-
Smart Money
- The Fall and Rise of Brentford FC
- Narrated by: Chris Naylor
- Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $18.15
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
In 1978, when Alex Duff first went to watch Brentford, players would go on midweek pub crawls near the Griffin Park stadium. Sometimes, in no fit state to go home, they would crash out in a terraced home where one of them lived opposite the stadium gates. The next morning, they clambered into a white van which one of them would drive to training, stopping on the way for a bacon sandwich and cup of tea at a greasy spoon café.
Brentford had once played in the top-flight but now, idling in the third division, were a second home for players and supporters, but there was neither the ambition nor money to revive their best days. They bumbled along until in 2005, fed up with trying to make a profit from a club with an ageing stadium in an unfashionable west London suburb, owner Ron Noades agreed to hand over the business to supporters on the condition they take over responsibility for their £5.5 million overdraft.
One of the fans, an Oxford University physics graduate called Matthew Benham, was making millions of pounds from professional gambling and threw in a £500,000 lifeline to help keep the club afloat. Initially, as a sort of academic challenge, he began figuring out if he could employ the mathematics which he used in beating the bookmakers to improve the club's performance on the pitch.
Smart Money is the story of how a scientist with an inquiring mind was set loose in a backwater of professional football, and how he turned a modest, little-known team into a competitor in one of the world's most-watched sports leagues.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
More from the same
Author
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Revolution
- The Rise of Arteta’s Arsenal
- By: Charles Watts
- Narrated by: Gavin Osborn
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
November 2019. Unai Emery’s final game as Arsenal manager sees the Gunners languishing eighth in the league. Appointed in the dying embers of the Wenger years, Emery’s 18 months as Arsenal boss has seen the team and the club go backwards – playing unimaginative, pragmatic football, and recently losing to London rivals Chelsea in the final of the Europa League. Something had to change; a fresh head with fresh ideas. A new leader.
By: Charles Watts
-
Net Gains
- Inside the Beautiful Game's Analytics Revolution
- By: Ryan O'Hanlon
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This in-depth examination of soccer takes listeners on a tour across the world and throughout history, introducing the many people who have attempted to shine a light onto and innovate a sport that, in many ways, is still stuck in the Dark Ages. This deep dive into the rise of analytics in soccer—a sport where tradition reigns supreme—shows how revolutionary tactics and underexplored metrics are breaking the beautiful game wide open.
-
-
Fascinating story about sports and analytics 
- By Jon Fruman on 01-11-24
By: Ryan O'Hanlon
-
Sit Behind The Nets!
- A Memoir about a Mother Killed by a Foul Ball at a Major League Baseball Game
- By: Jana Brody
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sit Behind the Nets! is written by an outspoken grieving daughter, after her mother was hit by a foul ball at Dodger Stadium and died of head trauma. Alerting the media Brody speaks out encouraging changes for fan safety in Major League Baseball. Major and Minor League Baseball's recent mandated net extension policy is an outcome of using her voice for good. Improving fan safety awareness is the goal of this memoir with a message. Combining published articles, quotes, and personal perspectives the story unfolds over three years.
By: Jana Brody
-
Inverting the Pyramid
- By: Jonathan Wilson
- Narrated by: Damian Lynch
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inverting the Pyramid is a pioneering soccer book that chronicles the evolution of soccer tactics and the lives of the itinerant coaching geniuses who have spread their distinctive styles across the globe. Through Jonathan Wilson's brilliant historical detective work, we learn how the South Americans shrugged off the British colonial order to add their own finesse to the game; how the Europeans harnessed individual technique and built it into a team structure; how the game once featured five forwards up front, while now a lone striker is not uncommon.
-
-
Mind Changing
- By Michael Williams on 01-04-19
By: Jonathan Wilson
-
The Real Hoosiers
- Crispus Attucks High School, Oscar Robertson, and the Hidden History of Hoops
- By: Jack McCallum
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For far too long the mythology of Indiana basketball has been dominated by Hoosiers. Framed as the ultimate underdog, feel-good story, there has also long been a cultural debate surrounding the film. The Real Hoosiers sets out to illuminate the narrative that the film omits, the story of the unheralded Crispus Attucks Tigers, playing the game at the highest level in the 1950s in a racially divided Indiana.
