A Time Capsule of British Football's Golden Age
There's something magical about holding a piece of football history in your hands. The Topical Times Football Book 1960-61 isn't just another sports annual – it's a perfectly preserved snapshot of British football at one of its most fascinating turning points.
This hardbound volume, published at the dawn of the 1960s, captures the beautiful game just before the seismic changes that would transform football forever. The book chronicles the 1959/60 season, a time when Burnley were crowned First Division champions, and Wolves lifted the FA Cup. These achievements, now yellowed with age, remind us of an era when football's power balance was far different from today.
What makes this edition particularly special is its pioneering feature: the first-ever comprehensive index of player images. For genealogists and football historians, this innovation has proved invaluable, offering a systematic way to locate photographs of relatives who played professionally during this period. This research tool was groundbreaking in its field.
The physical quality of this 126-page book is remarkable for its age. The red hardboard binding remains sturdy, and while the dust jacket shows very minor shelf wear, it's remarkably well-preserved for a large-format annual from 65 years ago. Still bearing its original price of 8/6d (and not price clipped), the jacket has been thoughtfully protected with archival covering to prevent further wear. Both colour and monochrome photographs maintain their clarity, providing clear glimpses into a bygone era.
The team photography section of the annual reads like a roster of 1960s football royalty. Burnley's First Division champions pose proudly, while Aston Villa's Second Division-winning squad hints at their return to glory. Perhaps most intriguingly, there's a feature on Tottenham Hotspur, labelled as "Britain's Costliest Team" – a designation that seems almost quaint in today's era of billion-pound squads.
Special mention must be made of the Joe Baker photograph on the back cover. Baker, the Hibernian and England striker, represents a fascinating piece of football history – one of the few English internationals of his era to play abroad, later starring for Torino in Italy.
The book's content structure follows the familiar annual format, with player profiles, match reports, and quizzes. Yet it's the small details that delight: the carefully composed team photographs, the earnest match analyses, and the advertisements that offer a window into the social history of 1960s Britain.
For collectors and football historians, this volume – currently valued at £55 – represents more than just a book. It's a meticulously preserved artefact from an era when football was on the cusp of modernisation. The inclusion of Tottenham's Dave Mackay, captured in the prime of his career, reminds us of the legendary figures who graced the game during this period.
What's particularly striking about this annual is how it manages to be both a serious sporting document and a delightful piece of nostalgia. The quiz sections and illustrations speak to its role as entertainment, while the comprehensive coverage of the season's events marks it as a serious chronicle of its time.
For modern readers, The Topical Times Football Book 1960-61 offers something uniquely valuable: an unfiltered view of football before the advent of television money, before the creation of the Premier League, and before the game became the global entertainment juggernaut we know today. In its pages, we find football in perhaps its purest form – a sport still deeply rooted in local communities and played by men who were heroes to their towns before they could be stars to the world.
This edition, with its excellent condition and complete original features, stands as a testament to both the durability of good publishing and the enduring appeal of football history. For collectors, historians, or enthusiasts of the beautiful game, this edition provides a glimpse into a crucial stage in football's development, serving as a reminder of the significant progress the sport has made over the years.
The edition now protected with Archival Dust Jacket Protection
