Old School
By Roger Titford
In football today they still talk about the Old School. But what was it? When was it? Did it stand apart from the society of the time or reflect it?
WSC contribtuor Roger Titford’s take is portrayed through the lens of Reading’s record-breaking Division Four title triumph of 1978-79 and the many other matches he saw that season. Change was breaking through – shirt sponsorships, controversial TV deals, black players in the England team, transfer market going mad – but you could still watch the top games in the land for a quid, cash at the turnstile, though you might be in fear of your life.
It was a truly dramatic era, featuring the Winter of Discontent, the arrival of Margaret Thatcher as PM, and old-school attitudes that may simultaneously appal and amuse, told from the perspective of a young fan making his way in the weird and now lost world of London advertising.
142 pages, paperback
