Never Mind the Tigers E-Book

Phil Ascough

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Two fantastic football grounds since the war, two amazing seasons in the Premier League, two spells in administration. Too many questions that we can't answer, but quite a few that we can. Hull-based journalist Phil Ascough has trawled through his own memories, picked the brains of fellow followers of the black and amber and shaken up the stories to produce a compilation designed to furrow a few eyebrows and also raise a smile. A true reflection of life with the Barmby Army or a load of Bullards? Only you can be the judge of that!

Leseprobe

This book is for those people who give their lives to football. The relatives left at home while loved ones traipse to both home and away games following their team; husbands, wives and children who can’t book holidays until the fixtures come out. Over time they have come to terms with the fact that Saturdays are not great for weddings but now find themselves having to also think twice about Sunday to Friday because football is now even more unpredictable, and not in a good way.

Specifically it’s for my family. For the parents, brother and sister I grew up with, and for my wife Jayne, son Matthew, and daughter Amber, whose sporadic interest in the beautiful game stops some way short of true passion – especially if Dr Who is on.

Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Foreword by Burnsy …

… And Swanny

Assists

Introduction

Round 1 Cup Glory

Round 2 Fer Ark

Round 3 The KC Stadium

Round 4 Our Guests

Round 5 We’ll Never Play There Again!

Round 6 Easy Balls

Round 7 Fish

Round 8 Battered

Round 9 Gaffers

Round 10 Striking Tigers

Round 11 Between The Sticks

Round 12 Long Punts

Round 13 We Are Premier League

Round 14 No Easy Games

Round 15 Yorkshire’s Number One?

Round 16 The World Stage

Round 17 Tiger Nations

Round 18 England Expects

Round 19 Home Internationals

Round 20 Tap-Ins

Round 21 Club Connections

Round 22 Loan Stars

Round 23 The Nearly Men

Round 24 Tiger Teeth

Round 25 Tiger Tantrums

Round 26 Crunching Tackles

Round 27 Tigers on TV

Round 28 Celebrity Tigers

Round 29 Christmas Crackers

Round 30 And Finally …

The Answers

Copyright

Foreword by Burnsy …

Oh, I only wish Phil had pulled his finger out and got this book published ages ago. He would have saved me some sleepless nights. I’ve compiled the odd quiz and have woken up in a cold sweat, trying to think of questions and, more importantly, answers, and this would have saved all the effort. Therefore, I appreciate the time and research that’s gone into exploring the nether regions (just past Anorakville) of the Tiger Nation!

This book will also be accompanying me into the commentary box for City games, with a two-fold purpose: one, dipping into it for a little trivia to entertain our audience in any dull moments, although the football is rather less dull in Hull these days. And two, clipping Swanny round the ear with it when he steps out of line.

Mentioning Swanny – he doesn’t do quizzes!

… And Swanny

Hi, this is Swanny – ahem … former record signing at three Football League clubs, read my book for detail. I don’t do quizzes, but if I did, this is the book I’d steal. Sorry – buy!

David Burns has been commentating live on Hull City matches for BBC Radio Humberside for 20 years. As summaries became an essential part of live coverage, Burnsy was joined 10 years ago by Peter Swan, a veteran of nearly 400 Football League appearances. Swanny also writes for the Hull Daily Mail and is the author of Swanny: Confessions of a Lower League Legend, published by John Blake, 2008.

Assists

Having worked in the media for more than thirty years, writing and contributing to a good few football books along the way, I can’t say I was too perturbed at being asked to compile a Hull City quiz book.

But as I only started watching the Tigers on a regular basis after moving to the city in 1980, I knew it would be reckless to embark on such a project without the aid of a safety net. I doubt whether Trevor Bugg has ever been called that before, but he’ll know what I mean.

So the themes and the questions are all mine, as are any errors and subsequent apologies. What Trevor did was help to sharpen a few facts here and there, clarify the odd reference point and provide an invaluable sounding board for some of the more unusual content ideas, exactly as he has for previous projects by me and other authors.

