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Black Boots & Football Pinks – 50 Lost Wonders of the Beautiful Game, by Daniel Gray, Published by Bloomsbury, Price £9.99. Rating Out of 10: 9
DANIEL Gray revisits football’s fertile ground in his follow-up to the splendidly evocative ‘Saturday, 3pm’.
In Black Boots & Football Pinks, he celebrates 50 lost wonders of the beautiful game such as goalkeepers in trousers and hats, proper division names, turf patterns, pixelated scoreboards, and, of course, Saturday evening pink newspapers... ”They were gritty stardust that made football special.”
His preface is called ‘Sketching the ghosts before they leave the room’ which neatly sums up what the book is all about. Football has changed significantly in the last 30 years, sometimes for the worse, and Gray wants us to remember those authentic joyful experiences before it’s too late. It is inevitably nostalgic and sentimental but it is all the better for it.
Gray yearns for less corporate fan experiences. Times when clubs had provincial businessmen owners before big business took over and football wasn’t controlled by Saudi Sheikhs, Russian Oligarchs, Chinese and American corporations.
He reminds us of simpler football pleasures, for example, remembering the names of the 92 English or the 38 Scottish grounds. He rightly bemoans the passing of identifiable names of grounds.
Special moments during a game are remembered affectionately: small men marking the post, terrible goal kicks and foul throws, player brawls and understated goal celebrations. Some of these, including goalkeepers in trousers and hats, have been lost to us now.
“There lingered too, the very slim and yet slapstick possibility of a goalkeeper throwing his hat down having conceded a goal.”
For many fans, the link between the local shirt and hoarding sponsors was umbilical.
“To those of us whose eyes tinted everything with the colours of football, certain brands became a team and place once they were a sponsor for long enough: Southampton was Draper Tools, Oxford was Unipart, Coventry was Peugeot, Charlton was Woolwich and Brighton was Nobo.
“The shirts themselves were made not by multinational manufacturers but through homespun labels, whose names evoke the local sports shop: Spall, Ellgren, Matchwinner, Influence, Scoreline, Ribero and Frontrunner. It added to the sense that each place was different, exotic even.”
Football Pinks are no longer with us but are lovingly celebrated. The sheer joy of reading a football pink straight after the game is recalled with great fondness.
“Football Pinks were a comfort blanket, a fixed and sure gift. They extended the match day and cheered or consoled any evening. They were weekly tel- egrams from the frontline of war bearing the words: Safe and well, home soon.” Gray has superbly brought back to life a bygone age of football. He revels in football’s peculiarities and idiosyncrasies, for example, matches played in fog, beams and imperfect views, turnstile operators, huts on stand roofs and goal nets with personality. A list, which might seem ridiculous to the non-football fan, is cherished with a knowing smile by football supporters of a certain age. He sums it all up perfectly when he says: “This was an age of character and difference.” Gray’s eloquent prose-poetry entertains throughout and there are some particularly evocative passages. On kids playing in the street: “It was a tender symphony of the tarmac.” Main stand clocks: “The mainstand clock saw more happenings, moved through more history, than God’s own sundial.” Paper tickets: “Touching these slices of paper throws me up in the air and lands me in another world. Ruffling through their textures of my enveloped pile gives the misty thrill of kicking rustling leaves.” Luxury, superfluous players: “There was opulence in his first touch. To watch him bring down a ball was to gargle with champagne. He accepted an over-hit
pass as if it were a ping-pong ball landing on a bean bag. This control made the noise of an expensive car door closing.”
Gray has managed to capture the true essence of the game with his 50 lost wonders. This book may be small in size but it is a tourde-force of football’s almost bygone pleasures.
Ian Aspinall
IF YOU enjoy Bob Bond’s cartoons in Late Tackle, then you’ll love Both Legs Down One Knicker.
Sports cartoonists may not be in as much demand as they once were, but a good one is to be treasured – and Bob certainly comes into that category.
It’s a combination of top-notch artwork and some witty words that makes them come to life. Bob clearly has a nice sense of humour and his cartoons make you chuckle.
This book covers the 50 years following the Second World War and features everything from England winning the World Cup in ’66 to Euro ’96 heartbreak.
While it is predominantly a football book, other sports also feature, such as cricket, boxing and rugby.
There’s a story to go with each tale, which adds that little bit extra, and it is a beautiful book.
It will definitely appeal to sports fans who enjoy a taste of nostalgia – for the sporting stories and/or the cartoons.
As Bob says: “This book is not for everybody. It’s for those footy fans with long memories.
“Memories of the ‘good old days’ of Greaves, Charlton, Moore and Best…
“It’s for dads and grandads… so drop one into his Christmas stocking!”
We may be a little biased, but can honestly say it would make a cracking Christmas present. Sitting down and relaxing with this book on Christmas Day afternoon after a big lunch would be a little slice of heaven.
John Lyons
PLAYER autobiographies are ten-a-penny these days, but no-one can argue that Mark Walters hasn’t got a tale to tell.
He came through the ranks at Aston Villa and made a name for himself in the early 1980s before joining Graeme Souness’ Glasgow Rangers revolution in Scotland.
After that, he was reunited with Souness at Liverpool, though that part of his career wasn’t as successful as his Ibrox glory days.
Later, there were spells with Swindon and Bristol Rovers in a two-decade long career that also included one senior cap for England.
To be honest, there is nothing revolutionary in this book. It takes us through Walters’ career in chronological order, starting with his childhood and how he was so happy to establish himself at Villa, who were flying high at the time.
Eventually, though, it was time for Walters to move on and there´s no doubting from this book how much he loved his time at Rangers and how much respect he had for Souness.
But it wasn´t all a bed of roses - as Walters quickly discovered once he headed north of the border. Racism reared its ugly head and missiles were thrown at him, including darts.
No wonder he thought about whether it was worth sticking it out, but he did and proved one of Souness’ key men with his goals and assists.
If Rangers provided him with good times and silverware, Walters is honest enough to admit his move to Liverpool didn’t pan out as well and in fact was ‘the biggest mistake of my career’.
He’s also candid about some of the family issues he’s had to cope with during his life and his difficulties in establishing himself in coaching despite doing his qualifications.
The book perhaps needed a bit more depth and more anecdotes to really bring it to life. It’s not a sparkling read or as exciting as he was as a player, but it’s a solid effort.
And, above all, there comes through how much he loves football, loves playing the game.
Fans of Rangers and Aston Villa will probably get the most from it, but there is something to interest general football fans, too, because it covers a variety of issues that have been part and parcel of the game over the last few decades.
John Lyons