Above Head Height: A Five-A-Side Life

I would like to say that this book is a journey into the world of five-a-side and amateur football, but if it in any way resembles how I play football it will be less a journey and more a quick sprint forward past one player, a shot powering high and wide, and then a long walk back into my own half.

James Brown has been playing football since growing up in the backstreets of Leeds.

The sudden death of one his long-standing team mates made James ponder the unique bond between men who meet each other once a week for years, but don't know any personal details beyond pitch prowess.

Five-a-Side football is where you play the beautiful game for love, not money. You play it for life and you play it everywhere. Your kit is damp and your legs are a leopard's back of bruises. Shirts are often tight around the belly, with your hero's name plastered across your shoulder blades. The showers are too cold in winter and too hot in summer. Your used sports bag stays unpacked in the hall, and your water bottles are under the kitchen sink. The post-match warm down takes place in the pub. As does the match analysis. By contrast the warm up is non-existent. Your performance is patchy and maybe not what it used to be.

Despite all of this, we all still come away thinking we played a great match.

Five-a-Side is sporting Karaoke - a time and place to live out our dreams. This is a book for all of us - school mates, work colleagues, total strangers - bonded by the desire to blast one into the net from two feet away.

A must-have for anyone who has ever played and enjoyed amateur football.

'The Fever Pitch of five-a-side' – Tony Parsons