And what of those other authors? Well, there’s Mike Peterson, whose Hull City books are as fascinating as they are illuminating. I’ve been thumbing through Tiger Tales: A Who’s Who of Hull City AFC 1904–2000 and A Century of City: The Centenary History of Hull City AFC 1904–2004 (both Yore Publications), and I look forward to reading them properly and enjoying in full the remarkable stories that lie behind the comprehensive statistics.

And there’s Chris Elton, whose Hull City: A Complete Record, 1904–1989 (Breedon Books Sport) is another gem. I particularly like the section on friendlies – a flashback to the days of occasionally exotic overseas tours and clashes with top clubs, who usually fielded a few big-name players.

But a lot of football history is gradually finding its way onto the web, which brings us back to Trevor. As one of the key members of the team at www.11v11.com, Trevor works tirelessly to make sure their database on Hull City and other clubs is as up-to-date as it can be.

It is a never-ending task but a vital one, because without it we risk losing sight of the fact that there is football life beyond the Premier League and that from April 1963 until September 1998, Hull City were unbeaten in ten games against Halifax Town.

Many thanks to all of the above and, of course, to Burnsy and Swanny.

Introduction

So, you’re huddled round the table in the pub, mood dictated by whether it’s pre- or post-match, anticipating excellence, fearful of failure, celebrating victory or drowning sorrows. Someone throws in a question, and off you go …

Who was in goal when …? Who scored when …? Who got sent off when …? Who got locked up when …?

And the last thing you need is someone from the club telling you to leave that question out because it’s too controversial, or the know-all at the next table pointing out that it wouldn’t be proper to mention George Boyd playing for Scotland while on Hull City’s books without also crediting Mike Gilhooley in 1922.

So this Hull City quiz book is neither official nor definitive. And it’s entirely possible that by the time you read it one or two of the questions and answers might have been overtaken by events, because football is like that – it doesn’t stand still, even if some of the players do.

It is intended to be a celebration of Hull City, our club, players, fans and opponents, and of football generally. Hopefully it’s also a bit of fun.

The format is straightforward enough: thirty rounds of eleven questions each, every round with a theme of sorts and the whole thing building a picture of Hull City’s highs and lows.

Some questions are so straightforward you’ll be able to rattle them off in the time it takes to review Mark Hateley’s managerial career. At the other end of the scale, one or two are harder than Billy Whitehurst. But please don’t tell him I said that.

There is no attempt to provide any sort of historical balance, because it would be daft to overlook the fact that very few readers will have a chance of nailing questions about the Raich Carter era, never mind pre-Second or even First World War.

But nor does this book get carried away with the Tigers’ Premier League years. Certainly, compiling the book was far less arduous a task and the outcome far more interesting as a result of City’s two years in the top flight, but even newcomers will be aware that the Premier League experience was all the sweeter because of some of the perils of the past.

We saw mock funerals before they were fashionable, repeated receiverships and closure threats on the way to being locked out – twice – of the tumbledown ground that was supposed to be one of football’s cathedrals.

Such recollections are not intended to make light of the catastrophes endured by other clubs and their subsequent efforts to rebuild, but there is no doubt that the feeling of ecstasy which results from success is sharpened by memories of the occasions when Hull City might have slipped out of the Football League or even out of existence.

So treat this book as you do the Tigers: enjoy the journey. And if you feel like taking a detour while negotiating one round or another then be my guest. Hull City players with fruity connections rather than fish? Why not? Another eleven football grounds that we’ll never visit again? At least! A Tigers A to Z? You can do that one yourselves.

Phil Ascough, 2013

Cup Glory

Because we can be quite good at irony. And it’s Round 1 because, in the finest traditions of Hull City, we’ve decided to get the FA Cup out of the way and concentrate on other stuff. We’ll maybe look at the other cups later. If we can be bothered.

1 Which was the last team from a higher division to be knocked out of the FA Cup by Hull City?

2 What forced the abandonment of City’s FA Cup first round tie at Runcorn in November 1993?