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HarperNorth acquires story of Aston Villa's rebirth from Gregg Evans and Matt Maher
HarperNorth has acquired the story of Aston Villa’s rebirth from Gregg Evans and Matt Maher. Editorial director for HarperNorth Jonathan de Peyer acquired world all-language rights to Waking the Giant: Inside the Rebirth of Aston Villa direct from the authors. The book will publish in hardback, e-book and audio in May 2025, just as the Premier League season ends.
Waking the Giant will tell the inside story of the revival of Aston Villa, from when it was "facing financial oblivion" just six years ago to the present day when the club is topping the newly-reorganised Champions League table. The book tracks the last-minute takeover by billionaire duo Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens – which saved the club – through the promotion and Premier League survival inspired by supporter Dean Smith and up to their return to the European elite under Unai Emery.
De Peyer said: "Aston Villa has been the standout success story of the last couple of years, playing exciting football and energising an enormous and very loyal fanbase. Gregg and Matt are the perfect duo to tell this story, combining great relationships with the club hierarchy and the players with invaluable local knowledge about what makes football so important to so many in their city."
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Evans writes for The Athletic and the New York Times and before that he covered west Midlands football for Reach PLC. He’s also a regular on the 1874 Aston Villa podcast. Maher is chief sports writer at the Express & Star and has covered sport in the West Midlands for more than 15 years, and was named regional sports writer of the year in 2021.
Evans said: "Aston Villa’s return to elite-level European competition has captivated the fanbase and created a hype at Villa Park that hasn’t been seen for decades. So much has happened to arrive at this point and I’m really excited and privileged to tell the story."
Maher said: "As a journalist you crave a good story, and covering Aston Villa since 2018 we truly have been spoiled, whether it be winding-up orders, last-ditch takeovers, record-breaking runs, dramatic escapes from relegation or upsetting the odds to qualify for the Champions League. This book is our chance to tell in full one of English football’s most remarkable and unlikely success stories of recent times."
