About Nick

 

I've been lucky enough to write four books on different aspects of football, Team Shirts to Ticket Stubs was essentially a visual record of my childhood growing up watching Watford with my Dad! Modern Football is Rubbish and it's sequel, Modern Football is Still Rubbish were written with my best mate, Shaun Hunt, and essentially documentedin a vaguely humorous way everything that was wrong with the modern game. Pirates, Punks & Politics is a book about salvation: about falling back in love with football via FC St. Pauli.

I first visited FC St. Pauli in August 2007 and have been returning regularly to the Millerntor ever since. When I visit I stand on the Südkurve, it feels like home. Supporting St. Pauli isn't about results, league positions or even the football. It's about friends, community, standing-up for what is right and making sure you have a good time doing it. Over the past six years, I've seen some great games, visited some amazing grounds, but most of all, I've met some incredible people. I owe those people a lot. They renewed my faith in football, in the power of football supporters to make a difference. I wouldn't swap those afternoons and evenings at the Millerntor for any other experience in football. Pirates, Punks & Politics isn't perfect, but it is from the heart. You can buy a copy direct from the publisher: Sportsbooks Ltd.


Following the success of Pirates, Punks & Politics (first published in 2014 and now in its fourth edition), I have been continuing to record my trips to St. Pauli and elsewhere on my blog: outside_left


Books

Korsanlar, Punklar ve Siyaset Fc St. Pauli: Radikal Bir Futbol Kulübüne Aşık Olmak
(2017).
(Turkish translation) Istanbul. Ithaki Publications.


  
Pirates, Punks and Politics: FC St. Pauli: Falling in Love with a Radical Football Club
(2014).York: SportsBooks Ltd.

Modern Football is Still Rubbish (2010). York: SportsBooks Ltd.

Kompletnie Konkretnie. O tym, co jest nie tak ze współczesną piłką nożną
(Modern Football is Rubbish Polish translation) (2009). Wysokie Mazowieckie: Sendsport.

Modern Football is Rubbish (2008). York: SportsBooks Ltd.

Team Shirts to Ticket Stubs: A Visual History of Watford Football Club 1977–2002
(2002). Watford: Watford Football Club.


'Two Tribes' chapter in 1966 & Not All That (2016). Edited by Mark Perryman. London: Repeater Books.



Education

I studied History & Politics at the University of Warwick (1990-93). I then completed an MA in the Sociology of Sport at the University of Leicester's Centre for Research into Sport and Society (1993-94).

 

Conference Papers/Panel Discussions

Southampton Transformed, Southampton. The Transformative Power of Football discussion panel. June 2019

New York. Chair of panel discussion: The Rise of Independent Football. May 2019

Motor City Hotel, Detroit.  Chair of panel discussion: Detroit City FC and FC St. Pauli – A Different Kind of Football. FC St. Pauli US Tour. May 2018

Whitehawk Ultras: Book Discussion, Cowley Club, Brighton. October 2017

Hamburg on Tour trade show, Brick Lane, London. Q&A with FC St. Pauli's Ewald Lienen. October 2017.


Booked 107, Cider Riot!, Portland, Oregon. Pirates, Punks & Politics book discussion. June 2017


45th Annual Concention of the North American Society for Sport History, University of California, Fulleron: Refugees United! German football and the refugee crisis: A case study of FC St. Pauli’s direct support for refugees and asylum seekers in Hamburg, 2013 – 2017. May 2017.


Football, Culture and Community, University of Brighton, School of Sport and Service Management: FC St. Pauli and alternative fan culture. February 2017

50th 'Anniversary 'Live' Screening of the 1966 World Cup Final Discussion panel, Rich Mix Arts Centre. July 2016

Soccer as a Global Phenomenon, Harvard University: Global brand versus local activism: Welcome to the contradiction of St. Pauli. April 2016

Football, Culture and Community, University of Brighton, School of Sport and Service Management: FC St. Pauli and alternative fan culture. March 2016

Dangerous Times Festival: FIFA Fallout and the Future for Global Football – panel discussion. 
May 2015

Greatcoats for Goalposts, 1914 Christmas Football Truce Centenary, London: A Century of Sport as Resistance – panel discussion. December 2014

Playing Politics: Politics in Sport Festival, People's History Museum, Manchester: FC St. Pauli: Football's Radical Club. June 2014

Millerntor Gallery, Hamburg: Pirates, Punks & Politics – discussion forum. May 2014

Soccer as the Beautiful Game: Football's Artistry, Identity and Politics, Hofstra University,
Long Island: Pirates, Punks & Politics: Exploring the Mythos of FC St. Pauli. April 2014

If you would like me to contribute to discussions about FC St. Pauli, English and German fan culture or the politics of modern football, please complete the contact form at the bottom of this page. 


Book Launches

I was very fortunate to take part in a number of Pirates, Punks & Politics launch events and discussion sessions, meeting some wonderful people along the way.

Fanladen St. Pauli, Millerntor, Hamburg

Yorkshire St. Pauli, Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

London St. Pauli, Zeitgeist, London

East River Pirates, East River Bar, New York

Fanladen St. Pauli, Hamburg

 
 Brudenell Social Club, Leeds

 
 East River Bar, Brooklyn, New York

(Yep, I wore the same t-shirt at every launch event)