Playing The Game
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History of town's football club revealed in new book
A new book tells the story of the founding and early history of one of England's best known non-league football clubs.
Aylesbury United FC was formed in 1897 and Playing The Game explains in detail how the club was established and developed over the first 50 years. Nicknamed the Ducks the club went on to represent the town of Aylesbury in many iconic footballing moments, including being the first non-league team to be televised live, playing a full England XI at home in the 1980s and, in 2002, hosting training sessions for Sven-Goran Eriksson's England squad.
The groundbreaking book also attempts to set the formation of the football club in the wider context of Aylesbury's social history.
Author Mike Snell – himself a long-time supporter – spent three years researching the book, which also records almost every game played by Aylesbury United since their first game in 1897 until the end of the Second World War: all of the results, teams and goalscorers.
Mike explained: “The first 55 years or so of the Ducks' history has, until now, been almost completely unknown and lost to the passage of time. We have even been unaware of the identity of the club's early pioneers and star players. I wanted to change that and was committed to lifting the veil on the names of these people so that the current generation of fans can recognise and celebrate their achievements.”
Aylesbury United played their first game on 11 September 1897 against the now defunct London Guildhall FC. In their first few seasons the club also played against some of the game's most celebrated teams of the time, including Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Woolwich Arsenal.
The Ducks' first home in Aylesbury was owned by the Hazell, Watson and Viney printing works. In 1935 the club moved to a new stadium off the Wendover Road, Aylesbury (which became known as Turnfurlong), and moved again in the 1980s to the Buckingham Road Stadium.
In 2006 the club lost their home and since then have been “ground sharing” with local clubs; currently Aylesbury United play at The Meadow, Chesham United's stadium.
“Nearly 20 years without a home has undoubtedly taken its toll on the club and performances on the pitch have been disappointing in recent seasons,” added Mike, “but thanks to a band of loyal officials and fans the club continues its journey.
“My book emphasises how important it is to continue to build on the efforts of so many early football enthusiasts whose clear ambition was to build a club that would last. After nearly 130 years of history it would be wrong to see Aylesbury United fade away now.”
Publication of Playing The Game has been supported by Xpress Labels, the Aylesbury-based specialist labels printing company who are keen to continue the town's print heritage which was started by Hazell, Watson and Viney in the 19th century.
A beer and a good book!
A beer and a good book!
What better way to spend a gloomy winter's afternoon - with a bottle of Ducks Gold and a good book!
You can order Playing The Game by clicking this link.
Ducks Gold bitter beer is a collaboration between Aylesbury United, Xpress Labels and the Chiltern Brewery and is available by collection from the brewery shop in Nash Lee Road, Terrick.
Five minute Q&A with the author
Author of Playing The Game, Mike Snell, provides some insights into why and how he wrote his book.
Q Why did you decide to write the history of Aylesbury United?
A I have long had an interest in historical matters, particularly since I researched and published my own family's genealogical history in the noughties. I thought that, as a fan, this was something I could do to enhance the interest in Aylesbury United.
Q Why did you only write about the first 50 years of the club?
A It was clear to me, as a supporter, that there was a huge gap in the club's historical knowledge prior to 1950. From that period onwards there is a good understanding about Aylesbury United because it is within living memory of many officials, fans and players, but prior to mid-20th century nobody seemed to know anything other than the club was a result of a merger of three clubs in 1897.
I was keen to change that and discover the roots of the club. But I also wanted to identify, and honour, all of those officials and players who built a thriving football club over those first 50-or-so years. Those involved with Aylesbury United today owe a real debt of gratitude to all those who came before.
Q What were your sources?
A There was absolutely nothing written down within the club about these early days and no-one was alive who could directly help me so it was a matter of trawling through a very wide range of historical documents and library material. The number one source were the two local newspapers, the Bucks Herald and the Bucks Advertiser and Aylesbury News (the latter now no longer published). More importantly, both newspapers have been uploaded to the online British Newspaper Archive which saved me a lot of time and energy, although there's still a big gap in the online archive between the early 1950s and early 1980s. National newspapers, other football clubs' archives, war records and official births, marriages and deaths records were all helpful too.
I have to thank Aylesbury United supporter Andy Irvine who some years ago spent hours researching a huge amount of information about the club in the 1940s and 1950s which helped me enormously in my early work.
Q What were the hardest aspects of your researches?
A When starting with pretty much zero knowledge you need to have an inquisitive mind and an eye for random information. One fragment of information can lead to the discovery of another and you can start to piece together a larger picture – just like a jigsaw puzzle. This detective work takes time, though, and can test your patience!
Q Were there any surprises – and any disappointments?
A The biggest surprise, I suppose, was discovering that as early as 1906 Aylesbury United had produced a young footballer who went on to play at the highest levels of Scottish and English football. Despite his success Tommy Stevens – very much an Aylesbury lad – had been completely forgotten over the years. His was a story tinged with sadness too.
There was disappointment however when I was unable to discover more about some early players. In the last few years of the 19th century there were a small number of young men who were regular first team players but who I simply couldn't identify by their first name, or discover any background about them. That was deeply frustrating!
Q Does history provide any lessons for Aylesbury United today?
A Only that in football very little changes! Many of the problems facing football clubs today also afflicted clubs in 1897 – particularly around finding the sweet spot of matching team performance with sustained success on the pitch.
Q Will there be a sequel, to complete the history of the club?
A That's a good question and one that I haven't dwelt too much on yet. To go on to cover the second part of Aylesbury United's history beyond 1955 – particularly the 1980s and 1990s, which were arguably the club's most successful period – would require a very different research approach. This, in my view, would involve a large number of personal interviews with those who lived through much of the period. This would be very time-consuming and would require a good deal of consideration. To be fair we already have a lot of data (match and player stats, for example) from the 1950s captured on the excellent online resource, the Aylesbury United Archive.
Christmas book orders
If you're planning to buy my book, Playing The Game, the early history of Aylesbury United FC, as a gift for a loved one (great idea by the way!) please make sure to place your order before Saturday 6 December in the UK to ensure it arrives before Christmas.
Also, there are now plenty of ways you can order my book, not just via Amazon. You can order via the websites of Waterstones, Foyles and Blackwell's and other good book shops. In fact Blackwell's currently have a deal: Playing The Game at £15.64 including UK delivery.
Playing The Game is now available to order across the world. When ordering in shops or online be sure to have the name of the book, author name and the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) to hand. Here are some of the main outlets:
In the United Kingdom and Europe Playing The Game will be available to order through:
Adlibris
Agapea
Amazon.co.uk
Aphrohead
Blackwell's
Bokus
Books Express
Designarta Books
Eden Interactive Ltd
Foyles
Gardners
Mallory International
Paperback Shop Ltd
Superbookdeals
The Book Community Ltd
Waterstones
Wrap Distribution
In the United States and Canada Playing The Game will be available to order through:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Walmart.com
Chapters/Indigo (Canada)
Retailers
Libraries
Schools
E-commerce companies
Independent bookstores and other well known book retailers and wholesalers across North America
In Australia and New Zealand Playing The Game will be available to order through:
Amazon AU
Booktopia
Fishpond
The Nile
James Bennett
ALS
Peter Pal
In the Middle East Playing The Game will be available to order through:
Books Kinokuniya
Ciel
Jarir Bookstore
Magrudy
Pan World
Rushd Bookstore
White Lion
If you have any difficulties in tracking down a copy of Playing The Game please contact us at playingthegamebook@gmail.com
Did you know?
Did you know?
Just a few of the many facts to be found in the book, Playing The Game, the early history of Aylesbury United.
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