-
-
Thorough, Incisive, transcendent book
- By TeeSpell on 04-16-24
By: Jack McCallum
-
Pep Guardiola
- By: Guillem Balague
- Narrated by: William Glasswell
- Length: 18 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pep Guardiola is the most successful and sought after football coach in the world. After being appointed first-team manager in 2008, he transformed Barcelona into arguably the greatest club side of all time, winning an unprecedented 13 trophies in four years. Following a shock sabbatical from the game, he replaced Jupp Heynckes at the helm of Bayern Munich at the start of the 2013-14 season, twice winning the Double in his three years in charge.
-
-
Most of the player names are mispronounced!!
- By A on 06-16-19
By: Guillem Balague
-
Revolution
- The Rise of Arteta’s Arsenal
- By: Charles Watts
- Narrated by: Gavin Osborn
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
November 2019. Unai Emery’s final game as Arsenal manager sees the Gunners languishing eighth in the league. Appointed in the dying embers of the Wenger years, Emery’s 18 months as Arsenal boss has seen the team and the club go backwards – playing unimaginative, pragmatic football, and recently losing to London rivals Chelsea in the final of the Europa League. Something had to change; a fresh head with fresh ideas. A new leader.
By: Charles Watts
-
Net Gains
- Inside the Beautiful Game's Analytics Revolution
- By: Ryan O'Hanlon
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This in-depth examination of soccer takes listeners on a tour across the world and throughout history, introducing the many people who have attempted to shine a light onto and innovate a sport that, in many ways, is still stuck in the Dark Ages. This deep dive into the rise of analytics in soccer—a sport where tradition reigns supreme—shows how revolutionary tactics and underexplored metrics are breaking the beautiful game wide open.
-
-
Fascinating story about sports and analytics 
- By Jon Fruman on 01-11-24
By: Ryan O'Hanlon
-
Sit Behind The Nets!
- A Memoir about a Mother Killed by a Foul Ball at a Major League Baseball Game
- By: Jana Brody
- Narrated by: Virtual Voice
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sit Behind the Nets! is written by an outspoken grieving daughter, after her mother was hit by a foul ball at Dodger Stadium and died of head trauma. Alerting the media Brody speaks out encouraging changes for fan safety in Major League Baseball. Major and Minor League Baseball's recent mandated net extension policy is an outcome of using her voice for good. Improving fan safety awareness is the goal of this memoir with a message. Combining published articles, quotes, and personal perspectives the story unfolds over three years.
By: Jana Brody
-
Inverting the Pyramid
- By: Jonathan Wilson
- Narrated by: Damian Lynch
- Length: 18 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Inverting the Pyramid is a pioneering soccer book that chronicles the evolution of soccer tactics and the lives of the itinerant coaching geniuses who have spread their distinctive styles across the globe. Through Jonathan Wilson's brilliant historical detective work, we learn how the South Americans shrugged off the British colonial order to add their own finesse to the game; how the Europeans harnessed individual technique and built it into a team structure; how the game once featured five forwards up front, while now a lone striker is not uncommon.
-
-
Mind Changing
- By Michael Williams on 01-04-19
By: Jonathan Wilson
-
The Real Hoosiers
- Crispus Attucks High School, Oscar Robertson, and the Hidden History of Hoops
- By: Jack McCallum
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For far too long the mythology of Indiana basketball has been dominated by Hoosiers. Framed as the ultimate underdog, feel-good story, there has also long been a cultural debate surrounding the film. The Real Hoosiers sets out to illuminate the narrative that the film omits, the story of the unheralded Crispus Attucks Tigers, playing the game at the highest level in the 1950s in a racially divided Indiana.
-
-
Thorough, Incisive, transcendent book
- By TeeSpell on 04-16-24
By: Jack McCallum
-
Pep Guardiola
- By: Guillem Balague
- Narrated by: William Glasswell
- Length: 18 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pep Guardiola is the most successful and sought after football coach in the world. After being appointed first-team manager in 2008, he transformed Barcelona into arguably the greatest club side of all time, winning an unprecedented 13 trophies in four years. Following a shock sabbatical from the game, he replaced Jupp Heynckes at the helm of Bayern Munich at the start of the 2013-14 season, twice winning the Double in his three years in charge.
