HEAD FOR THE FLOODLIGHTS
Around the 92 in the 1980s
By Giles Goford
Paperback: 216 pages     Pub Date: 24 September 2024
ISBN-13: 978-1739770594   Size: 148 x 210mm
RRP: £16

Hot off the press – buy now and you’ll be the first kid in your street to own a copy of the football grounds book of 2024. HEAD FOR THE FLOODLIGHTS makes a great gift idea for a birthday or for Christmas…

In 1988 and 1989, Giles Goford and his late father Jeremy toured around England and Wales visiting each of the 92 Football League grounds. This is the story of a football-obsessed kid and a dad who wasn’t a football fan, but who had a sense of adventure and wanted to bond with his son at a time of personal difficulties.

The hundreds of photos taken on the trip reveal a snapshot of what football was like in that pre-Premier League era of crumbling stadia and muddy pitches – and how a father and son went searching for football grounds, but found so much more.

When a potted version of the story and a small selection of photos were published on the BBC Sport website the flood of positive feedback was overwhelming. “An important piece of football history. I miss those days.” “I would have loved to have done a similar journey with my dad.” “The last few paragraphs moved me to tears. It stirs the emotions in everyone our age.”

Now for the whole story, and photographs of all of the grounds…

About the Author

Giles Goford was born in Amersham in 1973. After graduating from Loughborough University, he joined the BBC Sport Library before moving to the BBC News Channel sports news team in 1999. At the BBC, Giles has worked at two World Cups and the 2012 London Olympics, as well as producing a number of short documentaries for BBC News. He is currently the Global Development Producer at BBC Sport. Giles has also worked for Capital Gold, ITV Digital and Talksport, where he produced the Alan Brazil Breakfast show. He enjoyed a cameo appearance in the TV drama ‘My Summer with Des’ but didn’t enjoy an experience on Blockbusters in 1991 which ended in gut-wrenching failure. Giles lives in Cheshire, with his wife Katy and their two children, and can often be spotted at Moss Rose cheering on Macclesfield FC.