A BOOK ABOUT football tactics may seem an unlikely Christmas stocking filler but Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson manages to provide a hugely readable guide to the topic by focusing on the mindset and methodology of those who have, down the years, decided whether a particular team should employ the likes of a WM or Christmas tree formation.

Among the stars of the show is Jimmy Hogan (the subject of a 2003 book, Prophet or Traitor, by Norman Fox), a Lancashire man born of Irish parents who Wilson describes as "the greatest coach there has ever been".

Hogan had a limited enough playing career but after becoming a devotee of the passing approach to the beautiful game during his time at Fulham at the start of the last century he developed a zeal for spreading the word and ended up in the Netherlands. There, he coached Dordrecht and became so well respected within two years that, at 30, he oversaw the Dutch team's 2-1 win over Germany.

The famous football administrator, later a manager himself, Hugo Meisl, brought him to Vienna to prepare the Austrian team for the Stockholm Olympics and when he agreed to stay on afterwards, local clubs queued up to avail of his expertise - to such an extent he had to start some training sessions at 5.30 in the morning.

Despite his popularity, the first World War still led to a brief spell of internment after which he was allowed to travel to Budapest where he took charge of MTK, later FC Hungaria. His work there laid the foundations for the development of the "Magic Magyars" and more than 40 years later the coach of that great team, Gusztav Sebes, observed that his side "played football as Jimmy Hogan taught us".

Over the next couple of decades he made his influence felt all across central Europe, with successful spells in Switzerland (he won league titles and got the national team to the Olympic final), Germany and back in Austria, where he coached the country's "Wunderteam". At a time when most British coaches favoured depriving players of the ball in training to make them more hungry for it in games, he emphasised the need to work with it, he played an important part in the game's tactical development and was even a pioneer in terms of recognising the importance of a player's diet. He addressed crowds of up to 5,000 on a speaking tour of Germany and a student of his during his time in the country, Helmut Schön, went on to be assistant manager of the West Germany team that won the World Cup in '54 before taking charge himself when they triumphed again 20 years later.

Hogan died around the time of the latter success and the then secretary of the German Football Federation, Hans Passlack, described him as the "father of modern football in Germany".

By way of icing on the cake, another student, Dori Kurschner, having succeeded him at MTK, went on to work in Brazil and is widely credited with a key role in turning that country into a footballing superpower.

Somewhat inevitably, Hogan's genius was utterly unappreciated back at home in England. He had a spell in charge at Fulham during the '30s but was sacked after less than a season with the explanation that "seasoned players don't need to be coached".

Wilson's gift for weaving such stories into a coherent volume is the key to the book being so entertaining. It's great stuff but be warned, it really is, at the heart of it all, about tactics and contains 350 pages of occasionally dense material so even a passing interest in the subject would be a definite advantage.

You won't need an interest in the history of modern South Africa, meanwhile, to find More Than Just A Game: Football v Apartheid(Chuck Korr and Marvin Close, Collins) compelling. The book follows on from last year's film and charts the establishment by political prisoners (many now leading figures in the country's political establishment) on the notorious Robben Island of the Makana League. Games became of enormous importance, not just to the prisoners but to those who guarded them but deep down, it was always about politics and a fundamental clash of wills. There were strikes over interference in the running of the competition by the authorities and the league itself became, and remains, a powerful symbol of the participants' enduring spirit and humanity during their long years of struggle.

Day of the Match(Scott Murray and Rowan Walker, Boxtree) is fun to dip into. It's like one of those old desk diaries with a quote for each day of the year except here you get a book of 366 (they seem to think next year's a leap year) anecdotes, many of them pretty entertaining.

Early December, for instance, is said to coincide with the development by composer Edward Elgar of a penchant for Wolves. He particularly liked the club's centre half Billy Malpass and when a friend sent him a newspaper article which reported that Malpass "banged the leather for goal," Elgar put the line to music. "Some claim it to be one of the first ever football chants," observe the authors, "(but) it never really caught on in the stands."

It's been a thin enough year on the biography front but Trapattoni - A Life in Football(Egon Theiner and Elizabeth Schammerl, Liberties) is a decent retelling of a remarkable yarn, focusing mainly on the Germanic years, even if it has been left looking slightly dated by the passing of the Andy Reid months, while the second volume of Bobby Charlton's memoirs are conveyed with characteristic elegance (by James Lawton) and worth a read if England winning the 1966 World Cup is your thing.

Best of the lot, though, is Paul Canoville's Black and Blue. I vaguely remember as a kid first forming an admiration for Pat Nevin when he said he'd leave Chelsea if Canoville got any more racist abuse from the club's fans but I really had no idea what the Londoner, who was the club's first black player, actually went through.

He describes the experience eloquently here and is remarkably frank about the mayhem of his personal life - 10 children with 10 different women, a baby who died in his arms and a spell as a crack addict. He has sorted himself now and does some teaching and community work but the book starts with him being overwhelmed by the positive response he receives on a visit back to Stamford Bridge from fans, some of whom, he supposes, might well have been calling him "nigger" 25 years ago.

Finally, for the little anorak in your life, there is the usual annuals, with the European Football Yearbook, the Almanack of World Footballand the Match of the Daybook, all well put together, although your loved one's addiction to facts and figures should be gauged before buying.

On the home front, there is the welcome addition of The Republic of Ireland - International Football Facts(Dean Hayes, Collins) which skips lightly through the history of the national team, combining player profiles, reports on the biggest games and pictures and statistics to extensively equip youthful addicts for the classroom, older ones for the pub.

Inverting the Pyramid: The history of football tactics, Jonathan Wilson, Orion, €26.40

More than just a game: Football v Apartheid, Chuck Korr and Marvin Close, Collins, €25.0

Day of the Match, Scott Murray and Rowan Walker, Boxtree, €17.95

Trapattoni: A Life In Football, Egon Theiner and Elizabeth Schammerl, Liberties, €14.99

Black and Blue: How Racism, Drugs and Cancer Almost Destroyed Me, Paul Canoville, Headline, €11.10

European Football Yearbook, edited Mike Hammond, Carlton, €34.50

Almanack of World Football, edited Guy Oliver, Headline, €27.60