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Product Description
Using photographic and written archives of the Daily Mirror (including rare and unseen material), When Football Was Football - Arsenal takes us on a nostalgia-packed journey through the club's evolution from its beginnings as a south London munitions factory team, through the nurturing of some of the game's fabled characters - from notorious chairman Henry Norris to the great innovator Herbert Chapman, and the players from Brylcreem Boy Denis Compton, wee Alex James, Charlie George and Frank McLintock, up to the fresh-in-the-memory figures of Tony Adams and Ian Wright (perhaps the last bastion of a pre-modern Arsenal). Key images that will engage and delight readers include: 1930 - Arsenal win their first trophy, the FA Cup at Wembley; 1968 - Pat Rice working on a fruit stall; and, 1982 - Champagne Charlie Nicholas living up to his nickname. The book draws a line in the sand at the advent of the Premier League, when Arsenal, and football, were carried along on a wave of ruthless commercialism. Packed with evocative, atmospheric photos depicting bygone eras, When Football Was Football - Arsenal reminds us of how things used to be - and leaves the reader to decide which they prefer.
About the Author
Paul Joseph began his career as a news and sports correspondent before entering the niche world of luxury book publishing. He has helped produce giant-sized, limited-edition books on subjects as diverse as Pele, luxury yachts, New York and Pink Floyd. His crowning moment has been travelling across Brazil to track down the iconic World Cup-winners of 1970. He has written for the Independent and FourFourTwo magazine, and is a fanatical Arsenal season ticket holder.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
In some ways this book feels a little strange and incomplete in that it abruptly stops Arsenal's history at the end of the 1991/92 season. However, truncating the history in such a way also provides some provocative positives. The end of the 1991/92 season marked two very important events in English Soccer; it marked the end of terracing for the top clubs and in Arsenal's case this saw the much loved terracing of the North Bank torn down and rebuilt as a cantilever two tier all-seating stand. It was also the final season before the launch of the Premier League and the modern Sky fuelled commercialisation of the sport.
Over the months that I have owned this book I have come to appreciate it more and more. I enjoy browsing the photos. As a life long Gooner who has followed the team since the early 1970's the book provides many great nostalgic memories. By its use of pictures and newspaper excerpts the history of the club is dealt with smoothly and in an unfussy manner. The key players and managers of each era are each given a crisp one-page summary; and the key triumphs and `heartaches' over the 100 year period are each covered and photographically recorded well.
This book complements the `Official History of Arsenal'. The `official history' of the club was first published in 1986 and I now own four versions of that tome as it is regularly updated to add each new season's exploits. In the latter versions of the `official history', large spells of Arsenal's history (e.g. 1953-1970 and 1973-1986) are covered very sparsely as the book gives depth to the more successful periods. In Paul Jospeph's book the transition between the triumph of Whittaker's 1953 champions to Bertie Mee's 1971 double winners; and the subsequent transition to George Graham's 1987 Littlewoods Cup winners is paced, to my mind, in a much better way, with photo's, headlines and profiles of the stars who performed for the club in those intervening years.
The book also illustrates the transformation in style of the times. Modern triumphs are celebrated from the `stands' by fans applauding pre-conceived award ceremonies, with `televisual friendly' sponsored podiums and fireworks. They used to be much more spontaneous as the photos of the pitches covered with joyous, jubilant fans following Arsenal's triumph in 1971 at White Hart Lane and Villa's title win at Highbury in 1980 vividly demonstrate. Talking of spontaneity, seeing the photo's Willie Young (then of Spurs) battling with the entire Arsenal team at White Hart Lane and of Sammy Nelson dropping his shorts in front of the North Bank each provided a cameo of how passion and fun was exemplified in the late 1970's .
The book does live up to its title and provide a nostalgic look at days gone by; days when the Metropolitan Police with its marching band used to parade around Highbury at half-time and its baton carrying leader would risk `humiliation' and `howls' by tossing his stick high into the air and catching it in front of an `expectant' North Bank. Such are the `memories' the odd photo in this book can reawaken.
Over the months that I have owned this book I have come to appreciate it more and more. I enjoy browsing the photos. As a life long Gooner who has followed the team since the early 1970's the book provides many great nostalgic memories. By its use of pictures and newspaper excerpts the history of the club is dealt with smoothly and in an unfussy manner. The key players and managers of each era are each given a crisp one-page summary; and the key triumphs and `heartaches' over the 100 year period are each covered and photographically recorded well.
