News of the World Football Annual 1974/75

I've often argued that British football had far more in the way of strong personalities in the 1970's, and this little book proves my point nicely. It was published on the eve of the 1974/75 season and everywhere you looked there was an important someone somewhere doing something of note.

Frank Butler, Sports Editor for the News of the World was first up to sing the praises of Joe Mercer, one of the acknowledged nice guys of the domestic game in England. Mercer, nearing his sixtieth birthday, had just completed his spell as caretaker manager of England. With three wins and three draws from his seven games in charge (not to mention a shared British Home Championship with Scotland in 1974), some were wondering whether there was any need for Don Revie to take over permanently.

Certainly the players in the England squad at the time were happy to acknowledge his casual style of leadership. 'Uncle Joe' merely wanted them to enjoy playing and to express themselves with flair and skill on the pitch. "The side played with a new freedom" said Butler, "without tension and even England's most severe critics agreed the team would have done well in the World Cup."

Commendable though his reputation was, it's dubious to suggest that Mercer would have made a better job of qualifying for the Finals in West Germany than his immediate predecessor, Sir Alf Ramsey, or even his successor, Don Revie. For all that, the FA wouldn't have made many easier decisions than picking the former Leeds United manager, given his brilliant record with the Elland Road club. "[First Division] Champions in 1969 and 1974, they were runners-up on five occasions - 1965, '66, '70, '71 and '72" the Annual told us, "and never, during the last six years of the Revie regime, did they finish out of the top three."

Interestingly, the Annual was quick to point out Revie's acknowledgement that he'd been prejudiced against international football while at Leeds. "It was rarely easy for the last manager, Sir Alf Ramsey, to secure Leeds players for England games, and even Revie now admits that on the question of releasing players for the national team: 'Nobody has been more guilty than me personally at Leeds.'"

Revie's former club captain Billy Bremner wrote of his eagerness to take part in the European Cup, but even he couldn't have foreseen the eventful season that was to come. To begin with, he'd have to face the indignity of being sent off in the Charity Shield match along with Kevin Keegan in Brian Clough's first game in charge. Bremner's new manager would also face dismissal, only 44 days after replacing Revie, and with Jimmy Armfield finally picked to replace Clough, Leeds were almost eliminated in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup against non-league Wimbledon. Though they eventually reached the quarter finals, it was the European Cup that ultimately proved their main shot at glory. Sadly for Bremner, Leeds Unitedwere defeated 2-0 by Bayern Munich in what can only be described as a contentious Final for any number of different reasons.

Back on the international front, Scotland were having to regroup after a disappointing World Cup during the summer of 1974. Patrick Collins, writing for the News of the World, was philosophical about what lay in store for the Scots. "The next stage will be the important one, for it will tell us if they mean to learn from their experiences of Dortmund and Frankfurt, or if they are content to be known as the side which might have made a real impression if only goal average had been kinder."

He went on: "But, as events in West Germany demonstrated, there are genuine signs that they intend to live in the real world where games are not decided by tanner ba' players, and where they do not reward you with the World Cup because you happened to beat England. It may just be that Scottish football is about to set off in a new and exciting direction... the season ahead will show us how they are preparing for that journey." The records show that Scotland went on to win only three of their next nine games, and it wouldn't be until late 1975 that Willie Ormond's team would return to some truly convincing form.

A quick look through the statistical pages of the News of the World Annual provides the usual fascinating snapshot of who was at the top and bottom of their game as the 1974/75 season was about to start. Manchester United were gearing up for life in the Second Division after finishing 21st of 22 teams in 1973/74. Heading in the opposite direction, Luton Town and Carlisle United were set to begin a rare campaign in the First Division, and though they were both relegated at the end of it, they did at least bring a fresh feel to top flight football that season.

As for the previous season, 1973/74, the Football Diary feature in the Annual provides a great summary of the events that took place and the state of the English game. Here are a few highlights:

6 Sept 1973 - "George Best returns yet again to Manchester United, promising never to run away again and revealing that his return to football was prompted by a visit by Sir Matt Busby."

26 Sept 1973 - Scotland qualify "for the World Cup Finals for the first time since 1958 with a 2-1 win over Czechoslovakia"

15 Oct 1973 - "English football begins its most traumatic week for many seasons with the news that Brian Clough has resigned as manager of Derby County."

17 Oct 1973 - "England go out of the World Cup. Despite making all the running in the decisive Wembley match against Poland, they can only manage a 1-1 draw. Sir Alf Ramsey says: "If I could play the match again, I would do the same. The team played as well as it could have played.""

21 Oct 1973 - "Poland are beaten 1-0 by the Republic of Ireland in Dublin."

22 Oct 1973 - "Ipswich manager Bobby Robson turns down the vacant managership of Derby and Derby players deliver a letter to the directors demanding the return of Clough and Taylor."

23 Oct 1973 - "Astonishing scenes at Derby as the players demand to see the board, then Dave Mackay, manager of Nottingham Forest, is appointed new manager."

2 Nov 1973 - "Brian Clough becomes the new manager of Third Division Brighton at a reported £15,000 a year."

21 Nov 1973 - "Derby players pull back from the brink of another threat. They had threatened to boycott training sessions at the club before their match with Leeds."

29 Dec 1973 - "Leeds draw 1-1 at Birmingham and establish a new record First Division start to a season of 23 games without defeat."

3 Jan 1974 - "The first big shock of 1974 - Chelsea place Peter Osgood and Alan Hudson on the transfer list after a training row. George Best fails even to make training and goes missing from Manchester United again."

6 Jan 1974 - "The great Sunday soccer experiment - prompted by the power crisis - gets under way. Four FA Cup ties are played and each club attracts its biggest gate of the season."

20 Jan 1974 - "Sunday League football gets under way - and nine of the twelve home clubs are rewarded with their largest gates of the season."

24 Jan 1974 - "George Best, transfer-listed by Manchester United, decides to give up the game for good."

23 Feb 1974 - "Leeds lose their first League match of the season, by 3-2 at Stoke. Their run had stood at 29 unbeaten games."

