Charles Buchan product

Charles Buchan 500ml Flask

The pitches were muddy, it rained endlessly, but there was always Charles Buchan's Football Monthy to look forward to.

And now we can lookforward to a steaming hot, strong, sweet cup of tea (or Bovril).

Charles Buchan Hip Flask

Charles Buchan's Football Monthly - back in 1951 Britains first glossy football magazine was the voice of football, selling 100,000 copies a month.

This leather bound hip flask is perfect for a sneaky swig to keep you warm on the terraces.

Charles Buchan Leather Wallet

Harking back to 1951, Charles Buchan's Football Monthy was the first glossy football magazine - this striking leather wallet invokes heady feelings from the golden age of football.

British Football's first 'glossy' - hit the bookstands in 1951, bringing colour and glamour to a bomb-scarred nation. Every schoolboy wanted to buy it. Every player wanted to be part of it. For two decades it captured the heart and soul of the game. Here are the best bits, a grand reminder of how it was in the days of rattles and Bovril, short back and sides. black and white TV and not a logo in sight. Good old Charlie!

After an introduction by Simon Inglis, editor of the Played in Britain series, Arsenal historian Jon Spurling sets the scene: the year is 1951, Highbury Stadium, its wartime bomb damage now patched up, faces a difficult decade. The club's 1930s glamour is rapidly fading. Arsenal stars tell Charles Buchan about life at post war Arsenal. Buchan himself was an Arsenal star in the 1920s and tells some grand tales too.

As the years go by the hairstyles change, the shirts and boots are more streamlined, the stars come and go - Joe Mercer, Wally Barnes, Dennis Crompton, Jack Kelsey, Tommy Lawton, Tommy Docherty, George Graham, Frank McLintock, Bob Wilson, John Radford, George Armstrong... League Champions in 1953, but not again until 1971, FA Cup winners in 1950, but not again until 1971. Throughout thick and thin, Charles Buchan's Football Monthly was there to report on this great football institution with its glorious traditions, and some brilliant kits...

After an introduction by Simon Inglis, editor of the Played in Britain series, Liverpool FC historian Stephen Done sets the scene: it is the early 1950s and despite being League champions in 1947 and Cup Finalists in 1950, Liverpool are humiliatingly relegated. In Billy Liddell they have a national star, but not until Bill Shankly arrives in 1959 does the script change. Just as the Merseybeat starts to dominate pop culture, Shankly and his cohorts in the famous Anfield `bootroom' lead the Reds to the League title in 1964 and FA Cup victory in 1965, thus laying the foundations for four decades of thrills at home and in Europe.

Flying wingers Peter Thompson and Ian Callaghan join hotshot Roger Hunt, a hero of the 1966 World Cup. Stalwarts Ron Yeats, Tommy Smith and Ian St John become role models for emerging youths Emlyn Hughes, Steve Heighway and Kevin Keegan. The book ends in 1974 as Football Monthly folds and, by coincidence, the great Shankly retires. And so a unique record of a unique era, told through the pages of the magazine that was the fans' Number One.

After an introduction by Simon Inglis, editor of the Played in Britain series, Manchester United historian Mark Wylie sets the scene:Old Trafford lies in ruins after the Blitz, United are renting their neighbour's ground, they have a young and untried Scottish manager, Matt Busby, soon to sign the Dudley wonderkid, Duncan Edwards.

As the years go by the hairstyles change, the stars emerge - Edwards, Roger Byrne, Tommy Taylor, all to die so tragically at Munich in 1958, Bobby Charlton, Denis Law, Nobby Stiles, George Best... triumph and tragedy in Europe, losing Cup Finalists in 1957 and 1958, winners at last in 1963. From the Busby Babes to European Champions in 1968, Charles Buchan's Football Monthly spanned almost the entire Busby era, watching the legend grow...The book also reprints for the first time since 1958 the magazine's poignant post-Munich tribute.

After an introduction by Simon Inglis, editor of the Played in Britain series, Spurs fan and celebrated journalist Julie Welch sets the scene: as the magazine launches in 1951 Spurs have just emerged from years in the Second Division to win the League title with their famous 'push and run' team, marshalled by a young Alf Ramsey. Later in the decade, under manager Bill Nicholson, a galaxy of great players come together to win the Double in 1961, the first time this feat has been accomplished since the 1890s. In Swinging Sixties London, White Hart Lane and its packed Shelf terrace become synonymous with flowing football served up with style

Charles Buchan's Football Monthly spanned almost the entire Nicholson era, a period when Spurs won eight trophies in sixteen remarkable years, making this a book for all Tottenham fans to treasure.