Waking the Giant: Inside the Rebirth of Aston Villa cover art

Waking the Giant: Inside the Rebirth of Aston Villa

Inside the Rebirth of Aston Villa

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Waking the Giant: Inside the Rebirth of Aston Villa

By: Gregg Evans, Matt Maher, Tyrone Mings - introduction
Narrated by: Daryl Foster
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About this listen

The inside story of one football club's astonishing revival

Featuring exclusive interviews with Jack Grealish, John McGinn, Ollie Watkins, Tyrone Mings and Ezri Konsa, along with many other key figures

In early July 2018, Aston Villa were staring into the abyss.

Locked in a cash crisis triggered by defeat in the Championship play-off final, one of English football’s most historic and successful clubs stood on the brink of financial catastrophe.

Yet less than six years later, Villa were celebrating qualifying for the Champions League for the first time in their history.

Waking The Giant takes you inside one of the most extraordinary revival acts in modern football, from the last-minute takeover by billionaire duo Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens which saved the club, through the promotion and equally remarkable Premier League survival inspired by boyhood supporter Dean Smith, right up to the present day and their return to the European elite under Unai Emery.

It is a tale of triumph plucked from the jaws of despair, several times over, with Villa frequently defying the odds to keep climbing and reclaim their place at English football’s top table.

From club record runs to great escapes from relegation and British record transfers, this is a rollercoaster ride not to be missed.

Featuring exclusive interviews with:

  • Jack Grealish
  • John McGinn
  • Ollie Watkins
  • Tyrone Mings
  • Ezri Konsa
  • Albert Adomah
  • Damian Vidagany, Director of Football Operations
  • Jesus Garcia Pitarch, former sporting director
  • Dean Smith, former manager
  • Keith Wyness, former CEO

And dozens of other off-the-record conversations with key figures, managers, coaches, players and staff.

©2025 Gregg Evans, Matt Maher (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers
21st Century Football (American) Football (Soccer) Modern Sports Sports History Inspiring

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Critic reviews

To come…

All stars
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Narrator needs to research the pronunciation of people’s names and / or words … he has a responsibility to get this correct and the people employing him also. Very average indeed!

Interesting take on this period

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This is a great book on villa's. recent history talks about stories that have never been told to the public and really opens up on what was going on behind the scenes and how the players felt. The narrator is the only letdown as he mispronounced players names.

A great reveal!

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real stories from behind the scenes of the greatest football team in the world! up the villa

excellent book

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Really enjoyable book but there are some really baffling player and team pronunciations by the reader.

Baffling pronunciations of teams and players

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An extremely interesting listen, packed with information from behind the scenes of Aston Villa.

The narrator speaks a little too slowly and occasionally mispronounced the name of players but if you increase the speed to 1.5x it becomes a much improved listen.

I would highly recommend.

Fascinating

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