14 Mar 1974 - "Bobby Moore leaves West Ham and joins Fulham for £25,000."

24 Apr 1974 - "Leeds are the League champions, securing their title by virtue of Arsenal's success over Liverpool at Anfield."

1 May 1974 - "Sir Alf Ramsey is sacked as manager of England. Joe Mercer takes over as caretaker manager."

...which neatly brings us full circle. 1974/75 would have to go a long way to match the rollercoaster of events of the previous season, but with the likes of Revie, Clough, Bremner and Keegan constantly in the spotlight, it would never be far away from the headlines.

The Football Attic Book Club

Not so long ago, we announced to an unsuspecting public that we were planning to record a Football Attic Podcast on the subject of football books. We asked for suggestions, memories, opinions and recommendations on books that are well read and well appreciated.

The response we got from you was nothing short of exceptional - in fact we got so many responses that we simply couldn't find a way to read them all out during our podcast.

And that's why we've created this blog post - to provide a go-to place all of your football book recommendations, comments and suggestions, should the need for literary inspiration ever strike.

If you want to provide us with further recommendations of your own or if you can provide feedback about one of the books mentioned, please leave us a comment at the foot of the page. Failing that, if any of you would like to review a football book for The Football Attic, that would be excellent too - just drop us a line to admin [at] thefootballattic [dot] com. We look forward to hearing from you!

And now, here's what you told us...

Terry Duffelen: ‘All Played Out: The Full Story of Italia 90’ by Pete Davies. “This book probably had the biggest effect on me. I really enjoyed the frankness of some of the interviews and Davies' account of the Italia 90 semi defeat has stuck with me forever.”

Steve Gabb: ‘Only a Game?' by Eamon Dunphy. “Great autobiography covering a couple of years in Dunphy's career playing as a journeyman midfielder for Millwall (in the Second Division) during the 70s. It's a really insightful read and made me understand a lot more about how footballers think. Though how relevant it is to modern day footballers, I'm not sure.”

‘A Season with Verona’ by Tim Parks. “A great introduction to Italian football and also covers a lot on Italian politics.”

Dixie Dean's biography: “I've always been fascinated by football in the early part of the 20th century. Dean's biog is great. It covers his famous 60 goal season as well as incidents such as crashing his motorbike, having a metal plate inserted into his head, making his come-back three weeks later (and scoring the winning goal - with a header). The first comic book hero. Great read. Eddie Hapgood's is also an interesting read, the first footballer biography.

Victorian Football Miscellany: “A collection of news articles and match reports printed in the late 19th century. Fascinating stuff and gives a wonderful insight into how football began in the UK.”

Stuart Howard-Cofield: “For the sheer beauty of the writing and making you look at football in a completely different way- almost as art - Eduardo Galeano's collection of essays ‘Football in Sun and Shadow: An Emotional History of World Cup Football’ is a treat.

“I loved ‘The Miracle of Castel di Sangro: A Tale of Passion and Folly in the Heart of Italy’ for the drama, and ‘A Season with Verona’ by Tim Parks is a great look at Italian fan culture, mixed with a travelogue.

“Also, the Hunter Davies collection ‘The Second Half’, which was left at my local rail station's waiting room book exchange. It was the inspiration for me starting [Stuart's website] grumpyoldfan.net”

Greg Johnson: "'Football In Sun And Shadow.’ Written by Uruguayan poet and author Eduardo Galeano it's a really vivid and visual read that's written almost like an experiential literary critique, but it never loses any insights, direction or its connection with reality. It's packed with history context on the game's development in South America and Europe, including socio-economic factors and also takes on the more aesthetic, slippery side of football in the most satisfying and thoughtful way I've ever come across. Couldn't recommend it enough, and it's a great change of pace to your standard football history, tactics or anthropology titles."

“Both of Musa Okwonga's books, 'A Cultured Left Foot' and 'Will You Manage?' are excellent reads. The books are both written as investigation/debates into what is required to become a great player and manager respectively. They're really lucid but full of anecdotes and information from first hand sources, sometimes from backgrounds and angles you wouldn't expect.”

James Bartaby: “Paolo Di Canio's autobiography is a good read, as is ‘Manslaughter United: A Season With A Prison Football Team’, a book by Chris Hulme.

Michael Chapman: 'How Football Explains The World' by Franklin Foer. I really enjoyed it but I was obviously a convert since childhood; but I loan it to everyone who asks me 'why soccer?'"

Kevin Bell: "Footballeur "by" Robert Pires sticks on my mind as the most dull book I've ever read. Title spelling is best bit! Also Harry Pearson's 'The Far Corner: A Mazy Dribble Through North-East Football'. Football has changed loads since it was written and on re-reading it feels nostalgic."

Phil Lucky: "'The Beautiful Game? Searching for the Soul of Football' by David Conn is an eye opener. Robert Enke's bio ('A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke' by Ronald Reng) is brilliantly written, very sad. 'Fever Pitch' by Nick Hornby is an obvious classic; Cass Pennant's is good; 'The Football Factory' by John King; Enke's is my fav though. Cried like a baby."

Mark Biram: "So many! 'The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer' by David Goldblatt, 'Calcio: A History of Italian Football' by John Foot, 'Feet of the Chameleon' by Ian Hawkey and 'Behind the Curtain: Travels in Eastern European Football' by Jonathan Wilson.

Simon Robertson: "Mine would be 'Soccer Club Colours' by Martin Tyler and more recently John Devlin's 'True Colours.' I also remember a series of kid's football books by Michael Hardcastle ('Scorton Rovers')

Richard: "I haven't read too many, but Jason Cowley's 'The Last Game: Love, Death and Football' is very good. 'Fever Pitch' is probably my favourite. Oh, and I'm not sure it counts, but John King's 'The Football Factory' is superb."

Andy Lee: "'Got, Not Got: The A-Z of Lost Football Culture, Treasures and Pleasures' by Derek Hammond and Gary Silke - it's The Football Attic in book form..."

