1978: The Birth of Moneyed Modern Football
‘Ring out the old by all means’
Maverick stars, revered trailblazers, illustrious managers, legendary trophy-winning sides, apocalyptic showdowns on the pitch, developments that changed the very fabric of the game – taken together, they make 1978 the most transformative 12 months of the league’s first century. 1978 is the axis, the year in which the sport turned – impressively and inevitably and for some, regrettably – from the grand old game to Moneyed Modern Football. Among the sport’s diehards, there was a growing awareness that the league was becoming an enormous corporate entity, not unlike Debenhams or British Steel, even as they vehemently supported their clubs and lost themselves in the sport’s scarcely diminished pleasures.
1978: The Birth of Moneyed Modern Football is the tumultuous yet captivating story of this magical year, when new clashed with old, madness gave way to genius, innovation collided with custom and a tiny Northumberland club achieved improbable cup glory.
Manchester City: The Genuine Soap Opera Club
‘Relegation is a cruel, remorseless beast’
For nearly 150 years, Manchester City have done triumph and tragedy unlike any other club in England. Richly detailed and meticulously researched, my book explores City’s past – from their origins in the industrial northwest to their first Premier League campaigns – through the lens of five of the most unique and memorable seasons in club history.
Manchester City: The Genuine Soap Opera Club is about the shit. A book on relegation must be, of course. There is no shortage of melancholy, turmoil, and defeat. But this book is also about much more: The highs that balanced the lows, the instances of calm amid the chaos, the victories that accompanied the losses, the personalities, settings, narratives, and events that comprise a football season. Relegation is more than just the very moment a club is sent down; relegation is not the enduring image from a club’s season. My book recounts with much detail and colour the long, eventful journeys City undertook before arriving at their final-day denouements.
