ONE GREAT... BOOK

THE sports editor’s brief for this weekly slot embraces book reviews, which is just as well, as the shelves at home are groaning with books, mostly about sport. The latest addition came courtesy of my uncle, Vincent. It’s called simply ‘The Sports Book,’ a first edition, published in London in 1946. Compiled by James Rivers, it consists of 20 chapters on 20 sports, each by a different author. In the introduction, Rivers says he ‘hopes and believes that between the covers there is a good and true picture of what the skilled and qualified sports writers of today have in their minds when they look into the immediate future.’ It struck me there’s a connection between what was written in 1946 and what may be written at the end of 2020. Because of the Second World War, the gap between reviving organised sport in these islands was six years, whereas now it will be six months or so. Some of the authors are better known than others. Joe Davis covers the chapters on Billiards And Snooker, Vivian Jenkins writes on Football (Rugby), as it appears in the fly-leaf. Bevil Rudd (Athletics), won a gold, silver and bronze in the 1920 Olympics for South Africa. Many of the contributors are journalists, such as George Greenwood, a former golf correspondent of the ‘Daily Telegraph.’ Some sports are given quirky prominence. There are separate chapters for Motor Racing, TT Racing and Speedway Racing while nothing at all on Rugby League, Badminton or Squash. A few observations are clearly ahead of their time. Writing about Football (Association), John White says ‘it’s ridiculous that a player like Stanley Matthews, the greatest box-office attraction in the game, cannot earn more than £9 a week.’ White suggests a player should receive ‘10 or 20 percent of his transfer fee’ and says ‘outstanding players should not be bound by maximum wages.’ It would be 15 years before the salary cap was abolished in 1961 and Johnny Haynes became the first £100 a week player. In Football (Rugby), then an all amateur-game, Jenkins laments the perception that rugby is ‘a public school game’ but also acknowledges that not one Ministry of Education school out of 700 in the London area ‘plays rugby football as its winter game.’ Rugby football, eh? Willie John McBride would love that. Both White and Jenkins say their respective sports are at a crossroads. Aren’t they always? The golf evaluation by Greenwood notes the single-minded approach of Henry Cotton, then the top British player. ‘In the process of carving out his career, Cotton snapped his fingers at all and sundry; he saw nothing but the tiny light at the end of the tunnel which he was determined to reach and reach it he did by courting unpopularity both of the public and his fellow professionals.’ Hmm, wonder if Nick Faldo was knitted from Cotton’s cloth? Greenwood predicts success for Bobby Locke, ‘an individual who sees nothing and troubles about nothing but the goal ahead.’ Locke won The Open four times. The racing review is dotted with references to forgotten tracks Northolt Park, Hurst Park, Manchester (Castle Irwell), which staged the 1941 St Leger, and Birmingham (Bromford Bridge). York was ‘little used’ in 1946, but is now home to the Ebor August extravaganza.