"Underdog! 50 Years of Trials and Triumphs with Football's Also-Rans" by Tim Quelch
Hi there
My book "Underdog! 50 Years of Trials and Triumph with Football's Also-Rans" has recently been published by Pitch Publishing. The book contains sections on Albion during the early sixties, when I was living in Hastings, and during late seventies when Alan Mullery took them into the top flight. There are vivid descriptions of games when Albion were struggling in the time George Curtis was in charge and when their fortunes were rising, firstly under Archie Macaulay (I provide a personal account of the Fourth Division championship-winning game v Darlington) and under Alan Mullery. My purpose in writing this book is to raise funds both for the care of dementia victims and for the support of those relatives, partners & friends who look after them. Consequently, I am donating all of my proceeds from sales of the book to the Alzheimer's Society.
In writing "Underdog!", I have called upon a lifetime of watching mostly small and struggling teams, focusing upon their stirring successes such as Brighton's rise from the basement to the top flight between the mid 60s and the the late 70s. A wide range of teams are covered which punched briefly but triumphantly above their weight during the last 50 years. Apart from Swansea, other league clubs such as Northampton, Ipswich, Carlisle, Oxford, Watford, Burnley, Hereford, Workington, Swansea and Colchester are featured. Non-league teams are included also, such as Matlock Town, Aldershot Town (who, of course, returned to the FL in 2008) and the former Hastings United, my home town club, who were once chaired by a so-called 'Soho porn baron' embroiled in widespread corruption involving senior officers of the Metropolitan Police. This story is covered in the book, too.
The book highlights the key ingredients of these clubs' achievements, including inspired management, massive motivation and shrewd methods. It also captures the grinding hardships and dodgy dealings that struggling teams and their supporters frequently endure. I have conducted and drawn upon interviews with a wide number of footballers and managers in helping to tell the tales. This 50-year account is placed within the context of changing times - in and outside football; not only showing how differently the game has been played over the last half-century but also how home and working life has altered, with the latter having an important bearing on the former. This is a personal journey, too; a story of growing up and older with football played largely outside the fast lane. The book comprises over 440 pages of stirring tales and 32 atmospheric photographs. It is priced at £14.99 and can be obtained via Waterstones, WH Smiths, Tesco, Asda and HMV. Alternatively it can be ordered from Amazon (see link below) where various discounts are available.
It has been very well-received by early reviewers (see four reviews featured on Amazon).
Best wishes
Tim Quelch
Amazon link
photographs - courtesy of Brighton & Hove Albion FC
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