Böcker av Richard Crooks

What Was Football Like in the 1980s? provides a fascinating and insightful perspective on the game in a decade when football faced major challenges on and off the field. Richard Crooks explores the good, the bad and the ugly of '80s football, leaving no stone unturned.

Wednesday v United: The Sheffield Derby presents a vivid account of one of the most passionate rivalries in football. Looking back to the Victorian era and the start of the Steel City divide, it features a decade-by-decade history of the derby in the context of the changing times. With an enhanced focus on the modern era, the derby rivalry is brought right up to date with a spotlight on the latest games. Richard Crooks describes how the fortunes of the two clubs have ebbed and flowed over the years. Individual derby matches are highlighted, providing emotive examples of each club's highs and lows, recalling the wildly contrasting rollercoaster ride undertaken by red and blue factions. The great games, players and managers are all to the fore. Using contemporary written and broadcast material together with the author's first-hand account and experiences, Wednesday v United brings home the intensity that is the hallmark of the Sheffield divide.

Grandson Charlie attending a Championship game at Hillsborough prompts Richard Crooks to transport himself back to the 1970s and recall what football was really like for supporters in the 1970s. Crooks provides an engaging and comprehensive narrative on all things football in that decade, and brings out the social context of the time. Reflecting on what it was like getting to a game, the grounds, the crowds, the clubs, the managers, players, referees, reporting the game, growing commercialism, the World Cups, and through to the spectre of the rise of hooliganism and racism. Using written and broadcast material of the time, as well as Crooks's own experiences, Grandad, What Was Football Like in the 1970s? provides a fascinating insight and description of a decade when things really started to change in football - and also sheds light on the oft-asked question 'Was football better then or in the modern era?'