What do you think?
Rate this book
Hatters, Railwaymen and Knitters: Travels through England’s Football Provinces
English but estranged in Scotland, Daniel Gray is about to turn thirty. Like any sane person, his response is to travel to Crewe, Carlisle and Luton. Hatters, Railwaymen and Knitters is an attempt to seek out the England of today through the lens of its football clubs. Small teams and towns, Gray argues, made the country great and matter now more than ever. Taking twelve teams who had notable seasons in 1981, the year of his birth, Hatters, Railwaymen and Knitters is part-football book, part-travelogue and part-love letter to the bits of England that often get forgotten.
In Middlesbrough, his own childhood team, Gray examines the concept of supporter loyalty and identity. Is football all some of us have left to cling to in a land where the industry that bound the people of towns together has gone? In Watford he muses on the existence of a North-South divide. In Sheffield, a city of bitter derbies, he examines rivalries in football and what they say about our country. In traditionally-wealthy Ipswich he ponders the ownership of football clubs past, present and future. Via such places as Chester, Burnley, Bradford and Carlisle, this is a whistle-stop tour of the outer reaches of the football league that aims to answer big questions about Englishness.
For fans of Harry Pearson's The Far Corner or Stuart Maconie's Pies and Prejudice, this is a book that brings the real England vivdly jumping off the page.
In Middlesbrough, his own childhood team, Gray examines the concept of supporter loyalty and identity. Is football all some of us have left to cling to in a land where the industry that bound the people of towns together has gone? In Watford he muses on the existence of a North-South divide. In Sheffield, a city of bitter derbies, he examines rivalries in football and what they say about our country. In traditionally-wealthy Ipswich he ponders the ownership of football clubs past, present and future. Via such places as Chester, Burnley, Bradford and Carlisle, this is a whistle-stop tour of the outer reaches of the football league that aims to answer big questions about Englishness.
For fans of Harry Pearson's The Far Corner or Stuart Maconie's Pies and Prejudice, this is a book that brings the real England vivdly jumping off the page.
312 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2013
9 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 10, 2017
A gloriously enjoyable trawl through English lower league football in the company of the erudite and perceptive Daniel Gray.
It's a wonderful mix of social history, travelogue, social trends, and, of course, football itself.
He made me want to visit every place he describes despite never having had any desire to visit any of them before.
I really enjoyed it. Highly recommended.
It's a wonderful mix of social history, travelogue, social trends, and, of course, football itself.
He made me want to visit every place he describes despite never having had any desire to visit any of them before.
I really enjoyed it. Highly recommended.
September 27, 2017
interesting book detailing england's football provinces where the author does a footballing notes of a small island where you get social history of the area he visits and the match he goes to watch.
January 5, 2022
I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be picking up another piece by this author soon. I particularly enjoyed the structure of each chapter as I was able to learn more about a specific town’s history, how football started there, how football exists today and what the town might be like should I visit. I have always been eager to do a football pilgrimage through England and this book has challenged me to look into more towns/stadiums that might not have made my initial list. I wish I could send this author a list of 30 more towns and then plan my own travels on that. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves football, anyone that has interest in modern English history or anyone that wants to travel vicariously through the industrial towns of England.
August 27, 2013
Daniel Gray is a Middlesbrough fan who has washed up in Leith and makes a trek around some of England's footballing backwaters to try to re-connect with his mother country. I had enjoyed his similarly themed book, Stramash, where he visited Scottish small towns at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon to mull over some social history through the prism of football.
Away from the bland, formulaic, moneyed top ranks of the English game he successfully finds a warm and witty little England. I agree with the idea underscoring this, that the history of a team and its community are often interwoven and there are many fascinating anecdotes from past rebellions, wars, strikes, industries and matches. I also like the notion that if these clubs continue to strive to be a focus within their communities then they can have a positive, unifying effect upon them. Going to football matches does show you a side of a town not covered in the local tourist blurb. For away games I like nothing better than turning up early and wending my way to the ground via a couple of bars you wouldn't normally be anywhere near. As Daniel records, the overheard, often random conversations can tell you more than any guide book could.
One odd thing that struck me from the perspective of watching my football in Scotland is not just the fact that every ground seems to have a bar in it for half-time, but also that you are allowed to take a flask of tea into English grounds! You can't even take a Capri-Sun into grounds up here.
In the past I have taken an annual away-day to English football games and have been to Old Trafford, Carrow Road, the Etihad Stadium and Stadium of Light recently. This year I need to be a bit more imaginative and maybe try Accrington Stanley's Crown Ground or even the Riverside Stadium. I'm sure he was just being a bit harsh in Middlesbrough's description for comic effect.