Daniel Burdett: ‘The Rothmans Football Yearbook’ - “that was the Bible of football information each year before the internet.”

Seán Flannagan: "‘Inverting the Pyramid (The History of Football Tactics)’ by Jonathan Wilson, ‘Jumpers for Goalposts: How football sold it's soul’ by Rob Smyth, and ‘The Miracle of Castel Di Sangro: A Tale of Passion and Folly in the Heart of Italy’ by Joe McGinniss."

Andrew Rockall: 'Provided You Don't Kiss Me: 20 Years with Brian Clough' by Duncan Hamilton or Robin Friday's story 'The Greatest Player You Never Saw' by Paul McGuigan

Giles Metcalfe: 'Football Against the Enemy' by Simon Kuper and 'The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw' by Paul McGuigan

Michael Oliver: ‘My Father and Other Working Class Heroes’ by Gary Imlach

Gary Silke: ‘Soccer Tribe’ by Desmond Morris (for pictures), ‘Fever Pitch’ by Nick Hornby (for words)

Geoffrey Vivian: ‘Only a Game?' by Eamon Dunphy

Rob Stokes: 'Goalkeepers Are Different' by Brian Glanville

Football Shirt World: 'Up Pohnpei: Leading the ultimate football underdogs to glory' by Paul Watson

Mighty Tractor: "Kids' book called ‘One Nil’ by Tony Bradman. Classic story."

Steve Coe: The 'When Saturday Comes' collections and books

John Devlin: ‘True Colours Volumes 1 & 2’

Yes, well you would say that, John...

Al Gordon recommended the following:

Left Foot Forward - Garry Nelson

Apart from being centered around Charlton, this book shows a far less glamorous side to the English professional game. We take footballers for granted but it's not the easy life we all presume, especially when you're close to hanging your boots up. Where will the next contract come from and will you have to pull your children out of their school when and if you sign it? Not to mention one more knock on that knee and it's game over for good.
A year in the life of a journeyman footballer, it's stressful but you want change it for the world.

The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw -  Paul McGuigan

Cross George Best with Frank Worthington and you'll still fall short of the player that was Robin Friday. Throw in a little Keith Richards and you'll be getting warmer. Sex, drugs, rock'n'roll, booze, more sex, prison, and a little football and you've got a story of the most unbelievable of all footballers.
As you'd expect from a hell raiser like this he died far too young, it's very unlikely you'd know anyone who watched him play and perhaps the most bizarre bit of all, he did it in middle class Berkshire.

More Than Just A Game: Football v Apartheid - Charles Korr

Robben Island prison. We've all heard the stories, conditions not much different to the Nazi concentration camps from World War II. One thing kept those prisoners going, one thing gave them hope, football. It's not unheard of for inmates around the world to play football matches remember the Porridge motion picture spin off) but on Robben Island they formed teams and even a structured league. The most moving football book you'll ever pick up.

ITV Saturday Soccer Special Annual, 1980

If, as a child, you saw this slim tome in your local bookshop back in 1980, you might have expected it to contain articles about football and ITV’s presentation of it. Sadly for anyone interested in The Big Match or On The Ball, this book featured only one such article, and at no point did it even mention Jim Rosenthal. Devastating as this is, I beg you to read on.

This was, in real terms, a football annual much like those produced by Shoot or Match years ago, but it’s distinction derived from the fact that it was a one-off - published purely to coincide with ITV taking over the prime Saturday night highlights slot from the BBC.

The acquisition of those TV rights came to be known as ‘Snatch of the Day’ as it was the first time the BBC’s Match of the Day had not been bumped from its traditional slot in the schedules. Having finally been given the go-ahead to switch from Sunday afternoons, The Big Match was finally where it wanted to be, and to celebrate, it produced... a children’s football annual.

They could have called it ‘The Big Match Annual’ (as a few other books had been in the mid-1970’s) but clearly the aim was to reinforce the word ‘Saturday’, as if ITV had finally laid their hands on the holy grail. Having emblazoned that on the front cover, they also included a nicely painted composition by Bill Ireland representing the home footballing nations. The ever-present image of Kevin Keegan took centre stage as you’d expect, while around him Kenny Dalglish, Terry Yorath, Peter Shilton and a couple of other less identifiable types were depicted doing their thing too.

This being the early-80’s, it was almost against the law to publish a football annual without Kevin Keegan in it, and this one didn't disappoint. Inside we were told why Keegan chose to sign for Southampton on July 1, 1980 rather than the other clubs that were said to be after his signature, namely Barcelona, Juventus, Chelsea and Liverpool.

Aside from the chance to play at The Dell alongside his England teammate Mick Channon, “private chats with Johan Cruyff convinced him Barcelona would expect too much from him for the fistful of pesetas he would get” or so we were led to believe. In addition, Italy was “torn by internal strife and terrified by kidnappings, bombings and murders in recent years” while Liverpool couldn't offer Keegan anything new by way of a challenge because he’d won everything there first time around.

As for Chelsea, they weren't guaranteed to get promotion from the Second Division in 1979/80 (they would ultimately miss out on goal difference) so in the following season “Keegan would have been appearing at Second Division clubs like Oldham, Cardiff, Bolton and Orient. Clearly a waste of the great man’s talent.” Ouch.

Talent was something very much on the mind of Denis Law, according to the annual. The former Man United and Man City star was pondering the dearth of skilful British players apparently seen more widely in in previous decades. The reason, Law surmised, was down to coaching. “Players like Bobby Charlton, George Best and Tom Finney never had any coaching” he said. “Look at their skills, their class and natural ability - it came through without any of the fanatical coaching people demand today.”

There was, it seemed, only one way to improve matters in the mind of The Law Man: “The sooner we throw out coaches, the better. The flair isn't there anymore and I am concerned it is because of the craving for coaches.” A curiously controversial view, and one that the average 15-year-old may have been at a loss to comprehend.

A happier man was Tony Woodcock. His move to Cologne had been all the more successful because of the determination to succeed shown by Kevin Keegan before him. ‘Keegan was virtually shunned by his Hamburg team-mates who even refused to pass to him during club matches’ said the annual. Woodcock continued: “Everyone knew the problems he was having and when he finally won through the following season, they really admired him for his determination.”

