Relegated: One American's Pints-and-Pies Journey from the Top to the Bottom of English Football

by Todd Smith

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Soccer, Memoir, Travel, British Literature, Audiobook

1 pages, Audio CD

Published May 19, 2026

About the author

Todd Smith is the director of a landscaping supply yard in south Minneapolis, the author of Hockey Strong: Stories of Sacrifice from Inside the NHL, and the cowriter of Brave Enough with Olympian Jessie Diggins. He has been a longtime contributing writer for the website of the Minnesota Wild. His work has also appeared in The Rake magazine, Minnesota Monthly, and Twin Cities METRO Magazine, where he penned a print column and a blog covering modern manhood and fatherhood. Smith runs the Donkey Soccer League, a Sunday morning game for assorted nitwits and out-of-shape, middle-aged scalawags in Minneapolis, where Smith lives with his wife and son.

Reviews

[Trentpeeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5- liked the idea more than the execution. Ready for soccer to start again!

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for soccer and travel fans. It’s such a fun ride! Follow along as Todd from America travels in the UK visiting small and big soccer clubs. The best part is the people he meets along the way. And the pies and pints! It’s a heartwarming and adventurous read. Highly recommend.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. A perfect companion to accompany the last two matches of the 2026 World Cup. I will gladly add Todd Smith to my list of authors that I will look for in the quest to build up my To Be Read (TBR) list.

During the tournament this year, I read two books to deepen my knowledge and understanding of the game of football. The first was Roger Bennett's We are the World (Cup), which was a great read during the group stage of the tournament.

To me, one of the most amazing things about English football is the promotion/relegation component. This book does a great job of giving the reader a glimpse into all levels of English football, from the Premier League, the Championship League, League 1, League 2, and the non-League football clubs. The one constant that all the leagues have in common is the promotion/relegation component. This is so unlike anything we have in the U.S. Bad teams lose every year, and nothing happens.

I highly recommend this book to football fans, and aspiring writers alike. Todd gives a great glimpse into the life of the struggling writer.

[John Schorg · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subject matter here -- the hold a team can have on its supporters -- isn't anything new. When it is done well, like it is here, you are reminded of what you love about sports... as well as what drives you nuts about it. There is a section here... about a save Everton's Jordan Pickford makes against Fulham... that does as good a job of describing the sway of emotions in a fan as anything you will read in any of the recent spate of books on the World Cup.

[Mike Steinharter · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a very keen football fan i really enjoyed this. It’s an easy ready, basically a travel memoir through a variety of UKs large and small teams. Great fun to read about.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

You sold your soul to Mickey Mouse! You sold your soul to Mickey Mouse!” the AFC Wimbledon supporters chanted

--

I know and listen to English football watchers but I have never been one myself. Reading this book helped me appreciate how special it can be to support a club. It made me want to visit some of the towns / stadiums.

Also, Twin Cities shoutout 🫶🏼

[Andrew Bahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some flaws with this book. The writing wasn't always the crispest, there were some rather glaring fact errors, and the author seemed torn on whether he was writing a book for people with no relationship to soccer or die hard fans.

But the author's earnestness, passion and charm certainly made up for these shortcomings. If you're looking for a place to turn after the World Cup to get a feel for what makes soccer so special, this is an easy and endearing read.

[Alex Izbiky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was so fun and sincere. Unclear how well it got fact checked, because I caught some pretty big errors, but made me excited to watch some games in the UK later this year.

[Penny A · Rating 5 out of 5]

You need to see the subtitle of this book before I go any further: “One American’s Pints-and-Pies Journey from the Top to the Bottom of English Football.” In other words, a book about what we in the USA call soccer. Which I have never been interested in. Until this book coincided with the FIFA World Cup.

I watched a match on an airplane recently and fell asleep. To me, soccer has always seemed boring, with people running up and down a field with very little – if any – scoring. Rules went over my head (and still do). But thanks to Todd Smith, I now understand the passion shown by fans around the world.

Todd works at Hiawatha Supply in Minneapolis, a landscape supply yard. He’s a blue collar guy who loves soccer. His dad was a trainer for the Minnesota Kicks in the 1970s, and Todd grew up playing the game. What Todd really wants to be is a writer so he decided to marry his love of English football with words. The journey took him across the pond to attend games from Premier League venues to pick-up games through a social media site called Footy Addicts.

