"I was 12th man for England against Wales at Wembley. Within a few minutes, the Welsh half-back broke his collar bone. They had no reserves and I as the only spare player to hand. That's how I made my international debut - for Wales." - Stan Mortensen, Blackpool and England. When Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939, football came to an abrupt halt. Large crowds were banned, stadiums were given over to military use, most players joined up. Then it was realised that if victory was the national goal, soccer could help - and football went to war. For the next six years the game became hugely important to Britain. Boosting morale among servicemen, munitions workers and beleaguered citizens alike - and raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for war funds. It was a game with plenty of human stories. Some footballers were dubbed 'PT commandos' or 'D-Day dodgers'. Others, however, saw action. Pre-war heroes on the pitch became wartime heroes off it. This book captures the atmosphere of the time and tells the story of a unique period in football's history.

Gas Masks for Goal Posts: Football in Britain during the Second World War

History

Rippon, Anton

Europe

Sutton

The Tottenham Hotspur story

Moorland Pub

Folktales and Legends of Derbyshire

Minimax Books

Derby County: The Story of a Football Club

North Bridge Publishing

The Day That Derby Won the Cup

On New Year’s Day 1940, the people of Britain looked back on the first four months of the Second World War with a sort of puzzled unease. Wartime life was nothing like what they had imagined. Unlike the First World War there was no fighting on the Western Front. Indeed, there was no Western Front. There had been no major air attacks. Four days into the war German bombers had approached the East Coast but no bombs were dropped. Everyone carried their gasmask but there was no poison gas. Petrol was the only commodity rationed. There was no noticeable shortage of food, which was as available now as it had been before Hitler invaded Poland. Young men called up to join the forces were largely idle. They certainly were not fighting the Germans. In January 1940, life in wartime Britain was simply an inconvenient version of life in peacetime. Even the hitherto strictly enforced blackout regulations were relaxed when it became obvious that, because of them, people were being killed in road accidents.\nOn New Year’s Eve 1940, Britain was deep in the throes of war. In September the Germans had launched what was to be an eight-month bombing campaign that targeted every one of Britain’s major cities. By the end of 1940, German air raids had killed 15,000 British civilians. The so-called Phoney War had ended in May, when Hitler attacked the Low Countries. After Dunkirk, with the Luftwaffe poised just across the English Channel, and with the very real threat of invasion, the Second World War was now anything but phoney.

Britain 1940: The Decisive Year on the Home Front

Pen and Sword History

Arsenal: The Story of a Football Club in 101 Lives tells the history of the Gunners through the biographies of key individuals associated with the club from its formation in the gas-lit days of Victorian Britain through to the present day.From David Danskin, the Scottish mechanical engineer and footballer who was the driving force behind the team raised at Dial Square, a workshop at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, to Arsene Wenger, the longest-serving and most successful manager in Arsenal's history. The in-depth stories of the characters - players, managers, chairmen - here paint a fascinating picture of how the club - indeed, the game of football itself - has developed from workers playing for fun to today's multi-million-pound business.

Arsenal: The Story of a Football Club in 101 Lives

Biographies & Memoirs

White Owl

From the player who sneaked out of his RAF camp to play for Liverpool at Maine Road to the former player who oversaw three League titles, two FA Cup wins and a League and Cup double as manager, these are the stories of those who made a football club what it is today. Liverpool - The Story of a Football Club in 101 Lives tells the history of the Anfield club through the biographies of key individuals associated with the Merseysiders from their formation in the gas-lit days of Victorian Britain through to the present day.From John Houlding, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool who was the founder of the club in controversial circumstances, to their greatest manager Bill Shankly, and the great players who have worn the famous red shirt throughout its history, the in-depth stories of the characters - players and managers - here paint a fascinating picture of how the club - indeed, the game of football itself - has developed from workers playing for fun to today's multi-million-pound business.

Liverpool - The Story of a Football Club in 101 Lives

Showcases a range of stories and provides insight into how regular people survived World War II with just simple positive thinking
A compendium of sentimental, humorous and sometimes laugh-out-loud anecdotes and stories from people who managed to remain positive and look on the bright side of life, How Britain Kept Calm and Carried On offers a new perspective on staying strong and "packing up your troubles" during wartime, and describes moments of light-hearted relief that people found in dark times.

How Britain Kept Calm and Carried On: On the Home Front

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

Michael O"Mara

Showcases a range of stories and provides insight into how regular people survived World War II with just simple positive thinkingA compendium of sentimental, humorous and sometimes laugh-out-loud anecdotes and stories from people who managed to remain positive and look on the bright side of life, How Britain Kept Calm and Carried On offers a new perspective on staying strong and "packing up your troubles" during wartime, and describes moments of light-hearted relief that people found in dark times.

How Britain Kept Calm and Carried On: True stories from the Home Front

MICHAEL OMARA

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