“Kevin’s battle at Hamburg certainly made life a lot easier for me, I realise that” he went on. “It will be the same for any more English players who come out here - they’re bound to find a more sensible and realistic attitude from the German players who can make or break such a move.” Tell that to Man City’s Dave Watson who, it was noted, went home to Southampton only a matter of weeks after joining Werder Bremen.

Elsewhere in the annual, John Burridge explained why his rigorous fitness regime enabled him to keep in tip-top condition as he travelled around the UK looking for another club to join (sorry - might have made that last bit up) while Sunderland manager Ken Knighton stated why he was intent on keeping the Roker Park club in the top flight with nothing but success as his main priority. “If Sunderland hasn't made progress within three years, I don’t deserve to be in charge anymore” said Knighton. After a series of disputes with the club chairman, Knighton and his assistant Frank Clark left Sunderland Football club just a few months after the annual was published.

John Richards, meanwhile, was extolling the virtues of a growing partnership between himself and Andy Gray. Wolves had won the League Cup in 1980 on the back of it and had finished sixth in the First Division. They’d even played in the UEFA Cup during September 1980, albeit going out after a home and away tie against PSV Eindhoven.

Richards said of record signing Gray: “He cost us a bomb but helped us win the League Cup and that was the first effect. Now we aim for the League Championship title.” When this annual was published, there were still five months of the 1980-81 season left to be played, but when it ended, Wolves were 18th in the First Division - just two places above the relegation zone. The following season saw them relegated to the Second Division, yet Gray and Richards remained at the club until it regained its place in the top flight in 1983.

ITV’s Saturday Soccer Special Annual certainly wasn't found wanting in its provision of articles, even providing a brief outline of Ipswich Town’s plan to become ‘Team of the Eighties’ and the role of smaller regional clubs like Brentford, Stockport and Tranmere to provide the talent for their bigger local rivals - but what about that one article on ITV itself?

Step forward Brian Moore to explain the fresh challenge of broadcasting a football show on Saturday nights instead of Sunday afternoons: “We had to gear our thinking much more to a totally hard news programme, plus plenty of action from three games” he said.

“Presenting three games on Saturday night was a new idea. The BBC had only shown two matches, plus some occasional film from another match. But covering three games fully meant a far wider spectrum” said Moore. “The BBC set a high standard for us to follow, make no mistake about that. But I feel they didn't go deeply enough into the stories arising from the Saturday matches.” Frank views indeed.

On an operational level, Brian Moore found his whole work routine transformed. “After commentating on a top match, he has his commitments to World of Sport, which involve a comprehensive after-match summary report. Then after lining up and doing the necessary interviews, it’s off from the ground at around 6pm... Brian likes to write his own scripts and then have something to eat. A change of clothes after that, and the clock is already ticking on to 8.30 or 9pm and it’s time for rehearsals.” After that, Moore could be seen presenting the live show on LWT after 10pm - a long day indeed for ITV’s main commentator.

In many ways, that level of commitment and professionalism shines through in this football annual. Everything’s well written and the presentation is neat and smart. Unfortunately one is left with the feeling that the book lacks a little soul - as if the book was conceived and produced by a committee of senior managers rather than football writers and designers.

Perhaps it’s just as well, then, that this was a one-off attempt by ITV to make a football annual. They didn't do a bad job, but to be as frank as Brian Moore himself, they were never going to match Shoot’s passion for football writing that kids loved for years long before and since.

Videoblog 3: European Football Yearbook 95/96

Chris O plucks another item from his personal football memorabilia collection. This time it's the European Football Yearbook 95/96, a thick, chunky book full of stats, information and most importantly, football kit illustrations...

Match of the Day Soccer Annual 1979

Mike Channon’s favourite edition of Match of the Day was the one shown on the evening after the 1976 FA Cup Final. He was busy celebrating with his Southampton team-mates but, said Channon, “I cheated a bit and asked a friend to record both the match and the programme in the evening on a video tape recording machine I had just acquired.”

This, friends, was 1978, an era when VCRs were as rare as the hairs on Bruce Forsythe’s head, yet Mick Channon wasn't the only player to watch his favourite MOTD on tape. Colin Lee did likewise in 1977 after Tottenham’s 9-0 win over Bristol Rovers - a match in which Lee scored four:

“I can’t remember a great deal about the game itself, although a supporter taped Match of the Day and gave it me as a souvenir. I don’t have a recording machine myself, but I have a friend who has one and we've watched it a couple of times. It’s unbelievable.”

Ah, did we ever live in a world where VCRs were considered ‘new-fangled technology’...?

Further on in this Match of the Day Annual for 1979 (printed in 1978, stat fans), we find the article ‘Scotland The Brave’. Here, some education is provided for us English types about Sportscene. This was Scotland’s alternative to Match of the Day itself and, presented by Archie MacPherson, it had several differences that we Anglophiles wouldn't have been aware of.

According to the feature, a typical half-hour show would have contained “...fifteen minutes or so from the chosen [Scottish] Premier League fixture of the afternoon... the odd snatch from a rugby international or other non-soccer sporting event that Grandstand cameras might have conveniently collected during the day, and then ten minutes from the preferred English match out of Match of the Day’s clutch for the night.”

There were also technical limitations that restricted Sportscene’s ability to provide quality programming: “Slow-motion replays - such a feature of Match of the Day talk-ins - are as yet unknown in the north - for the simple reason that the BBC’s only slow-motion replay unit is safely locked up in London!”  Probably best to nip round to Mick Channon’s house: he’s got a VCR with a slow-motion function on it...

‘Goals of the Season’ needed no introduction and didn’t get one either - it was a feature that diagrammatically described all the winning goals in MOTD’s history up to that point, along with some incidental text to flesh the piece out. Another feature was ‘Short Passes’ in which we’re presented with interesting and amusing facts about BBC’s longest-running football show. Here’s an example:

“It was a woman who was responsible for Match of the Day including the manager’s name in their pre-match team line-up. Mrs Lillian Bruce from Harrow, Middlesex, wrote asking the production team to do it - and they latched onto her suggestion.” Tell that to your mates down at the pub the next time the conversation goes quiet....

