Colin Irwin returns to our shelves with another edition of the popular football fans book, Sing When You’re Winning. He once again travels the country in pursuit of the ultimate football anthem, looking at the history of the songs and drinking with the fans in an attempt to unravel the mystery of the seemingly spontaneous songmaking.

Colin Irwin: “Football supporters are the lifeblood of the national game. Battered by escalating admission prices, executive boxes, corporate hospitality, swanky out of town stadiums and blanket television coverage dragging footie far from its working class roots, the fans still turn out in their masses to sing their hearts out for the lads. And the songs they sing are something else. Tribal anthems, full of passion, wit and cultural identity that can instantly inform, delight and provoke in equal measures, as bizarre and apparently random as their chosen songs often are.”

At first glance the thought of reading a book literally filled with football chants seemed a pretty pointless and boring idea. However it is Irwin’s ability to document the history behind each and every song published which makes the book an interesting read and a popular choice amongst football fans.

James Henderson