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Does anyone know of this old football book?

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    Does anyone know of this old football book?

    Hi All,

    It's a long shot but I'm looking for the title and the author of an old football book that I read as a kid, and I'm hoping that someone on the forum will recognise it.

    It dates from the early seventies, was A4 in size and, to describe it in brief, it was an overview of - I think - 100 'historic matches'. It concentrated mainly on the English domestic game. If I remember rightly the format of the book was that one page would be dedicated to a description of the game under discussion and why it was significant, and its opposite page would be photographs or press cuttings about the game and/or the players involved.

    I read this book as a kid, so bear with me, but the games - I think - I remember featured include:

    First FA Cup Final 1872 Wanderers versus Royal Engineers
    1901 FA Cup Final First time a non-league team won the FA Cup (Spurs.)
    1936 Joe Payne scoring 10 goals for Luton Town versus Bristol Rovers.
    1949 England versus Eire. Eire/Republic of Ireland won 2-0 at Goodison Park, and in doing so were the first 'foreign' team to beat England on home soil.
    1953 England 3 Hungary 6. One of those famous games.
    1958 Spurs 10 Everton 4. Bill Nicholson's first game in charge of Spurs.
    1970 Celtic 2 Leeds 1. Famous European Cup semi final.

    I could guess at some of the other games featured but the ones above were definitely in the book. Does the book ring any bells with anyone?

    Thanks in advance for any feedback on this.

    #2
    Hi mate

    I have posted this on another website which is mainly for collectors of football programmes etc. Very knowledgeable and helpful so you may come up lucky
    http://www.footballprogrammecentre.c...=151656#151656

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      #3
      Thanks for doing that. Really appreciated.

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        #4
        Long shot perhaps, but I certainly had the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Football* - given to me for Christmas in 1971 - which detailed a lot of those games in the manner you describe (with cuttings and photos, etc). (North Korea 3 Portugal 5 from the 1966 World Cup was another match featured.) In most cases, it was the first I'd heard about these classic games - and I read the book avidly.

        Oddly, Eric Morecambe was reading a copy of it in an edition of Morecambe & Wise not long after...

        (*Pretty sure this was the title.)

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          #5
          (Another featured match was Arsenal 4 Man Utd 5 - the last game played on British soil by the Busby Babes - if that helps?)
          Last edited by Jah Womble; 21-01-2018, 21:16.

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            #6
            The one I recognize is Purnell's:

            https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....19zpYdlXSL.jpg

            They also had one on sport generally, which I think I got for Xmas in 1974. It included Pele's dummy, Jim Montgomery's save, Puskas' turn and shot that left Billy Wright on his arse in 1973:

            http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Purnells-ency...AAAOSwHLNZWcW0

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              #7
              Purnells Encyclopedia is sitting on my bookshelf, just checked and it says first published in 1972 (my edition was a Christmas present in 1974). Even if it is not the book the OP was looking for it is still a fantastic read. There is a "memorable games" section but it is only part of the book and doesn't match the games mentioned above

              The suggestion on the Football Programme Centre message board is that it might be the Jackdaw soccer documents collection printed in 1971.

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                #8
                The Purnell's was long listed on my profile here as the most influential book of my life - I read and re-read that book for years, and spent hours especially poring over the results of the European competitions from the 60s. Still on my shelf, with battered spine barely intact. The other book sounds like a beauty too.

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                  #9
                  Mine could well have been the Purnell's, which would possibly place it at a year later. (If not, I had that also - I'm probably recalling the previous edition, however.)

                  Why the hell I don't still have these, I've no idea.

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                    #10
                    I'm sure that I've a copy of this book somewhere. I'll check when I get home.

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                      #11
                      Response from the other forum:

                      I think you will find the book in question is "The Sixty Memorable Matches" edited by Richard Widdows, published by Marshall Cavendish Publications Limited, in 1973.
                      The book certainly covers the matches listed, amongst others, and I have a copy. Hope this helps.

                      The book is on ebay - one of the listings has the cover illustrated so you may get that Proustian rush...

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                        #12
                        https://www.amazon.co.uk/Footballs-S.../dp/085685025X

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                          #13

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                            #14
                            Yup, that's the one that I've got. I picked it up for a few pence somewhere in the eighties; possibly at Portobello Market.

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                              #15
                              Thanks for the all answers and feedback. Really appreciated. I've a lot to be going on with.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Originally posted by colchestersid View Post
                                Response from the other forum:

                                I think you will find the book in question is "The Sixty Memorable Matches" edited by Richard Widdows, published by Marshall Cavendish Publications Limited, in 1973.
                                The book certainly covers the matches listed, amongst others, and I have a copy. Hope this helps.

                                The book is on ebay - one of the listings has the cover illustrated so you may get that Proustian rush...
                                Sadly no Proustian rush as they dust jacket was lost in the midst of time. I just remember the hardback without the cover.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Just dropping in to thank everyone who contributed to helping me find this book. Just got it through the mail, and there's lots of great memories within its pages. Really appreciate people going the extra mile to hunt it down for me.

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