The Toyota car company recently announced that it's putting a billion dollars into the development of driverless cars. But I’ve got news for them! – I had one of those years ago! I’m thinking back to when Cray Wanderers FC played in the Kent League between 1978 and 2004. The annual route to away games became so familiar and repetitive that I reckon my car eventually knew how to drive itself to all the different grounds: Alma Swanley, Beckenham Town, Crockenhill, and Deal Town -- to name but a few. (For the rest you'll have to read the book.)
That train of thought connects nicely to local author Mike Floate’s new book. Did I say 'new' book? Well it’s a near-replica reissue in 2015 of a book that Mike first wrote and published in 1995. I greet it as a most welcome chance to say hello again to a delightful publication that I remember enjoying first time around. Indeed it is arguably better this time, for Mike has reprinted all the photographs in colour instead of the original black & white. But quite rightly -- in my opinion -- Mike has resisted the urge to change anything else. It’s all exactly as it was in 1995: a directory of all the football grounds at which the county’s top football teams played at that time; each ground beautifully illustrated by Mike’s camerawork and photo captions.
I don’t want to anticipate how other readers might react to this book, so I’ll simply drop a little hint and say how startled I was to be reminded just how many football clubs in Kent and/or their grounds have changed or disappeared in only twenty years. The pace of change has been remarkable.
After reprinting the editorial introduction that he penned in 1995, Mike has added a few paragraphs of retrospective comment from the vantage point of 2015.
It is fascinating to see how far Mike has come as a prolific and respected publisher of football books since making his first foray into the publishing world in 1995, with this charming book. I regard this 20th anniversary reissue as a lovely keepsake that I’m sure is a “must” as a collector’s item for all Kent football fans of a certain age.
The photos of the grounds bring back many fond memories and I absolutely love Mike’s nostalgic touch to reissue the book in ring-bound form as it was in 1995! You can purchase a copy (price £11.95) from Mike at Newlands Cottages, Stones Cross Road, Crockenhill BR8 8LT or from his Football Grounds Frenzy website.
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