Anyway, I'm off out now to the Partick Thistle vs Cowdenbeath game. I may start taking notes.
Away from the bland, formulaic, moneyed top ranks of the English game he successfully finds a warm and witty little England. I agree with the idea underscoring this, that the history of a team and its community are often interwoven and there are many fascinating anecdotes from past rebellions, wars, strikes, industries and matches. I also like the notion that if these clubs continue to strive to be a focus within their communities then they can have a positive, unifying effect upon them. Going to football matches does show you a side of a town not covered in the local tourist blurb. For away games I like nothing better than turning up early and wending my way to the ground via a couple of bars you wouldn't normally be anywhere near. As Daniel records, the overheard, often random conversations can tell you more than any guide book could.
One odd thing that struck me from the perspective of watching my football in Scotland is not just the fact that every ground seems to have a bar in it for half-time, but also that you are allowed to take a flask of tea into English grounds! You can't even take a Capri-Sun into grounds up here.
In the past I have taken an annual away-day to English football games and have been to Old Trafford, Carrow Road, the Etihad Stadium and Stadium of Light recently. This year I need to be a bit more imaginative and maybe try Accrington Stanley's Crown Ground or even the Riverside Stadium. I'm sure he was just being a bit harsh in Middlesbrough's description for comic effect.
Anyway, I'm off out now to the Partick Thistle vs Cowdenbeath game. I may start taking notes.
January 23, 2015
Enjoyable journey around some lesser grounds in the company of someone who has a passion for keeping the When Saturday Comes tradition going. Harry Pearson for the Gregg's generation? Given time he could be! Best on what he knows best (i.e. Teesside). The rest suffers from being a little repetitious and some rather thin research. Would have made an excellent blog.
Lazy journalism by someone to describe it as a Notes From a Small Island for football. It isn't in the same league as the Bryson (lacks the insight, the brilliantly timed jokes, the clear crisp writing style and good knowledge of the world) but is a satisfying read for the lower divisions.
Lazy journalism by someone to describe it as a Notes From a Small Island for football. It isn't in the same league as the Bryson (lacks the insight, the brilliantly timed jokes, the clear crisp writing style and good knowledge of the world) but is a satisfying read for the lower divisions.
May 22, 2016
A boring trawl through some of the English towns no one ever visits unless they have to, with some football references thrown in.
October 6, 2013
My review of this can be found on the Two Unfortunates blog (http://thetwounfortunates.com/book-re...)
June 30, 2017
Thoroughly enjoyed the book, and it’s concept.
Although the best chapter in the book was the first one covering the author’s followed team, Middlesbrough, the narrative throughout marries social and footballing histories with modern day observation. Having reached 30, the author decides to trundle around England through the environs of 12 football clubs, and Hinckley, in an attempt to re-discover the country of his birth.
Born in 1981, he chooses clubs from the 1981/82 season league tables. Top two and bottom club in each of the four divisions, although Champions Liverpool, are discarded in favour of 81/82 South-Western League Champions, Newquay AFC, under the notion that little fresh can be written about the team or the town.
The decision to eschew players’ names in the set of matches attended, in favour of slightly cryptic references, I found interesting, challenging and fair, given that the focus was more football-society than football-fact. Although must admit, at times it had me checking some on-line detail to confirm which was the player under discussion.
Each of the chapters represent another stop on the author’s odyssey, and are structured uniformly: getting to destination, social history of the towns visited, some less well-known storied events that shaped the subject clubs, observances from the matches themselves. These are all wound around a generic travelogue of sorts. So there is a danger giving rise to a feeling of repetitiveness, although the narrative is sufficiently rich to keep the interest.
Daniel Gary clearly has a deep-seated passion and love for the game, and the country of his birth, and writes about both with warmth and wit. The work is refreshing from an author socially and historically erudite, who weaves football into a socio-historic equation. The fortunes of towns and cities after all, often reflect in the fortunes of their football clubs.
Although the best chapter in the book was the first one covering the author’s followed team, Middlesbrough, the narrative throughout marries social and footballing histories with modern day observation. Having reached 30, the author decides to trundle around England through the environs of 12 football clubs, and Hinckley, in an attempt to re-discover the country of his birth.
Born in 1981, he chooses clubs from the 1981/82 season league tables. Top two and bottom club in each of the four divisions, although Champions Liverpool, are discarded in favour of 81/82 South-Western League Champions, Newquay AFC, under the notion that little fresh can be written about the team or the town.
The decision to eschew players’ names in the set of matches attended, in favour of slightly cryptic references, I found interesting, challenging and fair, given that the focus was more football-society than football-fact. Although must admit, at times it had me checking some on-line detail to confirm which was the player under discussion.
