Square Peg, Round Ball cover art

Square Peg, Round Ball

Football, TV and Me: Shortlisted for the Sunday Times Sports Book Awards 2023

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Square Peg, Round Ball

By: Ned Boulting
Narrated by: Ned Boulting
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Bloomsbury presents Square Peg, Round Ball written and read by Ned Boulting.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2023 – SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR

'What Ned hasn’t seen on a sports TV channel isn’t worth knowing about.' – Gabby Logan

'From falling out with Mourinho to flying with Gerrard, this is a wonderful journey through football.'- Henry Winter

Square Peg, Round Ball is a candid, insightful reminiscence on a life in football.

Although best known as ITV's commentator on the Tour de France, Ned Boulting has spent most of his professional life covering football.

Follow Ned's journey from football supporter to reporter – from criss-crossing the country in a banger of a car hoping for a word or two from the latest big signing, to the glamour of the Champions League. Ned really has been there, done that, and got the Sky Sports jacket to prove it.

Witnessing the shenanigans, the machinations and the idiocy of football at close quarters Ned shares his best stories with affection. Whether it's treading mud into Steven Gerrard's pristine white carpets, or nearly being pushed into oncoming traffic by a menacing Vinnie Jones, or being chased away from Roman Abramovich's house by some scary looking men on quadbikes – Ned has made a fool of himself to bring us the best tales from his experiences in 90s and 2000s football.©2022 Ned Boulting (P)2022 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Entertainment & Performing Arts Film & TV Football (Soccer) History & Criticism Sports Entertainment
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Critic reviews

BELIEVABLE!
From falling out with Mourinho to flying with Gerrard, this is a wonderful journey through football. Insightful and funny
Full of stories told with great affection (the Telegraph)
A great read by one of sport's good guys.
A beautiful love letter to a love no longer felt.
A bouncy, amusing and honest reminiscence. This is Ned in a nutshell.
A funny, warm and wise book about football and the perpetual struggle to reach adulthood
Ned's perspective on football was always like no other – on one hand an amusingly stubborn refusal to succumb to its self-importance; on the other, a fascinated engagement with its narratives and culture. I promise you – nobody saw the game quite like he did
Ned has seen it all from the excesses and madness of Sky Sports in the early years to the revolving door of ITV Sport which he stayed firmly on the right side of. What Ned hasn’t seen on a sports TV channel isn’t worth knowing about.
An elegant, stirring and often joyful journey through football and masculinity
All stars
Most relevant
Ned sums up how football lost a lot of us and the fun went out of watching it as money and TV took over.

good review of where football went

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I really enjoyed listening to Ned and his memories of being a football journalist, there were some points where I properly laughed out loud. Listen, you'll like it.

As much fun as How To Be A Footballer.

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Insightful, humorous, poignant. Non stop anecdotes, beautifully narrated.
Can’t wait for the next chapter on cycling

Breathless

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Great listen on how football is imploding as a game due to money and moving away from real fans

Football as changed

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I know Ned’s work from the world of cycling but didn’t know of the football backstory. A lovely personal account of accidentally falling into the maelstrom of the UK tv footy media pack with occasional imposter syndrome and some cracking anecdotes.

Fascinating personal backstory on the rise and fall of his passion for footy

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