Tommy Lawton


Book Description

During a stellar 20-year career punctuated by the Second World War, such was Tommy Lawton's prowess in front of goal he was a magnet for spectators at a host of top-level clubs. Prior to the war, he served Burnley and Everton with distinction; enlisted to the British army for the war effort, he guested for a host of clubs. After VE Day he maintained his career average of more than one goal every other game - with Everton, Chelsea, Notts County, Brentford, as player manager, and Arsenal; before another spell as player boss at Kettering. In 46 England games either side of the war and including wartime fixtures, he plundered 46 goals. Those impressive stats would surely be even more so but for the war. Deadly in the air or with either foot, and renowned for his sportsmanship - he was never booked throughout his career - Head and Shoulders Above the Rest is an ode to a swashbuckling centre-forward and the man Stanley Matthews described as: 'Quite simply, the greatest header of the ball I ever saw.'




The Illustrated Everton Story


Book Description

Are you a fan of Everton FC? If so, you won't want to be without this new book profiling the Everton story from 1870 right up to the present date. Detailing all the high and low points that have made Everton into the successful club it is today, this book charts the progress of the Blues from St. Domingo to the golden era and everything in between. The Illustrated Everton Story is packed with facts, quotes and anecdotes all about The People's Club including the 1900’s FA Cup jinx, the 1930s’ championships, relegation, the glorious 1980s and beyond. This fascinating new book includes over 100 profiles of all the great Blues players such as Alfred Milward, Jack Taylor and Dixie Dean along with more recent footballing heroes; Kevin Ratcliffe, Paul Rideout and Tim Cahill. This detailed tribute to the Blues will take you on a pictorial journey, revisiting all of Everton’s memorable moments. Beautifully illustrated with nearly 300 drawings, this book is a must-have for Everton supporters and football fans of all ages.




Panini UK Football Sticker Collections 1978-1985


Book Description

A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST SPORTS BOOK OF 2022 A football fan's dream come true – every complete UK PANINI sticker album 1978-1985 reproduced together for the very first time. 'This book delivers a thousand memories'. Mark Lawrenson 'Swapsies', 'Got, Got, Need' and 'Shinies'... This landmark illustrated book is a fantastic feast of nostalgia for any football fan of a certain age. PANINI albums were a must-have if you were a football-mad kid growing up in the late 70s and 80s, when player stickers were bought, bartered and collected in a treasured rite of passage. This book will bring back all those 'I had that one', 'I'd forgotten about him' and 'look at that haircut!' memories as well as providing in-depth details on all the players and teams of the era. Licensed by PANINI, this is a comprehensive collection of PANINI'S UK domestic football albums from 1978 to 1985 inclusive. Covering all English First Division and Scottish Premier teams, it features not only all the great teams and players of the era, but the one-season wonders and the also-rans as well. Inside the book: – Nearly 5,000 images of iconic PANINI stickers, album covers and sticker packet designs. – Hundreds of clubs including Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Celtic, Rangers, Manchester City, Spurs, Newcastle United, Dundee United, Nottingham Forest, Sunderland, Aston Villa, Aberdeen and West Ham United. – Photographs and pen portraits of the great players of the day, such as Bryan Robson, Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan, Ossie Ardiles, Ian Rush and John Barnes, plus World Cup winners in the twilight of their careers and young stars in the making, like Peter Beardsley, Chris Waddle, Mark Hughes and Gary Lineker.




War Hammers II


Book Description

Following on from War Hammers: The Story of West Ham United During the First World War, War Hammers II looks at the achievements and developments of the Upton Park heroes throughout the Second World War. West Ham United was forced to adapt in the dark days of the 1940s, building the outlook and approach that would eventually give rise to the club’s most successful period, and establishing a culture of style and support that is still present today.Exploring the power, politics and intrigue of wartime football, a detailed account is given of the Irons’ 1940 War Cup victory and of those who played for the club between 1939 and 1945.Author Brian Belton includes huge global events and many local incidents within the context of the club’s history, to create a book that is sure to fascinate and entertain football fans and historians alike.




