The History Man
Active member
Brighton & Hove Albion and the First World War
The Albion club shop may say this book is out of print, but it's not - I still have some copies left for sale. It will appeal to anyone interested in Albion history or local history. £14.99 including p&p. PM me, please.
This from August 2019:
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A new book by honorary club historian Tim Carder examines the story of the Albion, its players, staff and supporters, during the Great War of 1914-18.
Shortly after hostilities with Germany began in August 1914, the players reported to the Goldstone Ground for pre-season training. The 1914/15 season went ahead – the most controversial soccer campaign in history – but soon the players were training not as footballers but as soldiers.
In this book of 370 pages, many of them in colour, Tim looks at the controversy surrounding professional football in the context of the Albion, and charts the course of the war for the club and for the towns of Brighton and Hove.
The personal stories of many Albion players and staff are included. Sadly, a good number of them did not return at the end of the conflict.
However, Tim didn’t stop at the players. “As a fan myself, I wanted to record the wartime experiences of some of the supporters,” he says. “Following the club was a way of life for many of them, just as it is a hundred years later.”
There are tales of courage, of prisoners-of-war and secret agents; and there are tales of poignancy and death on the battlefield.
There is Tim’s own travelogue of a bicycle tour to Albion-related sites on the Western Front. “I hope that other fans will be inspired to visit the graves of some long-lost men connected with our club. They should not be forgotten,” he adds.
Another chapter looks at how people lived their lives day-to-day in Brighton and Hove before the outbreak of war.
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The Albion club shop may say this book is out of print, but it's not - I still have some copies left for sale. It will appeal to anyone interested in Albion history or local history. £14.99 including p&p. PM me, please.
This from August 2019:
------------------------------------
A new book by honorary club historian Tim Carder examines the story of the Albion, its players, staff and supporters, during the Great War of 1914-18.
Shortly after hostilities with Germany began in August 1914, the players reported to the Goldstone Ground for pre-season training. The 1914/15 season went ahead – the most controversial soccer campaign in history – but soon the players were training not as footballers but as soldiers.
In this book of 370 pages, many of them in colour, Tim looks at the controversy surrounding professional football in the context of the Albion, and charts the course of the war for the club and for the towns of Brighton and Hove.
The personal stories of many Albion players and staff are included. Sadly, a good number of them did not return at the end of the conflict.
However, Tim didn’t stop at the players. “As a fan myself, I wanted to record the wartime experiences of some of the supporters,” he says. “Following the club was a way of life for many of them, just as it is a hundred years later.”
There are tales of courage, of prisoners-of-war and secret agents; and there are tales of poignancy and death on the battlefield.
There is Tim’s own travelogue of a bicycle tour to Albion-related sites on the Western Front. “I hope that other fans will be inspired to visit the graves of some long-lost men connected with our club. They should not be forgotten,” he adds.
Another chapter looks at how people lived their lives day-to-day in Brighton and Hove before the outbreak of war.
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