The Heyday Of The Football Annual by Ian Preece

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The Heyday Of The Football Annual by Ian Preece

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Summary

Brings together the best of a publishing phenomenon from the golden age of football, with insightful commentary, historical context and beautiful visuals.

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The Heyday Of The Football Annual by Ian Preece

The Independent's Best Sports Book of the Year, 2015 Christmas Day 1959 and legions of schoolboys up and down the country feverishly unwrapped the very first Topical Times Football Book. On the cover Bobby Charlton smacked a leather ball out of a pillar-box red background and, although this wasn't the first yearbook, it heralded the golden age of the Christmas football annual. As the sixties progressed, the shelves in Woolworth's and the local newsagent began to bulge with titles reflecting the expanding, exciting world of football - Charles Buchan's Soccer Gift Book nestled next to the International Football Book and the Midlands Soccer Annual. These annuals were educational and insightful, taking the reader into the changing rooms, the supporters' club lounges, and the manager's mind ahead of a tough season. Beautifully illustrated, they helped shape the football consciousness of a generation. In The Heyday of The Football Annual Ian Preece and Doug Cheeseman bottle the essence of these publications. They travel back in time to a world where Forfar Athletic and Doncaster Rovers had equal billing with Manchester United and Arsenal, where debate raged over the use of goal average, and Huddersfield v Carlisle was the main game on Match of the Day. Along the way, leading football writers Richard Williams, Jonathan Wilson, Patrick Collins and Derek Hammond, among others, share their memories - not only of 'soccer' annuals but of an era when the unveiling of Dundee's new stand was deemed worthy of a two-page spread, and Scunthorpe's pre-season tour to Ibiza merited a lengthy feature. This was a world where footballers grew chrysanthemums for a hobby, drank tea down the local café to pass the time, and Coventry City were the go-ahead club of the future. For better, and (certainly) for worse, it's a world long gone.
Almost every page contains an invitation to compare past with present, and sometimes to engage in an argument. . [an] excellent book -- Richard Williams * Guardian *
A fine new hardback . . . relates the history of the genre in all its colourful glory * Newcastle Chronicle *

Ian Preece commissioned and edited sport, music and non-fiction books for Victor Gollancz, then Orion, for twenty years. He is now a freelance editor for the Blizzard (books), Icon and others, and has written for When Saturday Comes and Caught by the River.

Doug Cheeseman worked at When Saturday Comes from 1988 to 1998. A freelance graphic designer he has won the 'Illustrated Sports Book of the Year' award three times, for Football Days, 1966 Uncovered and '61 - The Spurs Double.

SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781472114945
ISBN 10 1472114949
Title The Heyday Of The Football Annual
Author Ian Preece
Condition Unavailable
Binding type Hardback
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Year published 2015-09-24
Number of pages 256
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note Unavailable