Topic

History

Cup runs, beach pitches and the stories behind the league.

4 stories

Miners, postmen and farm workers, three professional clubs beaten and 42,000 people at the semi-final.

For three seasons after the war, the pitch was marked out on the sand at low tide. One game ended in water up to the ankles.

Afternoon replays, a league that said no and one bright Wednesday night in 1956.

From penny team cards to sixteen-page booklets, and why collectors pay hundreds for the rare ones.

The final whistle