Black Boots and Football Pinks

50 Lost Wonders of the Beautiful Game

Black Boots and Football Pinks

50 Lost Wonders of the Beautiful Game

Daniel Gray (Author)

Hardback ~~$18.00~~ $16.20 Ebook (Epub & Mobi) $12.60 Ebook (PDF) $12.60

Quantity

In stock

$16.20 RRP $18.00 Website price saving $1.80 (10%)

Add to basket

Add to wishlist

Delivery and returns info
Free US delivery on orders $35 or over

Description

Ramshackle dugouts, matches played in fog, muddy goalmouths, the smell of tobacco, floodlight failure and of course Saturday evening pink newspapers… They were the gritty stardust which made football sparkle. Here, 50 such wonders are drawn together with evocative charm before they slip from memory altogether. Dedicating a chapter to each wonder, Gray's pieces read more like loveletters than essays.

Unashamedly nostalgic, this is a charming canter through the disappearing particles of football. Written in the same wistful and whimsical style as Gray's much-admired Saturday, 3pm, Black Boots and Football Pinks will warm the heart and prompt fond sighs of recognition.

1. Sharing the scores from elsewhere 2. Referee occupations and hometowns
3. Checks, Tartans and Other Turf Patterns 4. Black boots 5. Ramshackle dugouts 6. Disorganised warm-ups
7. Knowing the names of grounds 8. Goalkeepers in trousers and hats 9. Local shirt and hoarding sponsors
10. Evening Pinks 11. Queuing for tickets 12. Big man/little man up-front 13. Player jobs after retirement
14. Matches in played fog 15. Shirt etiquette 16. Kids playing in the street 17. Proper division names
18. Pixelated scoreboards 19. Old-fashioned wingers 20. Spontaneous atmospheres 21. Ceefax and Teletext
22. Terrible goal kicks 23. Club season highlights videos 24. Abandoned matches 25. Home away, home away
26. Cup replays 27. Muddy goalmouths 28. Loan moves being rare 29. Forwards rounding the keeper
30. Player of the year awards on the pitch 31. One club men 32. Beams and imperfect views
33. Sponsored players' cars 34. Fanzines 35. Turnstile operators 36. Shabby training grounds
37. Tobacco smell at matches 38. Clear offside rules 39. Caretaker managers 40. Paper tickets 41. Brawls
42. Team photos 43. Commentary boxes on stand roofs 44. New signings waving scarf
45. Luxury, superfluous players 46. Floodlight failure 47. Characterful goal nets with stanchions
48. Quiet PA systems 49. Players wearing cycling shorts 50. Heroes

Product details

Published	Jan 08 2019
Format	Hardback
Edition	1st
Extent	160
ISBN	9781472958860
Imprint	Bloomsbury Sport
Dimensions	7 x 5 inches
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

Author

Daniel Gray

Daniel Gray is a writer, broadcaster and magazine…

A heartwarming, occasionally emotional and often very funny meander down Memory Lane… A book of considerable charm, worth the price of admission for the phrase “hair wax applied methodically and in a style that considered Charles Buchan's Football Weekly a mirror” alone.

The Observer
A funny, affectionate and nostalgic celebration of quirks ... It would be easy to get the tone wrong but Gray's touch is exquisite. A book with so much warmth you could slip it into your pocket for games in winter.

The Times
The perfect stocking filler…a wonderful little book.

Sunday Sport
[Gray] effortlessly paints pictures that transport you to a place and time … both clever and endearing

The Football Pink
Often funny and absolutely authentic.

The Herald, Sports Books of the Year
Fifty taken-for-granted gems of Britain's footballing past have been preserved for posterity…an unabashed love letter to the beautiful game. Back of the net.

The Sunday Post, Books of the Year