“Hi, I’m Todd from America” was his opening line when he met longtime fans. He began at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London with the Spurs facing Burnley. In England (and Scotland) away team fans are seated in a walled-off and different section of the stadium. Todd’s first match put him and his son Murph in a crowd of profanity-filled fans in a glitzy stadium. Amazing athletes, but not what he was looking for.

Next came a match with the Clapton Community Football Club (level 9) at the Old Spotted Dog, in blue-collar East London. There are several levels of football in England, from the Premier league (level 1), and English Football League (levels 2-4) on down to regional and county leagues (below level 10). When teams are doing well, they can move up in the standings – a promotion. When things go sideways, the teams are RELEGATED and drop down a level. What Todd discovered is that relegation affects not only the team, but the community. Funding for athletes or maintenance of the pitch can dry up. Attendance goes down. Bragging rights disappear. The turnaround and climb back up the ladder can take years.

Todd learned about this firsthand by sharing pints and pies with longtime fans, athletes, and landscapers. At Clapton, me met Mick who helped with the pitch. “We have to look for foxholes, fox poo, or anything that could be dangerous.” The men bonded over that.

In Manchester, Todd got a chance to play with a local group of Footy Addicts. At 6:30 a.m. on a cold February morning, he found himself gasping for air running after men like a man from Romania. “He wore a Barcelona kit (uniform) and had the long, thick beard of a Cuban revolutionary. He casually feasted on me for the entire hour. It wasn’t a loud mauling but more of a subtle cleaning, like a hawk delicately picking the meat off the bone of a fresh kill, one piece at a time.”

The Stockport County FC (Football Club) was riding high in their league and hoped to be promoted. Todd bonded with several men at a pub there, and heard from Dave about his history with the club. Dave and his dad attended matches together for decades, until Dave’s mum got sick and his dad felt he needed to stay with her. But in 2019, Stockport “were on the brink of securing their first league title in fifty-two years and being promoted to the National League.” By the time dad was convinced to go with Dave, there was only one ticket left, and it was for a wheelchair seat with an attendant. Dave finally convinced his dad to put his butt in that chair and together they watched the win. When his dad died, Dave got permission to bury the ashes behind the goal where they had sat together for years.

A chapter near the end takes place on the Isle of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides. Mother nature makes the rules there. Pitches are often next to pounding waves and 70 mile per hour winds. Just trying to kick the ball might bring it back into your face. Todd, from Minnesota, almost freezes to death in the icy rain there while his tour guide wears shorts.
He watches a match on TV there from inside a bar where the Rangers (founded 1872, Protestant) face the Celtic (founded 1888, by Irish Catholic immigrants). The Ranger fans are on the second floor, the Celtic fans on the first. It is the most dangerous situation he faces in his entire journey.

Todd from America wanted to be a writer. For a year after this trip, he worked at Hiawatha Supply during the day and wrote at night and on weekends. The labor paid off. This book is a tribute to much more than English (and Scottish) football. It’s about the pride of communities. It’s about the bonding of (mostly) men. It’s about the trajectory of football in England where the success or failure of a team has major consequences. It’s about support from families. It’s about good pints and hot pies. It’s really a book about love.

I think this is the first sports book I have ever reviewed. It was a choice of my Minnesota zoom book club – I never would have chosen it myself. Having read it, I recommend it to readers everywhere who enjoy brisk, colorful writing, an underdog story, traveling from places posh to poor, and soccer itself. It’s a great prelude to the final week of the FIFA World Cup – though I’d rather watch a match at the Old Spotted Dog.

[Gavin Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sublime read about British football, from the sprawling, worldwide teams-cum-brands in the EPL to the local legend clubs of Scotland and everywhere in between, and the people who make it possible. Everyone from the devout groundskeeper to the regular supporter to the casual fan gets a moment to shine.

This book reflects that the game, like its supporters, is not a monolith but truly contains multitudes. From the rabid Grimsby and Everton supporters to the more indifferent Forest Green Rover and Fulham fans, there is no one universal football fan. Todd met with and, in loving and caring detail, gave them all a voice and a place.

Some of the pop culture references felt a bit tortured at times, like saying that 2 defenders reminded him of a scene in Dumb and Dumber, but overall, the passion and love of football and people in general shine through. I enjoyed “Todd From America” as both narrator and character. He was given the nickname early on and carried it with him everywhere he went.


