When Footballers Were Skint: A Journey in Search of the Soul of Football
£7.70£9.50 (-19%)
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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Additional information
| Publisher | Biteback Publishing (5 Mar. 2019) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 336 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1785904663 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1785904660 |
| Dimensions | 19.7 x 2.3 x 13.1 cm |
by David Rhodes
Although the book was an excellent account of post war football I thought the description of them as being “skint” and “paupers” a bit extreme. The maximum wage of 20 pounds a week was comfortably above the average working man’s wage, (my dad was a PC on 15 pounds a week.in the fifties). Also football in those days was a part time job, I remember most of the Preston North End players at that time had lucrative sidelines. Certainly paupers by comparison with players today but hardly “skint”.
However, this in no way detracts from a thoroughly enjoyable book.
by Partick Potter
The topic is great, but the book is very disappointing. A series of near enough identical bite sized stories of footballers loves before the wealth of the premier league kicked in. There’s an occasional nugget of interest, but as you work your way through the book you feel you’ve heard the story before. As indeed you have. A few pages back.
by christine
My 8 year old grandson was amazed to learn how far football has changed over years. He couldn’t believe how much footballers are paid nowadays to the pittance they got back then. This is a must read for any football fan and also give todays footballers something to reflect on.
by Jamie Barry
My dad really liked this! A far cry from the modern game and important to remember these times ????
by AS
I enjoy football and enjoy a book, although I’ve never been massively interested in wartime/post-war football. This surprised me though, was a great read, and helped to contextualise the modern game relative to the past – I’d recommend this to anyone interested in football history especially.
by St. Francis of Assisi
I certainly remember when footballers were paid a ‘reasonable wage’ for what they did, especially when it was a job that they dreamed of doing. Not many get that chance! I remember John Ritchie coming out of the Players Entrance after a game. Basically looking like my dad apart from Ritchie was smoking a pipe! Times have certainly changed, but at the expense of what? Most clubs had large crowds paying a small amount of money. These days, most clubs have crowds of varying sizes paying far too much money. I don’t blame players for the disparity that now festers the game. I blame the parasites that want easy money from the clubs that benefit from the external sources that pour into the top flight. It’s a very interesting read about how footballers were once just ‘a neighbour next door’. I’m not sure if younger readers would believe it!
by Jjj1947
A great read of football matters in days gone by
by bill taylor
Being a Boomer I found this book excellent from the start to the finish. Great detail in the publication and how much the players were paid and how they lived. Would recommend this for anyone who likes football.