In an age of materialism and shallow celebrity, the modern footballer has it all. The tabloids feed off them and vice versa in a mutually destructive relationship, for those who crave the attention will be eventually roasted on its fires or are a part of the salacious roasting that takes place.
It is refreshing to read of days gone by, not through the rose tinted spectacles of a former player but through the articles of the time. Synonymous with an era long since ended, Charles Buchan’s Arsenal Gift Book (Ed. Simon Inglis), is a selection of articles from Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly covering the period of its existence in 1951 before being cast to the publishing winds in 1973.
The book opens and closes with successful periods in the clubs history . Following on from the League title in 1953, there would be no honours until 1970, title and cup dreams fading to sepia as the years wore on.
That this is from a different age is reflected in John Thompson’s recollections of the story of the magazine,
There was a certain dream-like quality in reading Lord Londonderry’s description of how he had become a director of Arsenal…because of a conversation over dinner at Buckingham Palace with the Master of the Horse, who happened to be Chairman of Arsenal
A reputation as the ‘Establishment’ club seemed well deserved.
The contrasts between the players of then and now could not be highlighted more starkly than the images of Joe Mercer in his butchers shop in Hoylake. Or reading how Cliff Holton had joined the RAF as a tool-maker when a delay in producing documents meant he was at home to receive news that Arsenal ‘were interested in me‘.
This should be a required book for all current ‘stars’ of the game. Next time they argue over five thousand pounds on a sixty thousand pound per week deal, perhaps consideration could be given to Mercer and his peers who struggled to earn those sums in a career, even allowing for decimalisation and monetary inflation.
If the journalism reflects a more respectful time, players such as Derek Tapscott relish the chance of signing, surprised that such a club would be interested in them. It reflects the standing of the club in the game, they were honoured to be part of Arsenal.
The latter years continue the style of reporting, more human interest than analysis. Frank McLintock asks ‘How do you explain to a five-year-old that the bottom had just fallen out of your world‘ following on from the 1 - 3 defeat to Swindon following on from a couple of pages of how Arsenal could not possibly lose the game.
There is little analytical or investigative reporting into what was actually going wrong at the time; that simply was not the magazines style although one article from October 1968 qualifies as such a piece and finishes by showing how cyclical football really is,
Perhaps too we will see some Arsenal-raised youngsters coming off the assembly line into the First Division. This will be a new and refreshing thing to behold. For in this era of inflated transfer fees dominating an often lunatic market, Arsenal’s cash is no better than the next club’s when it comes to buying current success.
It would have been easy for the book to be interspersed with commentary between the articles. As it is, the editorial foreword and postscript are accompanied by an excellent contextual introduction by Jon Spurling leaving the articles to be reproduced, providing a marvellous flowing timeline in the clubs history.
The book can be bought online for £14.99 from Played In Britain and is thoroughly recommended as a present this Christmas.
