For
this interview I had the chance to ask fellow blogger and contemporary (both
born in 1973) Paul Whittle about his historical and informative Football
(Soccer) blog: ‘The 1888 Letter-Football Then and Now’ https://the1888letter.com/
In
this blog the author discusses the different aspects of the professional game
in England and the rest of the world from a historical perspective.
Mr.
Whittle started his blog only over a year and half ago, but has already
uploaded a multitude of posts all dealing with the History of the game.
Soccernostalgia Question: Please tell me about yourself and your background?
Response: I was born
in Leeds, England, in 1973, and still live in the county of West Yorkshire. My
dad had watched and played football since the 1950s, and I inherited that love
of the game. As for my career, when it became obvious I wasn’t going to become
a professional footballer, I’ve never had a clear idea. After trying various
things, I am now a Civil Servant.
Soccernostalgia
Question: At what age
did you become a Football fan and what are your earliest memories of the game
(on Telelvision or otherwise)? Was there an event/Tournament perhaps that was a
catalyst?
Response: I was
kicking a ball around as long as I can remember, on the street, in the park or
the playground. There was of course much less football on television when I was
growing up, but I would watch Match of the Day on BBC or ITV’s Big Match if I
could. For specific games, I can vaguely remember Nottingham Forest winning the
European Cup (it must have been the second time), bits of the 1980 FA Cup
Final, England matches sometimes and definitely the 1981 FA Cup Final with
Ricky Villa’s winning goal. I was taken to a couple of games around then but I
can’t actually remember too much about them.
Soccernostalgia
Question: What made
you decide to start your blog?
Response: I had a
long-term ambition to write about football, but either never found the time, or
didn’t have the confidence to do it. It was also difficult, before the
Internet, to find an outlet for football writing without being an established
journalist. Maybe ten years ago, I started to write about different interests
(literature, music, science fiction) on blogs or just for my own interest, and
also did some freelance editing and proof-reading. That made me think a
football project was a realistic goal, as my first love and something I’m fairly
knowledgeable about. I had an idea for a book, based on the recent past of
English football, which took me several years to write. I would like to say
more about it if (let’s say when) it is published. Anyway, I began to look at
different blogs, making a note of which ones I liked and found interesting, and
thought eventually it might be a good complement to the book. I had lots of
ideas, some just bits and pieces, over the years, and decided in the middle of
2018 to start my own blog. I realised it would need regular content to be
worthwhile, and so far I’ve managed to put a new post up roughly every two
weeks.
Soccernostalgia
Question: On your blog
page, you give an explanation about the name of your blog “the 1888 letter” For
the benefit of new readers can you explain why you decided on this name?
Response: It wasn’t
actually my first choice! I looked at a few names which were more directly
football-related, but they were either already in use, or too close to
something else. I’d been researching the early history of English football and
read about the letter which the founder of the Football League, a Scot called
William McGregor, sent to a number of clubs in 1888. That letter invited them
to form what became the world’s first professional football league. The only
other results which came up for ‘the 1888 letter’ were about the serial killer
Jack the Ripper, so I didn’t think anyone would be confused if I used the name.
I wasn’t sure at first, but now I think it’s a bit different and I’m happy with
it.
Soccernostalgia
Question: In your own
words, can you describe the content of your blog to new readers?
Response: I try to
cover all aspects of football ‘then and now’, with the main focus on English
league football from the 60s to the 80s, which is what I grew up with, or was
in the recent past. I wanted to write about players, competitions, teams and
games which I thought were historically important, or just interesting. Beyond
that, I have expanded into international football, again mainly from the era I
know best, and a mini-series about the British influence on the game around the
world. Some of the topics I never planned to write about, for example a friend
going to the ConIFA World Cup last year inspired a couple of posts. I don’t
concentrate on any one specific interest, am non-partisan and always learning
more, so hopefully there’s something for everyone.
Soccernostalgia
Question: In little
over a year, you have uploaded a multitude of posts. How much time per day or
week do you spend on your writing?
Luckily I had
a lot of material to start with, and I am always adding ideas, which might or
might not become full posts. I don’t work on Mondays, which I try to devote as
far as possible to writing, and probably manage to get something down most
days. I enjoy both the writing and the research, which might just involve
watching some old footage on YouTube. I also like the blog format, it allows me
to cover a range of subjects at whatever length seems suitable.
Soccernostalgia
Question: What is your
process on writing a typical blog post? What is the duration in terms of
research?