I wanted to give the book 5 stars. The writing was enjoyable but some of the pop culture references felt forced. Similar to how I feel about Ted Lasso, a show that this book has been compared to in other reviews, I loved so much of it that the parts that fell flat were still fun. But a 4-star review felt more appropriate given those minor blemishes. Also I had to ding him for the fact that as someone who proclaims to be a devout football fan, he kept referring to Tottenham as “The Spurs.”

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a fan of English football, you will get through this very quickly!

While Todd and his editors missed some obvious mistakes… typing Lancashire, instead of Lincolnshire… Getting the year of Liverpool’s most recent champions league win mixed up, etc. it’s easily dismissed because you intrinsically feel the passion and interest the l author has in his subject.

Todd is just an average guy - like most of us - who happens to be pretty good at writing! Having recently done a quick five day trip to England with similar desires to his… All I could feel the entire time is how much I would’ve liked to have been on that journey with him!

I definitely would not have fared as well in the pick up soccer games though.

When I think about the amount of research and planning he had to do, this book becomes even more impressive… The farther down he goes in the footballing ladder in both England and Scotland.

My only constructive feedback might be that he didn’t need to spend as much time explaining the concept of relegation, and how the leagues work over there.

My guess is most of the people who picked up this book already know the ins and outs of that part of the game.

Otherwise, definitely worth getting a hold of if you want to take a deeper dive into the culture and communities of English football… The ones that you don’t see on Peacock every Sunday are often much more interesting than the ones that are!

[Larkin Tackett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Todd Smith is a landscaper from Minnesota who wants to be a writer and is a BIG fan of English football (soccer). This is his travelog and sociological review of the relegation system of the more than 7,000 teams in the 11 tiers of the English football pyramid. He visits Grimsby, Arbroath, Brixton, East London (Clapton Community Football Club), Derry, and my Tottenham. Each team has its own history, culture, and tradition with deep connections to the community. It's hard to identify one favorite anecdote or team. Three resonate. First is the Clapton Community Football Club, a members-owned non-league club that plays at the Old Spotted Dog Ground and has a deep commitment to inclusivity and social justice. Second is the overworked groundskeeper in Abroath, Scotland, whose team gets relegated in realtime during Smith's visit. In the immediate aftermath of relegation, the groundskeeper says, "Now we have a chance to go on and do the impossible, which is to get promoted again." Even in the world of relegation, sports offers hope. Finally is Grimsby, which was once known as the worst city in England and was the former largest fishing port in the world. The fans in Grimsby have compelling stories and deep connection to their team. This is a great read (listen) about England fascinating and compelling football culture.

[Sue - Recos and Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up thinking I'd enjoy it as a long time football fan, but really because I wanted to read an Americans take on the whole English football scene.

As someone who grew up in the UK, I always find it fascinating to see how outsiders react to things we barely think twice about. The fierce local rivalries, the tiny clubs with devoted supporters, the obsession with promotion and relegation, the fact that entire weekends can be dictated by the result of a match. Todd approaches it all with genuine curiosity, and I found myself nodding along one minute and laughing the next.

I respect that the book never assumes you already know the sport. Whether you've followed football for decades or couldn't explain the league system if your life depended on it, there's plenty to enjoy here. He manages to make a pretty complex subject feel accessible without oversimplifying it.

The whole thing reads like you're listening to a friend tell stories from a memorable trip. It's light, entertaining, and packed with interesting discoveries along the way.
I'd happily follow Todd on another footballing adventure. There are countless more clubs, towns, and stories out there, so I'm hoping this isn't the end of the journey.

Thank you to Gallery Books for the gifted copy.

[Darwin Froese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Relegated rapidly moved to the top of my Recommended Reading list as I read it, for Football fans and non-Football fans alike it's an interesting read into the depths of English Football and more.

While not a book I would have likely read, I overheard a conversation where someone mentioned it with the, paraphrased, premise "Todd Smith from Minnesota works at a landscaping company and always wanted to be a writer but couldn't quite make it, so he decided to take a tour of England and write about soccer." As someone who has passionately wanted to turn a creative hobby into a career I was sold.

It was incredible to read about the parts of English Football that you don't see, the impact the teams way below the Premier League have on the community, the pride the fans have for their team, and the emotions that promotion and, more importantly, relegation have on each fan. Ending with his second trip back to England and a reflection on his time researching and writing the book was an ending filled with closure as you connected not only with the fans and people living hard lives to do the thing they love most but with the writer, living a hard live to do the thing he loves most.

