{"product_id":"the-heyday-of-the-football-annual","title":"The Heyday Of The Football Annual","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e's Best Sports Book of the Year 2015\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChristmas Day 1959 and legions of schoolboys up and down the country feverishly unwrapped the very first \u003ci\u003eTopical Times Football Book\u003c\/i\u003e. On the cover Bobby Charlton smacked a leather ball out of a pillar-box red background and although this wasn't the first yearbook it heralded the golden age of the Christmas football annual. As the sixties progressed the shelves in Woolworth's and the local newsagent began to bulge with titles reflecting the expanding exciting world of football - \u003ci\u003eCharles Buchan's Soccer Gift Book \u003c\/i\u003enestled next to the \u003ci\u003eInternational Football Book \u003c\/i\u003eand the \u003ci\u003eMidlands Soccer Annual\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThese annuals were educational and insightful taking the reader into the changing rooms the supporters' club lounges and the manager's mind ahead of a tough season. Beautifully illustrated they helped shape the football consciousness of a generation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Heyday of The Football Annual\u003c\/i\u003e Ian Preece and Doug Cheeseman bottle the essence of these publications. They travel back in time to a world where Forfar Athletic and Doncaster Rovers had equal billing with Manchester United and Arsenal where debate raged over the use of goal average and Huddersfield v Carlisle was the main game on \u003ci\u003eMatch of the Day\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlong the way leading football writers Richard Williams Jonathan Wilson Patrick Collins and Derek Hammond among others share their memories - not only of 'soccer' annuals but of an era when the unveiling of Dundee's new stand was deemed worthy of a two-page spread and Scunthorpe's pre-season tour to Ibiza merited a lengthy feature. This was a world where footballers grew chrysanthemums for a hobby drank tea down the local café to pass the time and Coventry City were the go-ahead club of the future. For better and (certainly) for worse it's a world long gone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u0026gt;","brand":"Oxfordbookstore","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44786486739123,"sku":"9781472114945","price":1199.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0718\/4164\/4723\/files\/blk_imp_17477290279781472114945.jpg?v=1762802915","url":"https:\/\/oxfordbookstore.com\/products\/the-heyday-of-the-football-annual","provider":"Oxfordbookstore ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}