After the sort of quiz that cropped up in virtually every football annual ever made, there was a feature called ‘Switched on Fans’ about celebrities that supported football clubs. Surely the biggest name of all back then was Eric Morecambe, a man who was never happier than when he was referring to his beloved Luton Town while on-screen with Ernie Wise. Right enough, he opened the piece:

“I always watch Match of the Day - every Sunday afternoon!” said Morecambe. “Officially it’s in my ITV contract that I've got to watch Star Soccer or The Big Match - but unofficially I sneak a look at Jimmy Hill. The last time I saw anything like that on Jimmy Hill’s chin the whole herd had to be destroyed.”

In ‘It started at Anfield’ we get a two-page article telling the story of how Match of the Day had developed from its early days on BBC2 (“watched by even fewer than had actually attended League club grounds during the afternoon”) to the Jimmy Hill-fronted programme on BBC1 seen on TV when this Annual was published.

Among the self-congratulatory text (“it is television’s most comprehensive football programme”), one small section proves to be of particular interest, namely that surrounding BBC TV’s competition in 1969 to find a new commentator. In a wonderful piece of never-in-this-day-and-age brilliance, the competition was ultimately won by the late Idwal Robling, a Welshman who played for Great Britain’s football team in the 1952 Olympics.

Here we see a picture from the MOTD annual showing all the participants in that search for a new commentator, among them Gerry Harrison (who went on to be ITV’s man behind the mic for the Anglia region), Ed Stewart (BBC Radio 1 disc jockey and Everton fan) and Ian St John, a former Liverpool and Scotland player who went on to be a more than capable co-commentator and front man for shows such as On The Ball and Saint and Greavsie.

After a pictorial palette cleanser showing various players ‘In Focus’, we hear the amazing story of Jimmy Hill’s life, such as it was in 1978. As we mentioned in our recent podcast, there’s much more to Hill than the stereotyped waffle everyone latches onto these days. In ‘My Role - Jimmy Hill’, we learn that the former Fulham player was acting as adviser for the World Soccer Academy in Saudi Arabia, an owner of the NASL franchise Detroit Express and Managing Director at Coventry City - all on top of his role as presenter of Match of the Day.

Some of his better known achievements at Highfield Road - changing the club strip to Sky Blue and giving the club its nickname accordingly - are mentioned, but his work beyond Coventry City was what particularly caught the eye. Running a company that “acted as advisors to the London based Sportsman Club” as well as performing a role as Chairman of Goaldiggers “an organisation that is linked with the National Playing Fields Association" was just the tip of the iceberg for the great man. He also raised money for several charities and wrote books and newspaper columns when time allowed too. To think that all that came about as a result of a serious knee injury as a player is a testament to his determination to succeed in the face of adversity.

In an age when football commentators barely last a minute without spouting one statistic or another, it’s interesting to read how much information Barry Davies compiled in the week leading up to one of his commentaries. Davies, who retired from MOTD in 2004, commented: “I have a newspaper cutting book on each season which goes back eight or nine seasons. I will get out the results sequences of the two teams and will go over their results this season, their scorers, their running league position, the crowds and full teams. I will try to keep it up-to-date myself but if I am not completely accurate I’ll give Jack Rollin a ring. He’s a freelance journalist who keeps a mountain of facts and figures.”

Having pored over all kinds of data from player cards to personal notes, Davies would then get the relevant clubs to send him their last two home programmes to fill any gaps on recent knowledge and would pay a visit early in the week to the managers of the teams he’d be commentating on the following Saturday. The key to Davies using all this information efficiently, however, was keeping it in his head rather than on paper: “Facts should come to you automatically while you are doing the commentary and you should not be trying to force your facts onto the viewer.” Modern-day commentators take note...

Finishing off the Annual was a feature on the footballers who appeared in the BBC’s Superstars series and an article on how Match of the Day is put together every Saturday thanks to the efforts of cameramen, Outside Broadcast teams, presenters and and many more people besides.

But it’s the item called ‘It began with Chairman Mao’ that provides great insight into a memorable piece of football nostalgia, namely the opening title sequence for Match of the Day in the late-1970s. Many of you will remember it for one reason and one reason alone, namely the sight of various pictures being made by a crowd of football fans in the fashion of an Olympic Games opening ceremony (see example below).



The titles were the idea of Pauline Talbot who said: “Whenever I think of crowds I think of China and the magnificent rallies held there. As I considered ideas for Match of the Day, I thought of a picture I had seen in a magazine years ago of 8,000 Chinese children holding up cards to form a picture of Chairman Mao. They call it card flashing.”

Within days, the children of Hammersmith County Girls’ School and Christopher Wren Boys’ School in West London were herded into Queens Park Rangers’ Loftus Road stadium and given numbered cards to form the eight different images seen during the opening title sequence. Over 2,000 separate cards were printed and cut in a “giant warehouse” and the large images were designed on a sheet of graph paper to help identify who was holding up which card.

“If a card representing, say, the tip of Jimmy Hill’s nose was out of position” said Talbot, “I was able to look on my graph, check the number at fault and call out that number through a microphone, asking if the person holding that card could please get it right.”

And so it was that on such meticulous organisation the Communist Party was founded - to say nothing of a fine football annual.

Observer's Book of Association Football, 1972

Around the age of ten, I could often be found at the Thames View Library in Barking, Essex. It wasn’t because I yearned to absorb every ounce of knowledge from the hundreds of books that lay before me; moreover, my sister worked there and I often popped in on my way home from school to say 'hello.'

I’d linger a while, ambling up and down the aisles between the wooden bookshelves that matched me for height. Such were the frequency of my visits that I seemed to recognise many of the books purely by spine alone. Few of the titles were tempting enough for me to pick them up and read them, but the small ‘Sports’ section had an altogether greater appeal as that was where I’d find the football books.

