European Football Yearbook launched

uefa.com have teamed up with Mike Hammond to issue the European Football Yearbook, a 1,088-page publication that provides a comprehensive review of last season's UEFA and domestic league competitions.

New partnership
The book has existed for two decades, but this is the first time that Hammond has been associated with uefa.com. "Twenty years ago when I started work on the first edition," he said. "I felt that there was a big gap in the market and that both international and European football did not have a yearbook of authority that could be used as a reliable reference. So I sought to create a team of contributors from across the continent who could assist me in producing a publication that would fill that gap. Now the book has got support from UEFA and it is an honour to be associated with the governing body of European football as it gives a long-running publication added value and authority."

Pride of place
The publication includes reports and official detailed statistical analysis of all UEFA competitions, profiles of the top 100 players of the season together with narrative and statistical reviews of domestic league and cup competitions in the 53 UEFA member associations. And though the media landscape has changed since the first edition in the late 1980s with the arrival of the internet and innovative ways to provide live match coverage, Hammond believes there is still place for publications in the consumer's media mix. "The print media is obviously affected by the existence and growth of the internet," he said. "But I still maintain that the comfort of sitting in an armchair or on the train or even on the beach reading a book or magazine or newspaper has a value that the internet cannot match."

Online version
Indeed, the link with uefa.com will provide an integrated media mix as Hammond will contribute editorial on a periodic basis during the forthcoming season while it is also planned to provide online versions of previous editions of the publication. "This is a book for the fans and next year we want it to be also by the fans," Hammond said. "If you take the 'Top 100 players' list in the book as an example, it is currently an editorial decision made by myself and my team of contributors in all 53 member associations. But for next year, we would like to open this to the users of uefa.com, the fans who attend the games, to have their input into the final list."

Buy now!
Copies of the book can be purchased online by clicking here.
The complete Mike Hammond chat transcript can be accessed here.