Response: I normally
have the basis of a post in mind for a while before I start, so I usually just
sit and write as much as I can, the outline of what I want to cover, without
checking any of the details straight away. If it’s a particular game, I’ll
watch it on YouTube (however much is available) and put down ideas as I go
along. If I’m familiar with the subject, sometimes it’s just checking the facts
are right and reading it through, adding links and photos. Others, such as the
recent one about the British influence in South America, I might have to
research on and off for weeks or months as most of the information is new to
me. I try to have a draft ready a few weeks before I post, and I have a rough
plan for the blog into next year. I’m trying to link more posts to specific
dates and anniversaries, and then fit the general topics around them.
Soccernostalgia
Question: What
research material do you use most, newspapers? Football Magazines? Books? All
of the above?
Response: That’s a
good question, as the Internet would be the easy and obvious answer! Yes, it’s
great for watching old matches, but of course it’s not always 100% factually
reliable, so I do have reference books (some of them from childhood), a few
Rothmans yearbooks and different annuals which are very useful for information
from the time. Sometimes the match programmes are also helpful sources, and I
will get books from the library, especially to learn about a new topic. In the
last year, the books I’ve read on the origins of South American football, and
the NASL, by Andreas Campomar and Ian Plenderleith respectively, have really
inspired me to investigate further (I will credit these as I post them).
Soccernostalgia
Question: Your blog
posts sometimes cover particular matches. In some cases, they are well known
matches in the history of the game, in other cases they are not as known. How
is the process in your deciding of matches in question (example Hull vs.
Scunthorpe, 1983)?
Response: I wanted to
have a ‘Match of the Month’ as a regular feature, to give the blog some
continuity and also because I thought these might be a bit quicker and easier
to put together compared to more in-depth posts. Originally I thought I might
cover all 92 clubs of the old Football League, but I’m not sure I can do
justice to all of them (and it will take a very long time). I wanted to balance
the big, well-known games with more obscure ones and, while for example
Brazil-Italy 1982 was always going to be the first one I wrote about (see
above), some I’ve found more or less accidentally. I like to link in a few
facts about the clubs, players and managers where I can. The game you mention,
Hull v Scunthorpe, was interesting to me for a few reasons – an example of how
Match of the Day used to regularly feature football below the top division, one
of the ‘lost grounds’ (which I once went to) and some famous names at different
stages of their careers in Allan Clarke, Steve McLaren and Brian Marwood.
Soccernostalgia
Question: Though most
of your blog entries cover the Football of bygone era, you nevertheless have
entries for the recent past. What is your favorite era of Football and favorite
players?
Response: Most people
remember their earlier experiences and childhood memories very fondly – I’m no
exception. It certainly wasn’t perfect, English football could be violent on
and off the pitch, but I grew up with football in the 80s and tend to go back
to that period. The 60s and 70s were also still relatively fresh then, and
looking back I would say those three decades before the Premier League in
England are my favourites, and also cover what I consider the best World Cups
in memory. As for players, I liked Glenn Hoddle from seeing him in the 1981 FA
Cup Final, he wasn’t a typical English player of the time, but his shooting,
touch and especially passing, on terrible pitches and with brutal tackling,
were incredible. I never understood – and still don’t – why he wasn’t
appreciated more in England. If people haven’t seen him play, his YouTube
highlights are definitely worth watching. I also love to see old footage of
Maradona as apart from the World Cups, we didn’t see enough of him in England
during his prime. Of course there was the Hand of God, but how can you not
enjoy his skill?
Soccernostalgia
Question: Did you read
and collect books and especially soccer magazines as a young fan? If so, which
magazines did you read on a regular basis?
Response: I liked to
read as much as I could, whether that was weekly magazines like Match and
Shoot!, annuals or books (sometimes from the library). I was interested in
football encyclopaedias and reference books from an early age, and gathered a
lot of information from them. My main collecting was Panini stickers – I had
all the albums through the 80s, though I didn’t fill them, including the 1982
and 1986 World Cups. I played Subbuteo as well (did it travel worldwide?). A
bit later I also started getting match programmes, when you could buy bundles
of random teams very cheaply.
Soccernostalgia
Question: Did you
follow foreign Leagues as a young fan?
