PUBLISHED 1960

The Big Book of Football Champions 1961

£35.00

📚⚽ FlickThru Soccer Reads

There's something deeply nostalgic about holding a copy of The Big Book of Football Champions from the 1960/61 season. This wasn't just another football annual – it was a vibrant chronicle of what many consider football's golden age, distinguished by its refreshingly candid approach to the beautiful game.
The annual's coverage of Tottenham Hotspur's historic Double triumph stands as its centrepiece, capturing the electricity of that remarkable season when Bill Nicholson's men dominated English football. But what truly sets this publication apart is its willingness to cast a critical eye on British football - a rare trait for publications of that era.
Perhaps the most striking feature is the annual's distinctive visual presentation. The hand-tinted colour illustrations, while simple by today's standards, possess an almost artistic quality that modern publications, with their high-resolution photographs, somehow fail to match. These images, particularly the full-page colourised photos, have aged like fine wine, taking on an almost painterly quality that captures the romance of the sport.
The annual's comprehensive approach to season coverage, particularly its detailed FA Cup reporting, offers modern readers a fascinating glimpse into how football was consumed and celebrated in the early 1960s. Its down-to-earth writing style feels remarkably fresh, free from the hyperbole that often plagues contemporary football writing.
What makes this annual particularly valuable today is its role as a historical document. It doesn't just record scores and statistics – it captures the atmosphere of a pivotal time in British football, when the sport was on the cusp of modernisation but still retained much of its traditional character.
For collectors, football historians, or anyone interested in the evolution of the sport, The Big Book of Football Champions represents more than just an annual – it's a perfectly preserved slice of football culture, offering insights into how the game was played, reported, and celebrated during a transformative period in its history.

Please note we only sell and buy in editions that would enhance collections.

Football Annuals

Mass-market soccer annuals were first published just after the war, with The Boys Book of Soccer being the first published by Evans Brothers in 1945, printed on war-economy standard paper. Other popular annuals that followed were The FA Book for Boys (1947), the Sampson Low Marston Series (1949), The Big Book of Football Champions (1950), Charles Buchan’s Soccer Gift Book (1953), and The Topical Times Football Book (1959). In the mid-1960s, publishing houses launched Players Annuals, including Billy Wright, Denis Law and many more.
With 100s of collectors of the early annuals, we do hope we can help some of you with your collections by supplying missing editions to upgrade your collection. We have several editions, all in very good condition.

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