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by Roger Hopkin (October 2010) Paperback,
A4 297x210mm
212 pages
ISBN 978-1-905328-84-0
£12.99
The Football League has been with
us since 1888. It is arguably the most brilliant, yet simple,
invention to shape the way the game is played. Unlike cups, every
team competes from start to finish. Each team plays each other,
home and away, every season. Their matches provide league tables,
wondrous things of order and beauty.
So many matches. So many goals. How best to condense this rich
and complex history - from 1888 to the present - into accessible
form? How best to provide as much information as possible in the
least possible space? Roger Hopkin has wrestled with these problems
for years. Here is his answer.
INTRODUCTION by Roger Hopkin
The aims of this third volume in the series are to preserve the history of our national game, to set down in one book a wealth of Football League data, and to explain how and when key issues were settled in the seasons 1966-1992. This era began with England as World Cup holders and ended with the creation of the F.A. Premier League. The years in between are packed with excitement and incident, plus tragedy and trauma for some. It is hoped within these pages to recapture many of these emotionally charged events.
Twenty-six seasons are covered, with use of a two-column layout to maximise the amount of information included. Eight pages are devoted to each season, starting with accounts of how titles were won for each section of the Football League. Mid-season and final tables are provided, plus all the champions' results. W (win), L (lose) or D (draw) are added so that readers can spot sequences easily. The tables show games played, goals for, goals against, points earned, and have been tabulated to improve accuracy. It is important to remember that only 2 points were awarded for a win until 1981, when this became 3. Teams finishing on the same points were separated by goal-average until 1976, when goal-difference replaced the previous system.
For every league campaign, the struggles to escape relegation or re-election are given single-column treatment, with short paragraphs and 'part-tables', and details of decisive moments. Statistics provide goal-scoring and attendances for the Football League and its divisions, with further statistics for each champion club.
There is also a page per season for the F.A. Cup final and the League Cup final, together with snippets about the national game, its clubs and characters. These include the outcomes of each election ballot for membership of the Football League, before automatic promotion from the Conference was introduced in 1987.