Curiosities of football - Jonathan Rice

Football is a game adored by millions of fans from around the world. From lads watching "Match of the Day" to the populations of remote Himalayan villages gathered around a single TV set, the game grows in popularity almost weekly.;Jonathan Rice has collected strange and subversive football tales in this book. Examples include the time when Cambridge United attempted to promote safe sex, handing out free condoms to the fans. But when one man's wife found these in his pocket, she assumed he was having an affair. She walked out and refused to return until he showed her an article in the local paper confirming his story.;Curiosities also occur further afield. Watford manager Luther Blissett ascribed his failure to live up to to his price tag at AC Milan to the fact that he couldn't buy Rice Krispies in Italy. Also revealed is the fact that Pope John Paul II, a noted goalkeeper in his youth, is Barcelona season-ticket holder number 108,000.;This selection of bizarre occurrences relating to football does seem to espouse the claim that it's "a funny old game".