Football Nation: Sixty Years of the Beautiful Game

by JohnWilliams (Author), Andrew Ward (Author), Andrew Ward (Author), John Williams (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2010

  $3.24

  Football is at the heart of British national identity. Through more than forty fascinating stories, Football Nation reveals the hidden and not-so-hidden history of the game since 1945. From the mass audiences of austerity Britain when footballers were amateurs through the arrival of the Premiership after the Hillsborough disaster to the present day when top-flight players command a higher weekly wage than the average spectator can earn in a year, Andrew Ward and John Williams reveal the truth about the national game as it once was and is today. Football Nation is informed, wryly amusing, often surprising and always vastly entertaining. It offers an entirely fresh perspective on the history of the beautiful game in Britain.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2009

  $3.24

  Football is at the heart of British national identity, intrinsically linked to our social history. Through more than forty fascinating stories Football Nation reveals the hidden and not-so-hidden history of the game since 1945. From the mass audiences of austerity Britain and the introduction of floodlights at Accrington Stanley in the 1950s, through the escalating hooliganism of the 1970s and the arrival of the first all-seater stadium at Coventry in the 1980s, to the Hillsborough disaster and the coming of the Premiership, Andrew Ward and John Williams reveal the truth about the national game as it was once and is today in the age of satellite TV, celebrity lifestyle and extreme wealth. Looking back at the days when footballers were amateurs who travelled to the match with the fans, right through to the present day where top-flight players command a higher weekly wage than the average spectator can earn in a year, Football Nation is informed, wryly amusing, often surprising and always vastly entertaining. It offers an entirely fresh perspective on the history of the beautiful game in Britain.