Terrace Heroes : The Life and Times of the 1930s Professional Footballer

The 1930's saw the birth of the football idol, the 'terrace hero' prototypes for today's powerful media sport stars.

The players of the 1930's were the first generation of what we now regard as 'professionals', yet until recently the life and careers of footballers of this generation has been little studied.

During 1930's Britain, football became increasingly commercialised, and the rise and development of both local and national media, in particular broadcast media, enabled players to become widely recognised outside of their immediate local context for the first time.

Tracing the origins, playing careers and 'afterlives' of several First Division players of the era, Graham Kelly's revealing history explores the reality of living in Britain in the 1930's and draws interesting comparisons with lives of our contemporary 'terrace heroes', the football stars of today.