Nowhere to Run

Get in the xigxag app
This book is not purchasable in your country. Please select another book.
Pre-order Buy Now €{{ price }}
How does xigxag pricing work?

Listen to a sample

What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

On the second oldest football pitch in the world, Jonathan Sayer stands atop a beer crate to address the assembled fans of Ashton United FC. As his initial optimism and disillusionment begin to slip through his fingers, the new co-chairman and co-owner (alongside his dad) starts to realise the scale of the challenge ahead.

Battling to keep the club afloat, a record number of games without a win sees hope turn to despair as Jonathan contends with a mutiny from a group of octogenarian supporters, constant battles with the local council and a star striker who arrives on crutches despite somehow passing his medical.

As the on-pitch form continues to deteriorate and rifts appear between him and his father, Jonathan begins to make some increasingly desperate decisions: dressing as a seven-foot robin in the local market in an effort to drum up larger crowds, sinking his savings into an ever spiralling wage bill and even contemplating bringing in a local priest to lift the 'Boxing Day Curse' by performing a late-night exorcism on the pitch.

Chronicling the euphoric highs and bitter disappointments of the less glamourous side of the beautiful game, Nowhere to Run is the hilarious, heart-warming tale of life in the hot seat of a non-league football club.

©2023 Jonathan Sayer (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

  • A funny, heartwarming story, packed with memorable characters that you’ll want to cheer all the way. Ave it!

    Peter Kay

  • Beautifully written and engaging… funny, warm and entertaining. And stupid. Really stupid. I loved it!

    MATT LUCAS

  • Eat your heart out, Sheikh Mansour.

    Michael Calvin

  • Best thing I’ve read about Ashton and I was born there.

    Justin Moorhouse

  • Chronicles, in hilariously painful detail, [Jonathan’s] first season in charge of Ashton. A proper fish-out-of-water tale.

    Sunday Telegraph

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to get tailored content recommendations, product updates and info on new releases. Your data is your own: we commit to protect your data and respect your privacy.