Back in print for the first time in thirty years, "Those We Have Loved" is an epic (quarter of a million words) odyssey through the bleakest backwaters of English Football League history.
It tells the stories of the thirty Football League sides voted, or otherwise removed, from the competition in the years before automatic promotion and relegation were introduced, drawing upon colourful contemporary match reports, in-depth background detail and modern analysis.
All combine to tell a thoroughly alternate history of English football; the story of lives lived for the most part at the lower end of the League, but every one tinged with glory and triumph alongside the final tragedies.
Fully revised and updated to note the rebirth of at least a few of the clubs featured, it is a reminder that many of those we have loved are still beloved today.
Featuring full Football League histories of Aberdare Athletic, Accrington, Accrington Stanley, Ashington, Barrow, Bootle, Bradford Park Avenue, Burton Swifts, Burton United, Burton Wanderers, Darwen, Durham City, Gainsborough Trinity, Gateshead, Glossop North End, Leeds City, Loughborough, Merthyr Town, Middlesbrough Ironopolis, Nelson, New Brighton, New Brighton Tower, Newport County, Northwich Victoria, South Shields, Southport, Stalybridge Celtic, Thames, Wigan Borough, Workington, plus wartime guests Aberaman, Bath City, Croydon Common and Lovell's Athletic.
It tells the stories of the thirty Football League sides voted, or otherwise removed, from the competition in the years before automatic promotion and relegation were introduced, drawing upon colourful contemporary match reports, in-depth background detail and modern analysis.
All combine to tell a thoroughly alternate history of English football; the story of lives lived for the most part at the lower end of the League, but every one tinged with glory and triumph alongside the final tragedies.
Fully revised and updated to note the rebirth of at least a few of the clubs featured, it is a reminder that many of those we have loved are still beloved today.
Featuring full Football League histories of Aberdare Athletic, Accrington, Accrington Stanley, Ashington, Barrow, Bootle, Bradford Park Avenue, Burton Swifts, Burton United, Burton Wanderers, Darwen, Durham City, Gainsborough Trinity, Gateshead, Glossop North End, Leeds City, Loughborough, Merthyr Town, Middlesbrough Ironopolis, Nelson, New Brighton, New Brighton Tower, Newport County, Northwich Victoria, South Shields, Southport, Stalybridge Celtic, Thames, Wigan Borough, Workington, plus wartime guests Aberaman, Bath City, Croydon Common and Lovell's Athletic.
