John Aizlewood
Non-fiction writer
About
John Aizlewood is an author, journalist, editor and broadcaster specialising in sport, music and culture. He compiled, edited and contributed to Love Is the Drug (Penguin, 1994), where a collection of revered writers explained how their musical devotion changed their lives forever. In 1998, Playing at Home (Orion) found him visiting each of the 92 clubs in the English Football League in one season. Since then, he’s written acclaimed biographies of Joy Division/New Order (Decades, Palazzo, 2021) and Radiohead (Life in a Glasshouse, Palazzo, 2022). His fifth book, Before You Go (Pitch, 2025) focuses on the relationship between football and parenting.
As a journalist, John Aizlewood was an editor at Q magazine for over a decade and since then has contributed to a host of publications including The Times/Sunday Times, Daily/Sunday Telegraph, the Guardian, i Paper, Radio Times, Evening Standard, Blender, Mojo and Classic Rock, writing on a wide selection of topics, interviewing the famous from Beyoncé and Kurt Cobain to David Beckham and Kevin De Bruyne and reporting on sports from football to netball. He has also lectured on sports journalism at London Met University, wrote two series of The Pop Years for Sky, plus scripts for Top of the Pops 2.
Additionally, John Aizlewood also takes part in the Football Writers’ Association mentor programme, assisting and advising budding sports journalists. He lives within earshot of the M25 with his wife, children, needy dog and ungrateful cat and is an expert on the school run.