One book always seemed to catch my eye. It was small with a white cover and was clearly born of a bygone age. It was called The Observer’s Book of Association Football and had a picture of Bobby Charlton on the front playing for England in the 1970 World Cup.

Though the book seemed a little antiquated even back in the early 1980’s, it retained an unusual allure. Inside this pocket digest were pages and pages featuring potted profiles of each Football League club including Barrow and Workington, whoever they were.

There were also summarised histories of some of the world’s greatest football clubs and outlines of every great player in the international game back in 1972, the year the book was published.

Yet to be honest, the many informative and enlightening words written by Albert Sewell were not my main interest. Whenever I removed the book from its shelf with all the inevitability of a moth drawn to a light bulb, I would turn instinctively to the small group of colour pages a fifth of the way through. Upon those pages were illustrations of virtually every shirt worn by league clubs in England and Scotland, and I couldn’t be more fascinated in them.

As you can see by the composite picture below, there were countless colours and designs to wonder at, all in long sleeves and none bearing so much as a club badge or a manufacturer’s logo. Some of the shirts looked familiar, like Arsenal’s famous red-white-white-sleeves combo or the Blackpool shirt upon which my school football team’s identity was based. Other designs already looked dated, such as Crystal Palace’s claret and blue vertical bands, but somehow it was of little relevance. These were my formative years in which the recognition of a team’s colours were key to my education and appreciation of a club’s history. All knowledge was good knowledge.

I could go on about the World Cup competition section near the back of the book or the black-and-white photo section in the middle, but there seems little point. This miniature encyclopaedia, the 47th in a series covering topics as diverse as ‘House Plants’ and ‘Freshwater Fishes’ was always my favourite book out of all those in my local library.

Though the building has long since gone, the book remains and I’m reassured to find that even now as a nostalgic 40-year-old, I still find that colour section just as appealing as ever.

Jimmy Hill’s Football Yearbook, 1976

Once again, we're delighted to bring you another guest post from Rob Langham of the awesome The Two Unfortunates. Here, Rob gives his take on Jimmy Hill’s Football Yearbook from 1976...

I admit it. I quite like Jimmy Hill.

Generally regarded as an indescribable buffoon, his reputation reached a nadir after his verbal jousts with Martin O’Neill on the BBC sofa in France 98. But, given the Ulsterman’s skill for careerism and his own reputation management, isn’t the enthusiastic puppy dog profile of the less calculating man the more likeable one?

For all the gaffs, Hill’s later appearances on Sky’s Sunday Supplement were the only tolerable thing about the show. His utterances may well have been preposterous but one always sensed he had the wider interest of the game at heart – far more so than Brian Woolnough and his venal cohorts.

This is evidenced by his pioneering role at the PFA and the work he carried out in scrapping the minimum wage and his key involvement in the best years of both Coventry City and Match of the Day. Hill cares.

It was the 70s... Brown was where it was at!

Which brings me to a publication I literally dug out my Dad’s attic – Jimmy Hill’s Football Yearbook, published by Purnell in 1976 and while officially retailing for the grand old price of £1.35, was actually purchased for 45p at Woolworth’s on Maidenhead High Street (the price sticker remains intact).

Although clearly intended for a younger audience, the book very much reflects Hill’s personality, containing as it does discussion of many of his own preoccupations – and seemingly written by the man himself without the benefit of ghost writing (the style is occasionally over eager and stilted).

A section headed Pounds and Pence is revealing and analyses the businesses players enter into in order to secure their financial wellbeing after their careers are over. Hill enthusiastically eulogises these forerunners,  of The Apprentice for instance: ‘Trevor Brooking, the West Ham schemer is an especially bright lad... and he’s used a stack of ‘O’ Levels to build up a plastic-bindings business in East London’ – although his description of Peter Storey as being ‘involved in the beer business’ is unfortunate given the ex-Arsenal man’s subsequent prosecution for running a brothel, importing pornographic videos and financing a scam to counterfeit gold coins.

Footballer doesn't open pub shocker!

Elsewhere, The Buying and Selling Game is remarkably prescient – a cautionary tale of clubs overspending while banking on competing in European competition which could have been lifted from one of this week’s newspapers – Hill bemoans that over a period of six years, 26 First Division clubs (how pleasingly those two words go together?) paid £15 million for 85 players valued at £100,000 or more apiece – although Hill is far too nice to put the boot in and name any specific failures (one suspects he’d be arguing the case for Andy Carroll today).

The slightly nutty ideas get an airing – Hill’s solution to the, at that time still unresolved problem of the professional foul is to institute a ‘second class penalty’ – a free shot from the edge of the 18-yard box for which specialist sharpshooters such as Peter Lorimer could be honed. Actually, maybe that isn’t that barmy...?

Kit - Class!

Colour pictures are dotted about including a mid-section featuring Tony Currie in a stylish Sheffield United away kit and the Home Championships are also featured. Players-wise, an analysis of Supermacs Malcolm MacDonald and Ted MacDougall stresses their ability to find the net despite meagre talents (check out the former’s five goal bunfight against Cyprus on youtube to see what Hill means), while Asa Hartford’s triumph over adversity after being diagnosed with a hole in his heart and being turned down with Leeds is an encouraging story in the light of the Fabrice Muamba incident. The news that Alex Stepney took a pay cut to move to Millwall from Tooting & Mitcham before eventually making his way to Old Trafford is also quite a nugget.

So it’s a less inconsequential run through that it might at first seem – especially for a teenager – and if there are occasional throwbacks – ‘when some European countries play teams from South America, problems can arise’ – Hill’s enthusiasm and occasional naïve faith in the game’s greatness shine through.

International Football Book No.13, 1971

I’m not sure how many people are aware of the International Football Book these days. It’s certainly a new title on me, though in my defence it doesn't stand out with the most distinctive of names. For many years it had a similarly unspectacular appearance to match, but then the IFB was first published in 1959 when printing techniques and marketing strategies were that bit more primitive.

