Search results for ""author tim quelch""

This is the story of Burnley Football Club's remarkable recovery from the brink of oblivion, made without the help of ultra-rich benefactors. It concerns the fall and rise of a small-town club, once renowned for its advanced playing style, tactical and coaching innovations and flourishing youth policy. From Orient to the Emirates tells how this former leading club was brought to its knees during the mid-80s by adverse economic circumstances and imprudent management, how it narrowly escaped relegation to the Vauxhall Conference in 1987 - and with it probable liquidation - to once again become a force at the top of English football. The story is largely told in the words of those who took part in this incredible 30-year journey - the directors, managers, players, support staff and supporters. It is an uplifting account of success achieved very much against the odds, founded on indomitable spirit, canny planning and, above all, hard graft. As Burnley's brilliant manager, Sean Dyche, puts it: "Maximum effort is the minimum requirement."

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When Andrew Strauss's team seized the world title in the summer of 2011 they finally recovered what had been lost at the Adelaide Oval in 1959. This tale of England's preceding triumph and loss is recounted through the memoirs of many of the star players when England had last been top of the world. Bent Arms and Dodgy Wickets tells the story of English cricket's slow recovery from the Second World War, of its brief time of triumph and of its undignified fall from grace - a tale of fluctuating fortunes reflected upon by great names including Hutton, Compton and Trueman, Lindwall and Miller, McGlew and Weekes. The title refers to the sporting controversies of the time - suspect bowling actions and poor pitches - as Britain declined as an imperial power, and English cricket was hampered by class snobbery, anachronistic fixations and an uncompetitive domestic game.

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Burnley's league title victory of 1960 remains one of the most remarkable feats in the history of English football, the club the smallest ever to win its premier title, on a relatively modest budget. Never Had It So Good reveals how Burnley's amazing title triumph was achieved - and how very different life was for a footballer in those bygone days.

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Jimmy Greaves was England's most prodigious goalscorer of the 1950s and 1960s. In his autobiography, Greavsie, he writes that the 1959/60 English football season was the final year of football's age of innocence. He saw the open, attacking football of the 1950s give way to a much more defensively minded game. It was an era which also saw the advent of the tracksuit manager and specialist coaches. An End of Innocence examines English football in the 1950s and a transition through the 1960s; looking at the international and domestic landscape, through the lens of a selection of teams. It considers different managerial styles, team formations, coaching and training methods, and the developments in tactics, diet and health care; as well as a significant change in footballers' lifestyles, that came after the abolition of the maximum wage in 1961. Set against a backdrop of social and political change, An End of Innocence reflects a changing nation and a game that was evolving, and the lasting impact that has had upon English football, its players and supporters.

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Tim Quelch takes a nostalgic look back on a 60s childhood and early adulthood immersed in Sussex sport. Hastings United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Sussex County Cricket Club were his three great loves, his passion for football ignited by United's plucky 1953/54 giant-killing side that came tantalisingly close to a fifth-round FA Cup clash with Arsenal. Later, Brighton secured Tim's lasting loyalty when he witnessed their brave 1961 FA Cup battle with First Division champions Burnley. That same year, Tim was captivated by explosive Sussex batsman Ted Dexter and mesmerised by West Indian fast bowler Wes Hall. Good Old Sussex by the Sea takes us on a whirlwind tour of the highs and lows of Sussex football and cricket in the 1960s, a time when local allegiances counted and expectations of success were more modest. But it was hardly an age of innocence as Hastings United's involvement in a major police corruption scandal shows. The book recalls a rollercoaster ride of triumphs and woes, bringing to life many local heroes of yesteryear.

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Northern Exposure is an enthralling account of the sharply undulating fortunes of Burnley FC over the course of half a century, as seen through the eyes of long-standing fan Tim Quelch. To tell the club's story, Tim calls on current and former players, managers and directors, who share their memories and observations. The book captures all the highs and lows, providing vibrant accounts of key games played in the top flight and in each of the Football League divisions below. The story starts in March 1970 in the aftermath of the club's glory days, and charts its rapid decline in the late 70s, plus its threatened extinction a decade later, before a bumpy recovery improbably brought six consecutive years of top-flight football and a place in the Europa League. This stirring tale of a small northern town football club is set against the backdrop of a changing Britain and shifting rock music scene.

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