Response: It was much
more difficult to do that, although as well as the first foreign players coming
to the First Division (Ardiles & Villa, Muhren & Thijssen), there were
English players like Kevin Keegan and Laurie Cunningham going abroad, so there
was a little bit of coverage. It helped that English teams were doing really
well in Europe, as that would be the only time to see clubs from other
countries, because there was no regular footage from other leagues until much
later. Occasionally I would get to look at copies of World Soccer, which was
fascinating because it gave me a glimpse into a whole football world I knew
nothing about…
Soccernostalgia
Question: As a new
Football fan, I remember the level of anticipation I had every week, for the
new Soccer Magazine at the newsstands, did you experience that as well? Can you
describe your experiences with that?
Response: Yes, I used
to get Shoot! or sometimes Match (or even both) from the local shop, I think on
a Wednesday, and they were pretty good for kids. I have kept a few copies, but
the whole collection went from my mum’s attic a few years ago. One highlight
was getting the yearly League Ladders, which allowed you to keep track of every
team’s position during the season. I’ve seen a couple of nostalgic blog posts
about these (were they only in Britain?) and have them on my list of future
topics.
Soccernostalgia
Question: Do you
follow the modern game and what are your general thoughts on it?
Response: This could
be a whole essay, but I find the modern game difficult in many ways, and I
don’t think it’s just me ‘living in the past’. I keep an eye on results and can
see the improvements in facilities, pitches, protection of skilful players and
so on, but the money that has arrived has taken football in a new direction,
and brought with it a lot of greed and corruption. I find it’s not easy to
relate to multi-millionaires and the amount of cheating (diving or
‘simulation’, trying to con referees and get players sent off) on the pitch
makes it hard to watch. Coming from England, I always enjoyed a good sliding
tackle – fair physical contact (not fouling) should be part of the game but I
see so many challenges, even ones which win the ball, punished with yellow and
red cards. There’s a balance which I think at the moment is in danger of going
from one extreme of dangerous tackling to another of virtual non-contact.
Off the
pitch, many of the moves to new stadiums are just driven by money, and a lot of
history has been lost (like Wembley without the twin towers). There is less
connection between players and fans, in the English lower leagues players now
rarely stay longer than a couple of seasons at a club, less of them are local
etc – and, in every country, the richest teams always tend to win! In the 80s
alone there were smaller clubs challenging in England (if not winning the
league), in Italy Verona won a title, Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao in
Spain – it’s hard to see those kind of teams ever competing with Juventus,
Barcelona & Co again, which I personally think is a shame. I just wish
there was a better way of balancing progress with preserving what was great about
the game.
Soccernostalgia
Question: Did you (and
do you) attend Football matches regularly in England? What are your earliest
memories regarding that?
Response: I mentioned
earlier being taken to games, those were at Elland Road, Leeds, and the first
one was in February 1980 – I only worked this out as there was a reference to
it in a school diary I had kept. It was a 1-1 draw between Leeds and Brighton,
but I don’t remember anything! Later there were another couple of games, one I
saw again on YouTube against West Brom, but Leeds were in decline then, the
crowds were getting lower and the atmosphere could be hostile (and my dad
wasn’t a Leeds fan!). I saw Nottingham Forest a few times with a friend and his
dad, Tottenham to watch Hoddle and Ardiles, and then in the early 80s my dad
started taking me to see his home-town team, Oldham, which continued for many
years, including in the top division. It dropped off in my 20s, when I played
football every Saturday afternoon, and now it’s perhaps a game or two a season;
the very last game I went to was earlier this year, Rotherham v Nottingham
Forest in the Championship. It was strange because I didn’t have any connection
beyond my dad, but I loved going to any match, the atmosphere and the
perspective on the game close-up makes it an experience that just can’t be
reproduced on television. I was lucky to see games in quite a few grounds, big
and small, some of which are now gone. I also once saw Major Indoor Soccer in
Los Angeles (1983, on a family holiday) which is another future blog post, but
apart from a Red Star match in Paris a few years ago, I haven’t been to games
in other countries – something I’d like to do.
Soccernostalgia
Question: What was the
first World Cup that you followed as a knowledgeable fan?
