Books published by Empire Publications Ltd

Updated with new photographs. Colin Blaney''s "Grafters", originally published in 2004, was a ground-breaking expose of the links between criminal gangs and football hooliganism. In the intervening period the book and the phrase have become part of the lexicon, defining a generation of professional thieves who used the cover of their fellow football fans to earn a fortune. Eight years on author Colin Blaney returns with an updated version of his criminal memoirs and recounts his experiences as a personality in the murky media world that accompanies public relations -- principally his shady dealings with tabloid journalists, TV producers and researchers. In Colin''s words he was thrown in at the deep end to "Swim with the sharks". It''s all a far cry from Colin''s adolescence in the council fl ats of North Manchester. As a child he burgled warehouses and factories. As a youth he joined the bootboys of Manchester United''s Red Army, rampaging across the country. As an adult he learned to dip with the Scouse pickpocket gangs, sell dope to Rastas in the Moss Side shebeens and sneak-thieve from shop tills with his mad Collyhurst crew.But Continental Europe offered the greatest lure. The gang moved to Amsterdam which became their HQ for the next twenty years. They stole Rolex watches in Switzerland, peddled Ecstasy in Spain, kited credit cards in Belgium, flogged bootleg tee-shirts in France and snatched designer clothes in Holland. Blaney and his Wide Awake Frim served time in half the jails in Europe and then went back for more. They were on a riotous, non stop roller-coaster ride -- until they finally hit the buffers.

This is the first comprehensive history of the game in Scotland. The history of cricket in Scotland is both rich and varied, from the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 to the leagues of the 20th century, culminating in the National League of the 1990''s and the debut of the Scotland team in the 1999 World Cup. Produced in A to Z format, from Aberdeenshire to Zeneca Grangemouth, including 80 photographs. It has been lovingly written and compiled by Kirkcaldy Classics teacher and umpire David W.Potter in association with the Scottish Cricket Union.

Originally suppressed by the Test and County Cricket Board in 1985, ''Standing the Test of Time'' is the controversial autobiography of the respected Test umpire and former Somerset cricket legend Bill Alley, revised and updated to include recent developments in the world game. Now in his 80th year and still living in Taunton, Alley tells of his remarkable rise from poverty in New South Wales, through Colne in the Lancashire League and breaking countless county records with Somerset, to umpiring on the international stage.