Turf Wars
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Few cities in the world have as many professional football clubs as London and none have the history explored in this book by journalist and broadcaster Steve Tongue. It was in the English capital that the Football Association - the first of its kind anywhere - was founded in 1863 and that the FA Cup, the world's most famous domestic cup competition, was born. After the North and Midlands dominated the first forty-odd years of league football, three clubs in particular - Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea - began to challenge them and eventually succeeded, joining West Ham United as trophy winners not only at home but in Europe. Between those four clubs, and more than a dozen other professional clubs past and present, grew the turf wars that are the bedrock of the great rivalries and derbies across England's most vibrant football city. Turf Wars tells the story of football in the capital.
Born in Walthamstow and brought up at Leyton Orient, Steve Tongue saw his first match in 1957. After a spell on the Waltham Forest Guardian, he became football correspondent of LBC Radio. Spells with the London Daily News, Sunday Correspondent, BBC Radio, The Independent and The Independent on Sunday followed. He's covered nine World Cups, nine Euro Championships and two Olympic Games; previous books are World Football and David Beckham, Fifty Defining Fixtures.