1974 Football In The Seventies

<p><b><i> 1974</i> whisks you back half a century to discover the major matches, stories and controversies that lit up football in that momentous year.</b></p><p>From the author of <i>1923: Life in Football One Hundred Years Ago</i> and <i>1953: Life in Football Seventy Years Ago</i>.</p><p>Britain in 1974 was a land of strikes, electricity cuts, a three-day working week and the country’s first official recession for 50 years. Floodlit football matches were banned, Sunday football was established and attendances fell as cash-strapped fans couldn’t afford to watch live games.</p><p>This compelling book includes:</p><ul><li>A chilling exploration of how football hooliganism began to spiral out of control and how the sport was shamed by the first murder on the terraces</li><li>The full story behind Brian Clough’s nightmare 44-day reign at Leeds United and its rancorous toxic fall-out</li><li>The sad tale of Bill Shankly’s retirement as Liverpool manager and how it all ended in tears and recrimination</li><li>Analysis of Manchester United’s nightmare season and their first relegation from the top flight for more than 30 years</li><li>How the FA finally ended the shameful 50-year ‘ban’ on women’s football</li><li>A revolution in amateur football as paid players are allowed, the league pyramid is totally reorganised and the national England amateur team disbanded</li><li>The story of how Leeds United and Umbro pioneered the multi-billion-pound replica kit industry and helped usher sponsorship into football</li></ul><p><b>Read about all this and much more in this fascinating and exhaustively researched study of a special footballing year.</b></p>