This book complements the `Official History of Arsenal'. The `official history' of the club was first published in 1986 and I now own four versions of that tome as it is regularly updated to add each new season's exploits. In the latter versions of the `official history', large spells of Arsenal's history (e.g. 1953-1970 and 1973-1986) are covered very sparsely as the book gives depth to the more successful periods. In Paul Jospeph's book the transition between the triumph of Whittaker's 1953 champions to Bertie Mee's 1971 double winners; and the subsequent transition to George Graham's 1987 Littlewoods Cup winners is paced, to my mind, in a much better way, with photo's, headlines and profiles of the stars who performed for the club in those intervening years.
The book also illustrates the transformation in style of the times. Modern triumphs are celebrated from the `stands' by fans applauding pre-conceived award ceremonies, with `televisual friendly' sponsored podiums and fireworks. They used to be much more spontaneous as the photos of the pitches covered with joyous, jubilant fans following Arsenal's triumph in 1971 at White Hart Lane and Villa's title win at Highbury in 1980 vividly demonstrate. Talking of spontaneity, seeing the photo's Willie Young (then of Spurs) battling with the entire Arsenal team at White Hart Lane and of Sammy Nelson dropping his shorts in front of the North Bank each provided a cameo of how passion and fun was exemplified in the late 1970's .
The book does live up to its title and provide a nostalgic look at days gone by; days when the Metropolitan Police with its marching band used to parade around Highbury at half-time and its baton carrying leader would risk `humiliation' and `howls' by tossing his stick high into the air and catching it in front of an `expectant' North Bank. Such are the `memories' the odd photo in this book can reawaken.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
They say a picture is worth a thousand words and for that reason this book is a best seller. I have been an Arsenal supporter for 45 years and have read most books on this historic and amazing club so I thought I have seen all. Not so, some amazing photos have not only taught me new Arsenal stories but has also brought so many memories back, happy and sad. It all seemed like yesterday and made me read the book over and over again.
This is a fantastic XMAS present for all football fans and it has certainly made my XMAS shopping a lot easier.
This is a fantastic XMAS present for all football fans and it has certainly made my XMAS shopping a lot easier.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As a lover of photography, and Arsenal, this book appealed to me as soon as I saw it. I own a couple of other illustrated Arsenal books, but this one beats them hands down for richness of material.
If you love glossy images and can't remember before 1992, it may not be for you, but for atmosphere and nostalgia it will delight you each time you flick through it.
The very earliest material is a little scarce, but from the early 20th century onwards the book really comes into its own.
Some of the newspaper reproductions are fascinating, including a door-step interview with Beverly Wright (of Beverley Sisters fame), after the sacking of her husband Billy as Arsenal manager.
The paper cuttings also reveal the evolution of tabloids, with the font getting larger and the headlines brasher as the years go on until you finally reach the era of the bombastic `Broken Club Crest'- the universal tabloid symbol for a "Club In Crisis".
The shattered Arsenal crest makes its first appearance during the demonstrations against the Bond scheme in 1991 that culminated in the demolition of the famous old North Bank.
And this is another aspect of the book that you will not get in its club-authorised counterparts - the brawls, the rivalries, the controversies and the scandals are all covered, including a sombre image of Tony Adams being carted off to prison and then another of his joyful return to football.
I'm going to be dipping in and out of this one for a long time yet.
If you love glossy images and can't remember before 1992, it may not be for you, but for atmosphere and nostalgia it will delight you each time you flick through it.
The very earliest material is a little scarce, but from the early 20th century onwards the book really comes into its own.
Some of the newspaper reproductions are fascinating, including a door-step interview with Beverly Wright (of Beverley Sisters fame), after the sacking of her husband Billy as Arsenal manager.
The paper cuttings also reveal the evolution of tabloids, with the font getting larger and the headlines brasher as the years go on until you finally reach the era of the bombastic `Broken Club Crest'- the universal tabloid symbol for a "Club In Crisis".
The shattered Arsenal crest makes its first appearance during the demonstrations against the Bond scheme in 1991 that culminated in the demolition of the famous old North Bank.
And this is another aspect of the book that you will not get in its club-authorised counterparts - the brawls, the rivalries, the controversies and the scandals are all covered, including a sombre image of Tony Adams being carted off to prison and then another of his joyful return to football.
I'm going to be dipping in and out of this one for a long time yet.
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