Visual appeal (or a lack thereof)

The International Football Book was essentially an annual containing a comprehensive collection of articles by football figures and writers around the world. The edition I recently bought on eBay is the 13th, published in 1971. Beyond its orange front cover showing a colour picture from the 1970 World Cup, it’s black-and-white content all the way through to the back, but it's not just text. There are dozens of pictures decorating virtually every page and it breaks up the reading matter nicely. Curiously the photos don't often match up with the article they appear next to, so one can only assume the photos are included as an ongoing gallery of football action rather any kind of co-ordinated journalistic masterpiece.

Sponsorship

No matter. By 1971, the IFB was already ploughing a lonely furrow as a title that was thorough in its writing if not its imagery. This 13th edition begins with an article by Sir Matt Busby calling on the FA and Football League to work more closely together to avoid a split following growing friction between the two. Both parties had recently formed a joint committee to discuss key issues such as finance, player discipline and international matches (sound familiar?) and Busby felt the time was right for the Football League to have more say in the running of its competitions and clubs.

The former Old Trafford boss also talked about the recent growth in commercialism in the game at the time. "I was glad Manchester United were able to take part in the Watney Cup" said Busby. "Times change and I think it sensible that soccer should now be prepared to examine the ideas of people who are willing to put money into the game in return for having their names associated with some aspect of it." Quite what he'd have made of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, one can only wonder.

The Turnip Mentality

One thing the International Football Book did with great efficiency was to get international football players of the day to write articles for them. OK, admittedly they were probably ghost written or translated casually into English, but the fact that they could call on many a true star was rather impressive.

Luigi Riva was one such star. Italy's top goalscorer of all time was the darling of his nation, but the paparazzi were fascinated to portray his life outside of football - sometimes too intrusively as he explained. "[Back in 1968] they were after a photo of me, preferably in a nightclub kissing a girl. Any girl - even just a little peck on the cheek would have been enough for them... Sometimes I think, even against double-marking, it's easier to score goals than it is to get a little privacy..."

Having assured us that most of his earnings went unspent and that his holidays usually involved spending time with his mother, Riva then gave a delightfully frank view of some of his fellow professionals, the like of which we need more of in these boring, media-sanitised times: "I've been really disappointed by the supposed sportsmanship of some other football countries" he said. "The Swedes, for example, are said to be amateurs, supposed to play for pleasure rather than money or success. But in my opinion the Swedes ruined their reputation in the [1970] World Cup in Mexico."

He went on: "The Swedes played much too slowly and their way of shooting is antique. Also they have no imagination, little skill and are much too slow..."  Try getting a quote like that out of Steven Gerrard.

Between the sticks

Elsewhere in the book, the roll call of stars kept on coming. There was George Best explaining that European competition was vital for Man United and that his recent hot-headed spell was all down to the sort of 'close marking' that Gigi Riva could associate with. Three articles focused on the life and career of some of Britain's top goalkeepers - Bob Wilson, Pat Jennings and Gordon Banks.

The latter pointed out that though he'd be 35 at the time of the next World Cup in 1974, he still intended to be considered as England's first choice 'keeper, despite the burgeoning new talent of Peter Shilton arriving on the scene. Sadly for Banks, a car crash in 1972 left him without the sight of his right eye and England failed to qualify for the 1974 World Cup anyway. Ironically, it was Peter Shilton's mistake in a crucial match against Poland that resulted in Alf Ramsey's men staying at home that year.

Brian Glanville's Top Twenty

The reassuring presence of Brian Glanville was here, too, as the World Soccer writer listed his score of top players in the world for 1971. As perhaps you'd expect from such a well-travelled, studious academic of the game, some of the players on Glanville's list were not as familiar as others. For every Alan Mullery or Rivelino there seemed to be an Atilio Ancheta (Uruguayan defender) yet Glanville's undeniable ability to spot an upcoming star was there for all to see.

Dutch midfielder Wim Van Hanegem was picked out for special mention on the strength of his performance for Feyenoord in the 1970 European Cup Final - several years before becoming a global star in the final of the 1974 World Cup Final for the Netherlands. Berti Vogts also ended up on the list as "one of the best all-round full backs in the world" despite still being in the early stages of his international career.

IFB Editorial

There was a definite shift in people's interest in football around the time of the 1970 World Cup. The IFB Editorial noted the way that in previous years, journalists were sent abroad to track England's progress in the four-yearly tournament, and once they were eliminated, the journalists packed up and returned home. Anyone wanting to hear about the remainder of the tournament had to more or less do without any reporting in the press whatsoever.

The 1970 World Cup changed all that. With the exciting exploits of the Brazil team played out before a global audience in full colour, plus an emerging new breed of fresh stars such as Beckenbauer, Boninsegna, Gerd Muller and the aforementioned Riva, the public wanted to see more and know more. "Even [after the Final] the colour films, full length movies made to be seen months later in cinemas the world over, prove that the World Cup has converted us all."

For journalists and fans to remain in Mexico even after England had been knocked out in the quarter finals there remained one barrier - that of the poor transport facilities in the Latin American country. The IFB Editorial bemoaned the impractical and expensive solutions available to newspaper writers covering various matches. Waiting lists for plane tickets, expensive taxis travelling from city to city, unreliable bus and train services... they all proved Mexico to be an "unsuitable choice" as World Cup host, especially when Switzerland, Sweden and England had hosted the same event without any such problems. Whether Ukraine will show we've moved on from such problems this summer remains to be seen.

The celebrity connection

Aside from a section at the back of the book listing the results and stats for every European national team from the past year, it just remains to close with an article by Peter Jones about the many celebrities who support their favourite clubs through thick and thin. If your time machine landed in 1971 and you were unaware who was entertaining the nation at the time, you'd need only pick up the International Football Book to find out.

There's Jimmy Tarbuck, pictured on the back end of his Aston Martin DB6 (obligatory 'COM1C' number plate in full view). Even back then the Scouse comedian was trotting out corny gags by the dozen: "Suddenly the floodlights failed and the game was abandoned... Obviously bad play stopped light!"