Response: 1982, and
it’s still my favourite one. I was 8 and already a fan, but to see it all
beamed in from another country, the colours, crowds and kits, everything about
it was exciting at that age. Bryan Robson’s goal at the start against France,
Gerry Armstrong’s winner for Northern Ireland against Spain, these were great
moments, but the teams I’d never seen before seemed so exotic. The huge
difference to now was that there was no real worldwide coverage, the
non-British players were totally unknown to me, and almost every game I
discovered some wonderful players. Which brings me to the Brazil team, who I
fell in love with from the first game against the USSR. I’d never seen a team
play like that, before or since, with such flair and style: Zico, Socrates,
Falcao, Junior, Eder, names that will never be forgotten. I don’t mind saying
that I cried when they lost to Italy, it seemed so unfair! Then after many
years I was able to see their games and goals again on YouTube, and my
childhood memories hadn’t fooled me, they were still amazing to watch.
Soccernostalgia
Question: Do you
interact with other bloggers and how has that experience been?
Response: That’s
something I’m only starting to do now, as I feel more confident in what I’m
doing myself, and able to approach people on a more even footing. I’ve had a
couple of corrections (which is fine) and a few positive comments, and really
hope to build on those interactions as it can otherwise feel like you’re just
working in a vacuum.
Soccernostalgia
Question: Explain how
Social media outlets have helped you with your blog as well as your interaction
with others?
Response: I wasn’t
sure about twitter, as I’d never used it before and it doesn’t always seem a
friendly place, but decided it would help the blog and, I hope eventually, the
book. I joined at the very end of 2018 and once I started tweeting, found I
actually enjoyed it and it was manageable to get something out more or less
daily. I started with a list of football birthdays (copied from the 1984
Guinness Who’s Who of Soccer) and just kept adding anniversaries etc – I’ve
just been posting #OnThisDay so far, unless it’s to link to a new blog post,
but might change it a bit at some point. It’s really useful to put out snippets
of information, of course it’s nice to get followers, likes and comments, and
hopefully it will direct more people to the blog where my more in-depth content
is. I haven’t tried Facebook yet, I’m not sure I could manage another platform
just at the moment.
Soccernostalgia
Question: Listening to
podcasts along with facebook and twitter, I have gotten the impression that
british fans seem to be interested in the English league, similarly the
Italians seem to be only interested in the Serie A. Do you feel that to be the
case, were foreign leagues covered around the time you became a fan? I remember
growing up as remote from Europe as we were, all the major western leagues were
covered in print and television and I was able to be knowledgeable on all these
leagues. Can you describe how the coverage was for you on print and TV growing
up?
Response: This is a
really interesting question, and though I’ve touched on it above, I think this
would also be good to look at in-depth in the future. The world has changed so
much since we were growing up, it’s impossible for later generations to imagine
not having Internet or mobile phones, no 24-hour global TV coverage… that must
have been great for you, being able to access all the leagues without any
national bias. I loved the English league but I also knew, especially after
1982, that there was so much more, but no way of reaching it – Maradona,
Platini, Zico, etc – until the next World Cup. I do believe it made the World
Cups more exciting as well, when players seemed to arrive out of nowhere. I
think globalisation has also affected styles of play, every nationality is
represented in each other’s leagues, both coaching and playing, so it’s harder
to say there is a distinctive ‘style’ to each country now.
On the
specific question, overseas TV coverage was really limited to the major
tournaments, and luckily England qualified for all of them in the 80s apart
from Euro 84, so we got to see them, whereas I think the failure to qualify for
the 74 or 78 World Cup meant less attention on international football. As I
mentioned, the success of British clubs in Europe also helped, as most of those
games were covered. For South America though, it was virtually non-existent.
All I remember, very distantly, is maybe Flamengo beating Liverpool in the
World Club Cup. For print reference, the most you might see were the major
league tables or news of a big transfer, like Maradona to Barcelona, but apart
from World Soccer, not very much – not enough for my liking.
Soccernostalgia
Question: How do you
envision the future of your blog? What would you like to do or cover that you
have not done so far?
Response: I’d like to
expand the content as much as I can, certainly with interviews (which I’m
starting to make contacts for), book reviews, and series where I can go into a
bit more detail on a given topic. There are competitions and countries I’d like
to cover, and also maybe profiles of particular players, but there are so many
good blogs out there, I don’t want to repeat their content if I can help it.
The idea of working with other bloggers, especially ones who are genuine,
independent fans and not representing organisations, is really appealing and
I’d like to move toward that kind of collaborative project. Having different
perspectives from fans worldwide, and producing something original, would be
ideal. Whatever happens with the book, I definitely plan to continue the blog.
Soccernostalgia:
Once again thank you for taking the time for this interview.
Blog address: https://the1888letter.com/
On twitter: @1888Letter
