Ivan Ponting has written more than 30 football books including Liverpool in Europe, The Boot Room and Sir Roger, the life and times of Roger Hunt. He contributes football obituaries to the Independent and his collaboration with David Foot, Sixty Summers - Somerset Cricket Since The War, won the National Sporting Club's Cricket Book of the Year award in 2007.
Ponting has turned the job of profile writing into an art form: within the confined spaces that he has to write in he manages to capture the essence of each player providing not just the basic information but also real insight on each player. Never does he sound repetitive which, for a book that deals with hundreds of players is the best compliment that I can think of. Having written about players from the glory years in the previous edition that was published nineteen years ago, this latest version must have been extremely difficult for him to write given the mediocrity of some of those players. But, even here, Ponting excels by delivering sharp criticism of each player that deserves it without ever going overboard. How does he conclude his profile of Josemi - whom he had earlier flagged for his aimless distribution - for instance? By mentioning that his arrival probably spurred Steve Finnan into finally starting to prove his worth. It is this balanced look that makes each profile relevant and the whole book so priceless' A Liverpool Thing. Essential reference ... Reds fans old and new will enjoy the thoughtful profiles in this well-researched who's who of those to have played for the Anfield club.' Sporting Life. THIS may be the sixth edition of the sumptuously crafted and compiled collection, first published in 1990, but it's the glossiest and the most colourful. As with the previous five, it's the quality of Ivan Ponting s writing which places this in the highest echelon of LFC books this Christmas. It's exhaustive, but it's also enormously entertaining. Ponting basically describes every significant presence to enter Anfield's portals and all the insigificiant ones, too but describes doesn't do his evocative imagery justice. Some 336 pages of captivating writing. Strongly recommended.' Liverpool Echo.
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