Football
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When Footballers Were Skint: A Journey in Search of the Soul of Football
Shortlisted for The Telegraph Sports Book Awards 2019
Long before perma-tanned football agents and TV mega-rights ushered in the age of the multimillionaire player, footballers wages were capped even the game’s biggest names earned barely more than a plumber or electrician.
Footballing legends such as Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews shared a bond of borderline penury with the huge crowds they entertained on Saturday afternoons, on pitches that were a world away from the pristine lawns of the game’s modern era. Instead of the gleaming sports cars driven by today’s top players, the stars of yesteryear travelled to matches on public transport and returned to homes every bit as modest as those of their supporters. Players and fans would even sometimes be next-door neighbours in a street of working-class terraced houses.
Based on the first-hand accounts of players from a fast-disappearing generation, When Footballers Were Skint delves into the game’s rich heritage and relates the fascinating story of a truly great sporting era.
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£7.70£9.50 -
Winner Stays On: England with the FA Cup for a Compass
Winner Stays On journeys into the heart of English football using FA Cup fixtures to plan the route.
This unique adventure takes us across the entire spectrum of the English game, from Tuffley Rovers to Burton Albion, Luton Town to Manchester City, revealing the people and places that make football tick. With original research and rich, thought-provoking prose, the book blends elements of travel writing with football culture and barstool sociology. It’s also funny.
A frank account of the state of modern football as well as a heartfelt celebration, the book uncovers where the game is going wrong. Amateur footballers are afforded the same curiosity as Premier League stars; faltering industrial towns are treated with the same respect as upmarket villages and prosperous, world-leading cities.
Over 14 matches and 14 locations, Winner Stays On brings us a fascinating first-hand take on modern England and the sport its inhabitants turn to for escapism.
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£14.20
