. He will die at the age of 89 in December 2020. He shares funny stories about his life in the book. It was written in collaboration with the respected golf journalist Bill Elliott.

James Brown's family is Scottish sporting royalty. Peter and Gordon are rugby legends. Their brother Peter captained Scotland to three Calcutta Cup victories over England. Gordon played for the Lions. Jock played football for Scotland and Clyde. Jim played in the first ever World Cup for United States. James' grandfather played soccer for USA.

Eric Liddell won seven caps for Scotland and won gold at the Paris Olympics in the 400m. He starred in Chariots of Fire and in a film based on the same name. Ken Bogle's book details his rugby career from schoolboy days at Eltham College to Edinburgh University, the Edinburgh district side and eventually Scotland.