Il est le fils d'un dentiste irlandais juif[1]. Alors qu'il est encore adolescent et étudiant à l'école publique Charterhouse, il se lance dans le journalisme sportif freestyle. En Italie, à 17 ans, il devient assistant au Corriere dello Sport.
Il publie son premier livre en 1950, alors qu'il n'a pas 20 ans; il s'agit d'une biographie du joueur Cliff Bastin.
Television Documentaries: European Centre Forward, 1963[2].
Autres
Cliff Bastin Remembers, with Cliff Bastin. Londres, Ettrick Press, 1950.
Arsenal Football Club, Londres, Convoy, 1952.
Soccer Nemesis, Londres, Secker et Warburg, 1955.
World Cup, with Jerry Weinstein. Londres, Hale, 1958.
Over the Bar, with Jack Kelsey. Londres, Paul, 1958.
Soccer round the Globe, Londres, Abelard Schuman, 1959.
Know about Football (for children). Londres, Blackie, 1963.
World Football Handbook (annual), Londres, Hodder et Stoughton, 1964; Londres, Mayflower, 1966–72; Londres, Queen Anne Press, 1974.
People in Sport, Londres, Secker et Warburg, 1967.
Soccer: A History of the Game, Its Players, et Its Strategy, NewYork, Crown, 1968; as Soccer: A Panorama, Londres, Eyre et Spottiswoode, 1969.
The Puffin Book of Football (for children), Londres, Penguin, 1970; revised edition, 1984.
Goalkeepers Are Different (for children), Londres, Hamish Hamilton, 1971; New York, Crown, 1972.
Brian Glanville's Book of World Football, Londres, Dragon, 1972.
The Sunday Times History of the World Cup, Londres, Times Newspapers, 1973; as History of the Soccer World Cup, New York, Macmillan, 1974; revised edition, as The History of the World Cup, Londres, Faber, 1980, 1984; revised edition, as The Story of the World Cup, Londres, Faber, 1997.
The Sunday Times World Football Handbook 1976, Londres, Playfair, Queen Anne Press, (1975?).
Target Man (for children), Londres, Macdonald et Jane's, 1978.
The Puffin Book of Footballers, Londres, Penguin, 1978; revised edition, as Brian Glanville's Book of Footballers, 1982.