Alex Wade 
Season on the Med 
Football Where the Sun Always Shines

A Season on the Med: Riviera Football in Italy and France (With a Trip to Athens for Stan) is a story of football where the sun always shines — with a difference. In the wake of Brexit, writer Alex Wade decamped to Menton, the last town on the Cote d’Azur. During a swim between France and Italy, he realised two things. An array of great football clubs — from Nice, Marseille and Monaco to Genoa, Sampdoria and Spezia — were on his doorstep on the French and Italian Rivieras. Plus his hero, Queens Park Rangers’ talisman Stan Bowles, once played on the Med. Wade embarked on a journey of discovery to experience Riviera football over the 2021/22 season, with two questions in mind. Is football on the Med more laid-back, languid and amiable than elsewhere? And could he make it to Athens in a tribute to Bowles? Eloquently written with a blend of reportage, travelogue and memoir, A Season on the Med ends in Brumano, Italy, as Wade captures the spirit of Riviera football and confronts the meaning of heroism.