Discover the rock-bottom moments in the histories of 19 disparate football clubs, through stories rich in colour and context that rarely have a happy ending – but which every fan can relate to.

By Phil Harrison, author of the critically acclaimed Inside the Hermit Kingdom: Football Stories from Stalinist Albania – as featured by The Guardian and Daily Mail.

Showcasing a miscellany of spectacularly diverse stories from the last five decades from across Europe, this unique book includes:

• Six guest chapters featuring the pained recollections of established authors (Alex Ireland, Miguel Lourenço Pereira, Paul McQuade), ex-professional footballers (Richard Shaw), musicians (Jonny and Tom Foster; Hardwicke Circus) and social media influencers (Michael Hamlen)
• Tales involving many of Europe's biggest clubs: Ajax, Barcelona, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Celtic, Manchester United and City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa and many more
• A close look at the meteoric, single-season rise and fall of Bayer 04, Barcelona's abortive attempt to quell the demons of Francoist Spanish rule, Ajax's staggering 2014 KNVB Cup Final fail, the end of Manchester City's first golden era and Arsenal's 70-game traipse towards oblivion

Filled with accounts of the bad and the ugly football experiences that changed the lives of fans – and not in a good way – this gripping book serves as a reminder that football, for most fans, is a perpetual vortex of anguish, near misses and abject disappointment.