-
-
Most of the player names are mispronounced!!
- By A on 06-16-19
By: Guillem Balague
-
The Club
- How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports
- By: Joshua Robinson, Jonathan Clegg
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one knew it when their experiment began, but without any particular genius or acumen, the motley cast of billionaires and hucksters behind the modern Premier League struck gold. Pretty soon, everyone wanted to try their luck, from Russian oligarchs to Emirati sheikhs, American tycoons, and Asian Tiger titans. Some succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Some lost everything. Today, players are sold for tens of millions, clubs are valued in the billions, and games are beamed out to nearly 200 countries, all while the league struggles to preserve its English soul.
-
-
Read don't listen
- By JR3 on 01-23-19
By: Joshua Robinson, and others
-
The New York Game
- Baseball and the Rise of a New City
- By: Kevin Baker
- Narrated by: L.J. Ganser
- Length: 19 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Baseball is “the New York game” because the city is where the white lines were first drawn, where a bunt was first laid, and where the curve ball was first thrown. It’s also where the superstars first emerged, and where social progress in the sport was first made. With nuance and depth, historian Kevin Baker brings this all back to life: the games–World Series in 1905, 1919, 1932; the players–Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig; the coaches and managers–John McGraw, “Foxy Ned” Hanlon, Clark Griffith; and even the writers, reporters, and spectators.
-
-
Great History of the Game and the City
- By andyf333 on 04-28-24
By: Kevin Baker
-
Sí Señor
- My Liverpool Years
- By: Roberto Firmino
- Narrated by: Fernando Tiberini
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Master of the no-look goal and Anfield favourite, Roberto 'Bobby' Firmino, signed for Liverpool in July 2015. Over the next eight years - and seven winners' medals - he established himself as one of the club's most important players in recent years for his audacious skill, impressive goal scoring, and beaming smile. Jürgen Klopp saw Firmino as the on-pitch 'engine' that drove the club's counter-pressing strategy and together with Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané, Firmino formed a formidable attacking trio.
-
-
Everything from the heart
- By Amazon Customer on 01-26-24
By: Roberto Firmino
-
Charlie Hustle
- The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball
- By: Keith O'Brien
- Narrated by: Ellen Adair, Keith O'Brien
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pete Rose is a legend. A baseball god. He compiled more hits than anyone in the history of baseball, a record he set decades ago, which still stands. At the same time, he was a working-class white guy from Cincinnati who made it; less talented than tough, and rough around the edges. He was everything that America wanted and needed him to be, the American dream personified, until he wasn’t. Charlie Hustle tells the full story of one of America’s most epic tragedies, the rise and fall of Pete Rose, one of the greatest baseball players of all time.
-
-
Unflinching look at America through Baseball and Pete Rose
- By Brian G White on 04-02-24
By: Keith O'Brien
-
The Achilles Trap
- Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq
- By: Steve Coll
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 17 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Steve Coll, the definitive story of the decades-long relationship between the United States and Saddam Hussein, and a deeply researched and news breaking investigation into how human error, cultural miscommunication, and hubris led to one of the costliest geopolitical conflicts of our time.
-
-
From the Saddam’s Point of View.
- By philip on 03-08-24
By: Steve Coll
-
Among the Bros
- A Fraternity Crime Story
- By: Max Marshall
- Narrated by: Stephen Graybill
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Max Marshall arrived on the campus of the College of Charleston in 2018, he hoped to investigate a small-time fraternity Xanax trafficking ring. Instead, he found a homicide, several student deaths, and millions of dollars circulating around the Deep South. He also opened up an elite world hidden to outsiders. Behind the pop culture cliches of “Greek life” lies one of the major breeding grounds of American power: 80 percent of Fortune 500 executives, 85 percent of Supreme Court justices, and all but four presidents since 1825 have been fraternity members.
-
-
Great Book-Not so great reading
- By Hannah Earp on 11-30-23
By: Max Marshall