I can't say enough good things about this book and I look forward to revisiting it in the future.

[Захарченко Віктор · Rating 5 out of 5]

Січень 2024-го, темний вечір на узбережжі Північного моря. Чоловік із Міннеаполіса виходить із таксі біля стадіону, який бачить уперше в житті. Брама здіймається з темряви, наче Чорна брама Мордору - товсті металеві стіни, пофарбовані в чорне. За ними дев’ятсот глядачів зібралися на матч юнацького кубка: вісімнадцятирічні хлопці «Грімсбі Таун» проти ровесників із «Міллволла». Це перша гра команди після того, як в автокатастрофі загинули їхній захисник Кемерон Волш і його батько Дейв. Хлопці виходять на розминку у білих футболках з обличчям Кемерона. Дощ не вщухає весь вечір.

Американця звуть Тодд Сміт, і він приїхав сюди не випадково. «Я обрав Грімсбі, бо хотів побачити футбол там, де зникло те інше, що визначало місто», - пояснює він. Те інше - риба. Колись Грімсбі називав себе найбільшим рибальським портом світу. Тепер від флоту майже нічого не лишилось, а від міста лишився футбольний клуб у четвертому дивізіоні, який тримається за життя так само вперто, як саме місто.

З цього вечора у Грімсбі починається одна з найдивніших книжок про спорт за останні роки. Це не історія про великий футбол. Це історія про те, що залишається, коли все інше пішло.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 details Todd Smith's adventure across England, Scotland, and Wales, connecting with locals over a shared love of football. Smith's heartfelt letter to his favorite sport is full of soul, his joy evident. His exciting account depicts all aspects of the sport from spectating at the highest level to participating in pickup games.

As an American who attended a Tottenham game alongside 60,000 thousand boisterous fans, toasted the team with countless beers in packed bars, and completed the adventurous stadium walk during a London vacation (the tour guides do, in fact, sound like "chipmunks on cocaine"), I immediately connected to how Smith captured the experience in the opening chapter of the book. If he could so wonderfully translate that experience onto paper, I wanted to live vicariously through the rest of his trip, too!

This endearing adventure from packed stadiums to roadside pitches was an entertaining escape - and while I wish I could embark on such a trip, my wallet is rather grateful to settle for this story instead.

Thank you to Gallery Books for the free copy!

[katinameow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not a much of a sports fan and I don’t have a favorite soccer team or football club.
But something in this book compelled me to purchase it from my local bookshop… Was it the title, the maps on the cover and in the introduction (I’m a sucker for a cool map in a book!), the fact that I am an Anglophile, a recent conversation I had with a quiet student who talked to me about soccer for an hour, when I couldn’t even get him to say more than “Hello” for 4 months? (Sidenote: I do credit having binged Ted Lasso for even knowing what relegation is in English Football League.)

I learned a lot and had fun reading this book. I ended up in a deep dive mapping out all the teams based on their EF league levels….

A great read and a book that I will recommend. I also ended with a reading list and have two more books lined up for the summer!

[Elizabeth • LizziePageReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Gallery Books for the gifted copy. Relegated is a must read for fans of English football… but it’s also surprisingly great for anyone who doesn’t know much about it either. The subject is deep (there are thousands of clubs across the English football pyramid), so there’s still plenty here for diehard fans to learn. But it’s also super approachable — he breaks things down in a way that makes it easy to follow without it feeling like a lesson.

The writing style is familiar and a bit cheeky, very on brand for the topic. It has a bit of a Bill Bryson travel series feel, but focused on football. I’d absolutely read a part two — hoping this isn’t the last we see from Todd from America!

[DP DuFour · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, I read this with a hope of itching that soccer craving that is so rare to find in books. Then, as the first chapter unfolded I felt like I was listening to MYSELF! The chapters unfold into a beautiful journey of self-exploration and that dream lifestyle that many of us spend our work week daydreaming about. This is the story of a relatable man, married with older children, who never quite made the dream of becoming an author come true---then found inspiration in his passion, soccer! At times I felt like I was listening to the great and missed Anthony Bourdain, in both wit, intellect and the ability to bring the places he visited to the reader --- you will laugh, smile, cry and for a moment, think, 'I need to go there!'

