'The Time-travelling Football Fan' is an account of the history of football and its fans. It was produced for the Sport Relief weekend but we kept aside two boxes. These are now being sold through campaigning websites. It retails for £5 (£4 donated and £1 to cover production costs). It has been written for anyone who is fed up with the inequalities in the beautiful game and wants to see change. The author is a university teacher and historian. The popularity of football is traced from its earliest beginnings in the Middle Ages through to today. He provides a startling account of how football has been used as a political weapon. Suggestions are made as to how fans can take back what is rightfully ours. Sample chapters include:
Heysel and Hillsborough - how the media shaped the perception of the two tragedies to demonise fans.
The 1923 White Horse Final - due to FA mismanagement, the first match played at Wembley saw 200,000 Bolton and West Ham fans squashed into the stadium. The press made no criticism of the organisers. Instead they used this as an opportunity to valorise the police and vilify supporters.
The Christmas Truce: England versus Germany - the famous match of Christmas, 1914, and how it nearly brought an early end to a disastrous war.
Fascism and football - how and why Mussolini created Serie A. How in 1938 the British Foreign Office made the English team give the Nazi salute at a friendly between Germany and England, thereby paving the way for the disastrous appeasement policy.
Also: the economics of the game - how football has been plunged into crisis by the rich clubs and their sponsors; the history of televised football and why the Beeb preferred to show tennis instead of the beautiful game; what we can learn from the Michael Shields case; plus much, much more. A simple story links the various sections.
If you love football and want to see change, the book will help you to understand why the nation's favourite game is in such a mess. Limited number of copies available. Please contact mikejc69@hotmail.com.
