Book description
An enlightening historical commentary on Britain and British football
in the first half of the twentieth century, this engrossing
autobiography, originally published in the 1950s, is sure to inform a
new generation of football supporters about a character once
synonymous with the game in its more boisterous, yet more innocent,
days.
Born in London in 1891, Buchan enjoyed a successful playing career
with Sunderland before enlisting as a soldier in the First World War,
during which he saw action both at the front and on the pitch. War
over, he picked up his playing career with Sunderland before being
capped by his country and transferring to Arsenal. Gradually he moved
into journalism, writing the first football coaching manual and
reporting on the sport for the BBC. Then, in 1951, Charles Buchan's
Football Monthly was set up, reaching sales of more than 100,000
at its peak.
Buchan's life was tragically cut short in 1960 when he died of a
massive heart attack, but in this book he left a legacy of football
history, setting the matches he played in and covered in a context
that makes them both vivid and memorable. A treasure.
Charles Buchan was born in 1891 and carved out a successful
footballing career as a centre-forward for Sunderland (1911-25) and
Arsenal (1925-8), later becoming a renowned football writer and
commentator. He died while on holiday in Monaco in 1960.