Star of Please Sir! John Alderton, was quite happy to turn down some well-paid work to follow the World Cup in Mexico, so we were told. Nearer to home, we learnt that Richard Attenborough was on the board of directors at Chelsea and Eric Morecambe was a director in his own right at Luton Town.

As for all-round entertainer Roy Castle, "he felt sick at having to wear contact lenses... sick, that is, until he found out that his hero, Nobby Stiles of Manchester United, also wore them when playing!" Castle was a Huddersfield Town fan and any quips you're thinking of connecting bad eyesight with the Yorkshire club are made purely for your own amusement.

News of the World and Empire News Football Annual 1961-62

Behind the creased and crumbling cover of this 50-year-old pocket book lies not only 384 pages of facts, figures and statistics but a fading image of a football world few of us can fully appreciate.

Things were very different at the start of the 1960’s, including the title of our subject. The News of the World Football Annual (as it came to be known for more than 40 years) started out as the Athletic News Football Supplement and Club Directory in 1887. Little more than a pamphlet back then, it covered more and more content with every passing decade and merged with other similar publications, changing names as it did so. In late summer 1960, the 70th edition of the annual appeared, and for the first time, The News of the World saw its name on the front cover.

Stats, stats and more stats

The purpose of the book remained constant; to cram in enough anecdotal and factual information to sustain the most ardent football fan for an entire season. Beyond the hand-tinted picture of Sheffield Wednesday’s Ron Springett and Don Megson on the cover, there was more than enough to satisfy the enthusiastic youngster or the seasoned veteran, whatever their interests.

Though football had existed for around 100 years at the time of publication, the book showed the sport as only just entering a new era where foundations were being laid for the game we know today. The £20 maximum wage had only just been abolished (allowing players to earn anything up to £100 a week), the England team were preparing for only their fourth World Cup tournament and the great old teams of the 1950’s were slowly making way for the sides keen to make an impact in the 60’s and 70’s.

One-man teams

On this latter point, the NoTW Annual features a piece written by Tom Finney OBE, a legend for Preston and England who had retired in 1960. The Lancashire-born striker lamented his old club’s relegation at the end of the previous season and noted how other big teams of the era had only just avoided a similar fate. “Blackpool only just escaped it” said Finney. “How they will miss the inspiration of Stanley Matthews when the old maestro finally decides to call it a day. Without the skill and drive of Nat Lofthouse, Bolton Wanderers just steered clear of the danger zone. And how would Fulham have fared without the genius of Johnny Haynes?”

Tom Finney wondered whether the great teams of the day were too reliant on a single star-name player to get success. If they were, the removal of the £20-per-week wage limit in January 1961 was designed to keep more of them in the British game. Prior to the pioneering work of Jimmy Hill, chairman of the PFA, many Italian clubs were offering vastly better pay for any professional willing to up sticks for the continent. The Annual reported how Jimmy Greaves had joined Milan in June 1961 for guaranteed earnings of £40,000 over three years plus a £10,000 signing on fee. Aston Villa’s Gerry Hitchens went to Inter in the same month for £25,000 over three years, while Charlton’s Eddie Firmani made Inter his second Italian club in June 1958 having already spent two years at Sampdoria. Just before the book was published, Denis Law left Manchester City for Torino for a British record fee of £100,000.

Costs increase, squads shrink

Such a slow bleed of England’s top talent to the continent was of great concern – not least because attendances were falling and clubs were operating at a loss. Ivan Sharpe wrote how “the day of the club with a staff of 50 or more professionals seems to be over” and lamented that the ability of teams to nurture young talent could be severely threatened. Sharpe also commented that 17 of the 44 First and Second Division clubs were financially in the red, thereby causing a pall of doom to hang over the game in England.

It wasn’t all depressing news, however. Malcolm Gunn was quick to highlight the positive change in fortunes for East Anglian clubs at the time. Ipswich Town had returned to the top flight as Division Two champions under the promising leadership of Alf Ramsey. The total cost of the team? Just £30,000 – around the same price paid for a typical top flight player.

Gunn also highlighted the great achievements of Peterborough United – champions of Division Four in their first ever league campaign of '60-'61and newly-crowned record holders for scoring 134 goals in their 46 games. As for Norwich City, they too were on the up-and-up; 1961-62 would be the season in which they won the Football League Cup in only its second outing

Spurs at the Double

Elsewhere, the buzz was all about Tottenham, recent double winners proudly lead by captain Danny Blanchflower. As well as reflecting on the rare achievement of winning both major competitions in English football, Blanchflower also took the opportunity to write about the growing demand for substitutions to be allowed in the FA Cup Final. The future Northern Ireland manager went one step further by calling for subs to be allowed in every Cup round. “Supposing Leicester City had got to Wembley by knocking out a team that had been reduced to ten men [through injury]. How would they have felt if, in the Final, they were allowed what their earlier opponents were denied?” said Blanchflower.

Yes, things were certainly different back then and a glance through the five-page 'Football Diary' of the previous season illustrates this perfectly.

On October 26th 1960, Charlton and Middlesbrough drew 6-6, equalling the record for the most goals in a drawn Division Two match. 'T.Docherty', an Arsenal and Scotland international became coach at Chelsea on February 10th 1961 - ten full years before taking the reins of the Scottish national team. March 17th 1961 saw the appointment of Don Revie as manager at Leeds United and within three years had got the side promoted to Division One. Finally, on June 26th 1960, the great Arsenal, Sunderland and England centre forward Charles Buchan passed away. At the end of his football career, he turned his hand to journalism and eventually gave his name to the world's first football magazine, 'Football Monthly'.


And as if all that wasn't enough, the Annual also had plenty of froth and nonsense to break up the formality of endless words and statistics. Adverts for 'Gent's Drip-Dry Shortie Raincoats', appliances to increase your height and gold-plated lucky charms were littered throughout the publication along with a welter of ads for bookmakers and pools companies alike. Some 50 years before British TV screens were treated to the sight of Ray Winstone's revolving head for Bet365, it's fair to say the public were tempted into the tantalising world of gambling in an altogether more serene way.