The London football companion - Ed Glinert

The London Football Companion follows the history of the sport in the capital, from its foundations in the days of gentleman amateurs to the obscene wealth and tabloid scandals of the modern age. As it winds its way postcode-by-postcode from Westminster to Watford via all points in between, it takes in everything from bungs and brawls to tantrums and transfers. The Brewer Street kebab shop that cost Paul Gascoigne a trip to the 1998 World Cup, the traffic jam on Tottenham High Road that made Roman Abramovich give up on his plans for Spurs and buy further west, and the Central London pub where the FA was founded are just some of the places that feature in the stories, scandals, tragedies and triumphs that make up the footballing heritage of our capital.

The London Football Companion takes an anecdotal look at the capital's clubs and how football has evolved over the decades, from Premiership giants Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham, through characterful sides like Charlton, Crystal Palace, QPR and Millwall, to Sunday league football on Hackney Marshes. What emerges is a wonderfully rich, entertaining and compulsively browsable history of the beautiful game.