Description

A tale of how football had a formative role in shaping a young life and a restorative role in getting the same life back on track in middle age. Told through the eyes of the author, the tale touches upon issues of identity and belonging, freedom and discovery, nostalgia, and mental health. All through the lens of fanaticism for non-league football.

The story begins in the 1970s, when a ten-year-old boy discovers football, Southampton lift the FA Cup and school lunch-breaks are spent swapping Topps trading cards. The boy soon becomes a devoted fan of Waterlooville FC and an avid football programme collector. Following the club home and away introduces him to British Rail sandwiches, smoking carriages, grown men singing in public, frequent heavy defeats, and the eventual trauma of his beloved club merging with their local rivals.

Fast forward three decades and the COVID19 lockdowns see a middle-aged man rediscovering the joys of non-league football as a panacea for the restrictions imposed on life. Now living in Suffolk, he attends matches at a variety of nearby clubs and experiences the freedom of getting to choose, once a month, where Saturday afternoon is spent.

The book is simultaneously a journal of football-watching experiences and a celebration of how football can touch the hearts and lives of people of all ages. A reflective, thought-provoking and often humorous read.