The Notts County Miscellany


Book Description

The Notts County Miscellany – a book on the Magpies like no other, packed with facts, stats, trivia, stories and legend. Featured here are more than 100 stories on the world's oldest football club ranging from how the club was formed in 1862 up to little-known facts about Director of Football Sven-Goran Eriksson. Here you will find player feats, individual records and plenty of weird and wonderful tales from a club that has rarely realised its potential. Rivalry with Nottingham Forest, the history of Meadow Lane and how the club came to wear their famous black & white striped kit, plus favourite managers, quotes ranging from the profound to the downright bizarre and cult heroes from yesteryear – a book no true County fan should be without.




They Played Rugby for Australia 2023 edition


Book Description

Over 500 pages of facts, statistics, and records of every match and every player for the Australian national Rugby Union team from the first match in June 1899 up to December 2023.




Sir Walter Winterbottom - The Father of Modern English Football


Book Description

Sir Walter Winterbottom was arguably the most influential man in modern English football. He is known as the first England team manager, but more than that he was an innovator of modern coaching, sports administrator and a man ahead of his time; a man who had a profound effect on English football and who laid the foundations for England's success in 1966. Walter managed them all, from Lawton to Charlton, and inspired many to become coaches: Ron Greenwood, Bill Nicholson, Jimmy Hill and Bobby Robson were amongst his disciples and took his gospel to the clubs they managed. Born in 1913, Winterbottom started out as a teacher and physical education instructor, playing amateur football in his spare time. He was soon signed up by Manchester United, playing his first game 1936 and winning promotion to the First Division in 1938. A spinal ailment curtailed his career, but during World War II he served as an officer in the Royal Air Force before the FA appointed him as national director of coaching and England team manager in 1946.He remains the ony manager to have taken the national side to more than two World Cup finals and was created an OBE in 1963 and a CBE in 1972 before being knighted in 1978. Walter died in 2002 but his legacy continues to inspire many in football today, especially with the opening of the new St George's Park football academy. With interviews and insight from top football names, this book - written by Winterbottom's son-in-law - also draws on personal diaries, photographs and letters. However, this is more than just a biography of one man - it's the story of how modern football came about.




101 Interesting Facts on Everton


Book Description

Do you support Everton FC? Have you cheered the team to victory as they scored the winning goal in an important match? Do you know all there is to know about the club's long and successful history or would you like to find out more about your favourite football team? If you are a true Blues fan you are certain to want this new book, 101 Interesting Facts on Everton. Packed full of information about the boys from Goodison Park and a fun read for all the family, this book covers every aspect of the club, past and present. Learn more about the great players, managers, opponents and all those golden moments that have helped to make Everton great. Gen up with the 101 facts in this book and impress your mates with how much you know about The People's Club. This is a must-have book for all Blues fans and anyone with an interest in top flight football.




The Blizzard - The Football Quarterly: Issue Twenty


Book Description

First published in March 2016, Issue Twenty contains 20 articles in 10 sections, including: Robin Bairner explaining why Hampden Park's old goalposts have pride of place in St-Étienne's club museum; the playwright Patrick Marber discusses football, drama, and his football drama; and Nick Miller with the unusual story of how a united Ireland side took on Brazil at the height of the Troubles and almost won.




I Could Have Been a Contender


Book Description

It's 1971 and rock and roll was at its height. Small-time Australian agent Wayne Zemmerman scored an unimaginable coup when he signs British supergroup Andromeda for a nationwide tour. Showbiz reporter Scottie McPherson smells a rat and starts his investigation. The Sound Mixers is a dramatic expose of the rock industry: fiction that reads like fact. A gripping story that moves at breathtaking pace to a devastating climax, Performers, promoters, manipulators, illusion creators - the characters which inhabit the world of rock'n’roll are ruthlessly dissected in an intricate plot full of shocks and suspense. Big business is the name of the game; a game in which the tough survive… but even then not always. He clears up some old mysteries too - like what really happened on the night when American TV star Michael Cole swore on live TV at the Australian Logie Awards and how the Beatles came by their trademark haircut. But it is not all showbiz; the memoirs take us through the childhood fun and games of World War II in the UK, the miseries of teen hood and the horrors and fun of National Service, not to mention the personal traumas of five marriages and break-ups. The stories from a great raconteur run through eight decades, from 1939 through to 1970 in the UK and from then on in Australia. The book gives a shrewd insight to the changing lifestyles through those decades and through the eyes of a professional observer.