Kevin Day – författare

‘A very funny book that tackles some serious football issues.’Gary LinekerEver dreamed of setting up your own football club? Join the team behind The Price of Football podcast as they start a (fictional) football club and discover what’s really going on behind the scenes of the beautiful game.Buying a football club will set you back a few quid, but you’ve also got to pass the Premier League and EFL's ‘fit and proper persons test’. That all seems like a bit of a faff to the team behind the award-winning podcast The Price of Football, so acclaimed comedy writer Kevin Day, football finance expert Kieran Maguire and producer Guy Kilty start an imaginary club instead.In Unfit and Improper Persons they take West Park Rovers on a hilarious journey from the lowest level of the FA pyramid right up to the English Football League, the Premier League and, if fortune favours the fictional, into the heart of Europe.At least that’s the plan, but inevitably they face a few challenges along the way. Where to find a shirt sponsor? What should the mascot be – is a dog called Rover too obvious? Can they pay the women’s team the same as the men’s team? (Spoiler alert: hardly anyone else does.) And how can they get Messi to the Kleanwell Stadium next season, like they promised the fans?Roofing over the toilets, paying the electric on the floodlights, salary caps, parachute payments and avoiding bankruptcy, never mind relegation – owning a football club isn’t all about stuffing prawn sarnies and quaffing champagne in the directors’ box.Unfit and Improper Persons is informed, funny and, thanks to exclusive interviews with those who’ve been there, done that, it lays bare the labyrinthine world of football finance.

A MANIFESTO FOR THE MODERN FOOTBALL SUPPORTER.What does being a football fan entail? Can you be a good one or a bad one? And just how much passion, knowledge, sensitivity and schadenfreude do you need to pass as a ‘proper' fan? With the help of top players, legendary managers and celebrity supporters, comedy writer Kevin Day dissects what it is that makes a real fan. He discusses the instinct to support a club, how we pick our team – family tradition, local club, glory hunting or ‘I live in Surrey so it just had to be Man U’ – and, heart-searchingly, whether we saddle our children with the hopes, despair and occasional exhilaration that has marked our own lives.Kevin doesn't shy away from the serious issues either. He suggests what fans can do about the brazen exploitation by the clubs they love, the spectre of hooliganism, and the racism, sexism and homophobia which are still all-too evident in the stands and terraces.Being a football fan isn’t easy. Like any religion, it has its cherished, long-established customs, outdated practices and troublesome elements. The Football Fan's Handbook is your guide through this minefield: an in-depth, analytical if sketchily-drawn road map to becoming a ‘real’ fan.

"Excellent" –The Times"Kevin's immense knowledge shines on every page." – Gary Lineker"A football book by a fan for the fans. A treasure trove." – Alan Davies"An entertaining romp through the back alleys and glamour parks of English football." – FourFourTwoPartly autobiographical, partly polemical, but mostly funny, Who Are Ya? is a snapshot of modern football, exploring the history of all 92 English Football League clubs .During his time as a broadcaster, comedian and former Match of the Day presenter Kevin Day has spoken to thousands of football players, managers and most importantly fans from across the generations. He spent thousands of hours crossing the country on trains, planes, automobiles, coaches – and once a donkey called Lightning – watching football at all levels.This book is the result of that: a tale of being chased down a railway line at Cardiff, a story of meeting George Best, an account of a lady getting her first Hull City tattoo at the age of 80!Crisply funny and with a host of celebrity football fan contributors – including Stephen Fry, Jo Brand, Alfie Boe, Eddie Izzard, Gabby Logan, and Romesh Ranganathan – Who Are Ya? celebrates the joys and miseries of being a football supporter.