Narcoball, David Arrowsmith
Narcoball, David Arrowsmith
List: $31.99 | Sale: $22.40
Club: $15.99

Narcoball
Love, Death and Football in Escobar's Colombia

Author: David Arrowsmith

Narrator: John Sackville

Unabridged: 8 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Cassell

Published: 06/06/2024

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

Pablo Escobar had one obsession. Not drugs, not money, not power... football.

Narcoball uncovers the incredible story of Colombian football during the early 1990s - shaped by drug lords, rivalries, and ambition. It uncovers a football empire backed by cartels - where victory was a currency of its own, and defeat, a matter of life and death.

This is a different story of Pablo Escobar and his rivals. A tale of clandestine deals that reshaped Medellin's football clubs, where fortunes were won and lost. It unveils the extraordinary bonds that Escobar forged with football's luminaries and why his influence reached unprecedented heights, leading to the astonishing 5-0 victory over Argentina in Buenos Aires, the murder of referees, and the ruthless coercion of officials culminating in the killing of Andrés Escobar - the Colombian defender who paid the ultimate price for an own goal in the 1994 World Cup. It is also an examination of a people's relationship with both the sport and the nefarious leaders that brought both pride and terror to their communities.

Set against the U.S War on Drugs, international threats, and government clampdowns, this is a gripping exploration of Colombian club football under Escobar's rise and fall.

About David Arrowsmith

David Arrowsmith was the Director of Development at leading UK factual TV producer Zig Zag Productions. He has worked in television for over 20 years - developing unscripted ideas and acting as Executive Producer on key projects for companies such as October Films, DSP, Channel 5, Granada Television, and the BBC. He is passionate about history, and just some of his key commissions include '1966: Who Stole the World Cup?', 'Britain's Bloodiest Dynasty', '8 Days That Made Rome', and 'Adolf & Eva: Love & War'. He was also involved in the development of the award-winning, Nobel Peace Prize-nominated documentary 'Sri Lanka's Killing Fields'.David was born and raised in London but is proudly half-Colombian. In fact, he is the great-grandson of a former president and directly descended from four more. He has played football for over 35 years and has no plans to stop just yet.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Paula on June 14, 2024

Narcoball uncovers the incredible story of Colombian football during the ealy 1990s. Pablo Escobar wasn't just Colombian drug lord, he also had a obsession for football. There has always been deals and money involved in football, but Pablo Escobar also brought another thing a long 'Death'. The book......more

Goodreads review by Toby on April 10, 2025

(6.8/10) I thought I would enjoy this book when I bought it as I love football and the idea of corruption within Columbian football due to Pablo Escobar’s influence really interested me. But off the back of two fantasy series I really enjoyed, I was worried I’d struggle to make it through a non-ficti......more

Goodreads review by Kirsten on April 19, 2025

I know I am not the target demographic, I just don’t care who scored what goal in what minute in every single game ever sorry 🫶, but the rest was interesting......more

Goodreads review by Fadila on February 20, 2025

How inspiring that those players persevered at all. So interesting to learn how intertwined the cartels were with football. Colombia deserves the world......more

Goodreads review by Peter on December 17, 2024

Here we have a football book, which is also a true crime book, one so outlandish and absurd that if it had been filmed as a piece of fiction it would have been derided for its lack of realism. Central to the book is Pablo Escobar, a man who was more complex than I appreciated. We follow his life fro......more


Quotes

Both eye-opening and jaw-dropping. The Book Magnet

It is written in a way that holds your attention from start to finish. Bookmarks and Stages