London's Fields

An Intimate History of London Football Fandom

Mark Waldon

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• eBook ISBN:
  9781785318979
• Year: 2021

London's Fields: An Intimate History of London Football Fandom celebrates the turbulent rivalries, local antagonisms and even, on occasion, the fraternal harmonies held in common by the supporters of the capital's many professional football teams. The us and them dichotomy of a local derby is told here through the voices of us, the fans. In a one-club town or city your choice of team would appear to be simple. However, in a city with a dozen clubs the choice is less straightforward. London is a place of constant flux and change; it's diasporic nature may have taken people far from their ancestral heartlands but the football clubs that remain there have, in a sense, travelled with them - local bragging rights and capital gains remain just as important. The author's upbringing was steeped in football, he has played and coached the game; written on it and worked in it. His less than conventional path to choosing his own team forms the foundation upon which the stories of other fans are richly rendered.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. Never Meet Your Heroes
• 2. Cultural Capital
• Introducing the Teams
• 3. She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
• 4. Can’t Smile Without You
• 5. We the Kings of Orient are
• 6. They Fly So High, Nearly Reach the Sky
• 7. Bob-Bob-Bobbing Along
• 8. We Really Do Care, Don’t We?
• 9. You Say That You Love Me
• 10. Underground, Overground
• 11. Just a Bus Stop in Hounslow
• 12. Hi Ho Super Rangers
• 13. You’re Just Too Good To Be True
• 14. Carefree, Wherever You May Be
• Photos