In The Shadow of Giants

A Heartfelt Journey into the Most Famous Small Fan Bases of European Football

Leandro Vignoli

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• eBook ISBN:
  9781785319341
• Year: 2021

What is it like to support a small team in a city where a footballing giant lurks? Leandro Vignoli spent 50 days on the road, getting up close and personal with the fans of 13 football clubs from ten of Europe's big cities to bring you the inside story. This book isn't about glitz and glamour - it's a celebration of each club's identity peppered with a sprinkling of history. From St Pauli's social activism to Millwall's struggle with hooliganism, from Rayo Vallecano's working-class roots to Torino's glory and tragedy, from the Catalan identity to East Germany's socialist past, no stone is left unturned as Vignoli visits teams in Barcelona, Madrid, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Lisbon, Paris, Turin, Glasgow and London. Each chapter has a game as a backdrop alongside interviews with fans. A football fanatic himself, Vignoli weaves a narrative filled with passion and understanding that gets to the root of what it's really like to support an underdog side dwarfed by a footballing giant.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• 1. Espanyol and the Wonderful Minority
• 2. Love Rayo, Hate Racism
• 3. The Incredible Failure of 1860 Munich
• 4. Blood for Union Berlin
• 5. Sometimes St. Pauli; Always Anti-Fascist
• 6. Fuck Off, I’m Millwall
• 7. The Last Kings of Scotland
• 8. Nobody Hates Fulham
• 9. There’s No Football Without Orient
• 10. There is Only One Belenenses
• 11. Red Star Paris is a Feast
• 12. This is Sparta
• 13. The Glory and Tragedy of Il Grande Torino
• Postface
• Afterword
• Acknowledgements
• About the Author
• Credits
• Photos