[Ian Aizman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Working alongside “Todd from America” at Hiawatha Supply, I got a daily glimpse of the grit, determination, and love that went into this book. It was no surprise then, to see that come to life on the page. Todd is a keen and sensitive observer of humans and what drives them, both on the individual level and as collective groups. I did not enter this book as a football fan, but I certainly left as one—having found it impossible not to become enraptured by the storied histories and high stakes matches that come to define cities, towns, communities, and lives. Fantastic read. Incredible journey. “Keep going.”

[Chrisp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad to have found this. Love the subject matter and his transparency around his writing life and how he is just grinding.

(Yet another example though of where I’m not sure why writers think it is interesting to disclose how they feel politically. Whether directly or indirectly through allusion. Some day, hopefully soon, writers, producers, directors, will realize how boring it is - it’s like telling someone about your fantasy football team - no one cares, other than possibly other people who feel the same need. It comes across as needy “please see I am on this side of the aisle”). P

That being said, well done, and what a cool journey!

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though a little disjointed at times, I really enjoyed Smith's memoir of the few months he spent traveling in the UK in the name of understanding soccer fandom better. The Spurs fan in me loves that he started at Tottenham Stadium, but I also appreciated that he played football with locals and went to the games of teams who were not even close to the Premier League (like teams where the players have regular day jobs). I've always loved the way that sports- any sport- can really bring people together whether player or supporter, and soccer is definitely one of the greatest examples of this.

[Jason M. Thornberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part travel guide, part memoir, Relegated is a fascinating and often hilarious journey deep into the outer realms of English football—a journey rendered in beautiful and striking prose. The book is also loaded with funny pop culture references, little-known details about the game, and a study of the small towns, teams, and supporters that make this such a beautiful sport. Smith obviously bleeds football. I’ll be rereading this soon. Relegated is perfect for fans of Among the Thugs, Bloody Confused, Fever Pitch, and Inverting the Pyramid—but it’s also a wonderful primer for newcomers.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid but suffers from the Men in Blazers Paradox: once Rog gets you interested in English football, you immediately no longer need Rog's method of piqueing interest in English football. What I mean: listen to enough FA Cup matches while putzing around on a Saturday morning in the US, and you've heard much or all of this information in some form. And good lord the narrator of the audiobook needs to never try an English accent again. Gets four stars for tenacity.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a non-fiction sports book. I love a humorous travel memoir. Well, Todd Smith, aka Todd from America, nailed both. If you’ve been drawn in by World Cup this summer, and you’re looking for an introduction to the English Football system, or you’re a longtime fan, you’ll love this book. The teams’ histories and the colorful characters up and down the British countryside are vibrant and full of life. Pick up this quick read.

[Katie B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Gallery Books for sending me a free copy!

3.5 stars

We love sports in the US but soccer, better known as football to the rest of the world, has yet to reach super high levels of popularity here. English football is a culture in itself. Todd Smith, a director of a supply yard in Minneapolis, takes you on his journey through the UK as he attends games in the different leagues.

If you enjoy the reality tv show, WELCOME TO WREXHAM, this book is right up your alley. It captures how these football clubs are the heart and soul of their communities. They bring people together and that’s something the author got to witness firsthand as he met some interesting folks along the way. It’s a neat read amd shows what it truly means to be a fan of the sport.

[SheMac · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh ... Rounded up from 2.5. Interesting but not a lot of depth. I would have enjoyed much more history. The author is a little younger than I. When I think of England I inevitably think of WW II bit barely rates a mention here. Wouldn't it have been interesting to learn how football fared during the war, what happened to the players who fought in it, how quickly did the sport rebound?

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a fan of an EFL team stuck in the relegation/promotion swing, I found a lot to love about this book. The audiobook read is so flat I was initially convinced it was AI (and bad AI at that). The author’s passion does not come through in the narrator’s performance, and it left me wishing the author had read it himself.

[Vince Barnaba · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books I have read over the last decade. As a fellow American fan of English soccer (#UTFT) this one checked off of the boxes for me. Todd’s travels and experiences are motivating me to make a trip of my own to see games in England in towns and featuring teams many can’t even begin to locate on a map.

[Cole Thorpe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 3.5

It was a very quick and easy read, and overall was very fun. It got me excited for the next season of English football! And now I want to go to a random League Two, Newport County AFC game to really get the atmosphere.

I do wish there was a bit more substance. It was quite short and I would've enjoyed learning more about the clubs he visited and their history and circumstances.