Angels With Dirty Faces

The definitive history of Argentinian football from the award-winning author of Inverting the Pyramid

Alfredo Di Stefano, Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, Juan Roman Riquelme, Lionel Messi . . . Argentina has produced some of the greatest footballers of all time. But the rich, volatile history of Argentinian football is made up of both the sublime and the ruthlessly pragmatic. Jonathan Wilson, having lived there on and off during the last decade, is ideally placed to chart the sport's development in a country that, perhaps more than any other, lives and breathes football, its theories and its myths.

'Simultaneously epic and intimate, this is a magisterial work: not just a history of Argentinian football, but a history of Argentina' Tom Holland

'People who like football like Brazil; people who love it love Argentina. This is essential, enthralling reading about the world's most intriguing, most important football culture' Rory Smith

“In its expression of ruined promise, domestic football in Argentina has mirrored the country's social, financial and political life . . . An inescapable sense of regret and decay pervades this thorough and evocative chronicle - Sunday Times, Best Sports Books of 2016The definitive history of Argentinian football - GuardianEnthralling and often disturbing . . . The author is at his best when he is dissecting Argentinian football's idealised, aesthetically pleasing past, the psychodrama of its modern game, and its chequered football history - New Statesman”

In its expression of ruined promise, domestic football in Argentina has mirrored the country's social, financial and political life . . . An inescapable sense of regret and decay pervades this thorough and evocative chronicle - Sunday Times, Best Sports Books of 2016

The definitive history of Argentinian football - Guardian

Enthralling and often disturbing . . . The author is at his best when he is dissecting Argentinian football's idealised, aesthetically pleasing past, the psychodrama of its modern game, and its chequered football history - New Statesman

Jonathan Wilson is a columnist for the Guardian and the founder and editor of The Blizzard. Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics was Football Book of the Year in 2009 and was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award. Seven of his other books have been shortlisted for football book of the year and he has also won the Premio Antonio Ghirelli in Italy. Angels with Dirty Faces did the double of football book and history book of the year at the Polish Sports Book Awards in 2018. He is a three-time recipient of the FSA Football Writer of the Year award and in 2023 was granted an honorary doctorate by the University of Sunderland. He writes for the Guardian and in 2011 founded The Blizzard, which he still edits.

Follow him on Twitter: @jonawils

The definitive history of Argentinian football from the award-winning author of Inverting the Pyramid Alfredo Di Stefano, Diego Maradona, Gabriel Batistuta, Juan Roman Riquelme, Lionel Messi . . . Argentina has produced some of the greatest footballers of all time. But the rich, volatile history of Argentinian football is made up of both the sublime and the ruthlessly pragmatic. Jonathan Wilson, having lived there on and off during the last decade, is ideally placed to chart the sport's development in a country that, perhaps more than any other, lives and breathes football, its theories and its myths.'Simultaneously epic and intimate, this is a magisterial work: not just a history of Argentinian football, but a history of Argentina' Tom Holland'People who like football like Brazil; people who love it love Argentina. This is essential, enthralling reading about the world's most intriguing, most important football culture' Rory Smith

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