FOOTBALL FROM THE GOALMOUTH

TITLE          Football from the Goalmouth
AUTHOR         Frank Swift (edited by Roy Peskett)
PUBLISHER      Sporting Handbooks Ltd.
ADDRESS        13 Bedford Square,
               London WC1,
               UK.
ISBN NUMBER    Not applicable (out of print)
PRICE          £4.00 (secondhand)

This is an autobiographical account of Frank Swift's career up to just before he finished his playing days, in 1948.

The book is hardback (yellow/brown - they really did specialise in the most turgid colours), and is quite lengthy judging by the other sporting books which I've read from that era. It is 175 pages with 46 black and white photos; it might once have had a dustjacket but my copy, bought in early '96, hasn't got one.

The format of these footballing biographies from the early post-war years tends to be very similar: a foreword from an eminent peer, in this case Arthur Drewry - Chairman of the International Selection Committee of the FA, followed by a series of very short chapters, many of which are almost anecdotal. The foreword is very fulsome which is probably no bad thing as Swifty turns out to be a true man of his time, very reluctant to blow his own trumpet - except where money making is concerned!

The book starts in Blackpool - Frank's birthplace - and briefly describes his early life, particularly football (his brother was the Bolton goalie and bore a striking resemblance to Frank) and his little earner, which was taking tourists on boat trips. He moved to City early enough in his career to travel and see them play in the 1933 FA Cup Final which City lost to Everton 0-3. Quite bizarrely, he went to London in an Indian (motorcycle) sidecar with a one-eyed driver!

The team lost 4-2 at Derby on his first-team début, Frank claiming that he should have saved two of them, and then 7-2 at home to WBA, but with 10 men. Things improved though as City made it to Wembley once again the following year, and this time Swift was goalkeeper. A total of 399,874 people saw City play up until the final, including a record 84,568 versus Stoke City. City had better luck this time and won 2-1 against Portsmouth. Swift is almost self-deprecating about his performance (once again). He also mentions the reasons why he fainted at the end; apparently the pressure and excitement just got to him!

Here the chronology gets a bit slack as he turns his attention to, amongst other things, the great City team of the early 30's, and his footballing travels, including a near miss in an RAF Dakota over France in 1944. Matt Busby was also aboard this aircraft and the incident now seems almost portentious, considering that both these individuals were to be involved in the Munich crash, fatally in Frank's case.

How times change? Swift describes the excellent relationship between MCFC and MUFC and claims that Mancunians are for Manchester rather than strictly City or United! Another gem is that United, who started out as Newton Heath played in an old clay pit! We also get some background on the 1931 crisis at Old Trafford where there was a spectator boycott and crowds descended to 4,000! Interestingly, they were saved by Mr JW Gibson, a clothing manufacturer, and it is very probable that this is the origin of the word Rags, though Swift doesn't specifically say so.

He describes various games in the war years, and his early post-war career as a coach for Larvik in Norway. However, there is now little mention of the Blues as he focuses on his England experiences: he describes many international matches, including the famous Portuguese game where the ball was swapped for a size 4 schoolboy ball after England had scored their first goal - this was the standard size in Portugal. It didn't however make much difference as England went on to score another 9! The big issue of the day - the minimum/maximum wage - also gets a mention, not forgetting a chapter on goalkeeping basics!

These books are very different to their modern-day counterparts but nonetheless give a valuble picture of an ever-receding age. The book has some lovely anecdotes and this one perfectly illustrates a situation which will probably never happen again: Swift recounts how he was on the bus (public bus!) after a home game, and the guy who was sitting next to him moaned throughout the whole trip about the awful City 'keeper without actually recognising that he was sat next to him!