Each of the chapters represent another stop on the author’s odyssey, and are structured uniformly: getting to destination, social history of the towns visited, some less well-known storied events that shaped the subject clubs, observances from the matches themselves. These are all wound around a generic travelogue of sorts. So there is a danger giving rise to a feeling of repetitiveness, although the narrative is sufficiently rich to keep the interest.
Daniel Gary clearly has a deep-seated passion and love for the game, and the country of his birth, and writes about both with warmth and wit. The work is refreshing from an author socially and historically erudite, who weaves football into a socio-historic equation. The fortunes of towns and cities after all, often reflect in the fortunes of their football clubs.
December 17, 2022
There are many books in which a writer goes to different football grounds at different levels of the game, and ties them together under some sort of theme. Sometimes it's the stories behind players or managers, and sometimes it's the culture that surrounds it. To be worth reading then, this style of book needs a point of difference.
And Gray doesn't provide it. He loves a short sentence. He loves a metaphor (buildings and their running mascara) and speaking on behalf of us, the English. He includes an observation of seemingly anything he comes across.
The idea was to paint a portrait of England through football, but the attempts at humour didn't work for me, and the absence of any names in his match reports make the football incedental and almost pointless to read about. Tim Moore and Harry Pearson have travelled around British towns and make their histories and people at least mildly interesting if they write about them, and this was very flat in comparison. Maybe it improves in later chapters but that is a risk I'm willing to take as I gave up partway through the third.
And Gray doesn't provide it. He loves a short sentence. He loves a metaphor (buildings and their running mascara) and speaking on behalf of us, the English. He includes an observation of seemingly anything he comes across.
The idea was to paint a portrait of England through football, but the attempts at humour didn't work for me, and the absence of any names in his match reports make the football incedental and almost pointless to read about. Tim Moore and Harry Pearson have travelled around British towns and make their histories and people at least mildly interesting if they write about them, and this was very flat in comparison. Maybe it improves in later chapters but that is a risk I'm willing to take as I gave up partway through the third.
February 25, 2023
I've often wondered how author's get this type of commission, especially in the age of social media where most of the content (the hat industry in Luton, Middlesbrough as a methaphoar for industrial decline, 10 goal Joe Payne) can be cobbled together fairly easily. Then an obligatory When Saturday Comes travelogue meets Nick Hornby meandering travelogue. I was going to give it three when I got to the page where he is wandering along in some provincial grot-spot when he hears that Whitney Houston has died and mentions her awful caterwauling, which made he laugh out loud on a difficult day
August 2, 2020
A gem of a book. Gray lets the towns speak as he travels to watch football around England. Part travelogue, part musings on the link between a town and its team, it remains the perfect antidote to Chelsea versus Arsenal on telly again
October 24, 2018
A bit of rural England sprinkled with football? That's what it is!
August 15, 2020
An enjoyable and evocative trawl through some of English football's (and England's) backwaters. There's some really delightful writing here. A proper gem.
January 22, 2022
This book is absurd yet beautiful! I don’t remember laughing so much by myself as I did while reading this book. I also discovered multiple facets of England, I never knew existed.
Read
July 11, 2023No rating, just research.
August 2, 2013
Hatters, Railwaymen and Knitters is quite different to books I have previously reviewed for Books with Bunny. An examination of the quirks of British behaviour and the changing face of the national game, Daniel Gray's book reads as a love story-love of Britain, love of football and love of the diversity of our nation.
Before starting a family, I had a season ticket at Sheffield United. From 1998 until 2007 I could be found at the Lane every other week, and attended around a third/half the away games most seasons. I also went to youth team games (watching players including the now England regular Phil Jagielka), reserve games, open days, 'meet the manager' events, watched training sessions at the old training ground at Abbeydale and generally lived and breathed Sheffield United. I met my now husband via a Sheffield United online forum and chose to come to university in Sheffield so that I could watch more games. I have hundreds of photos of myself gurning alongside former players from waiting at the players entrance. I suppose what I am trying to say is that I know how it feels to have a bond to a team, to feel part of that community that football creates, to have an identity that is formed largely around the team you support. Just to prove to you that I am writing this review as 'someone who understands'.
Gray visited towns and cities across England in the 2011-2012 season, examining their relationships with the local football teams. From Burnley to Carlisle, Crewe to Leyton, Hatters, Railwaymen and Knitters explores the diversity of England and the relationship between a local team and the town they are part of. More than purely a book about football, this is a history lesson, a social commentary, a declaration of love for the beautiful game. Gray's acute observations will resonate with football fans such as the summing up of the anticipation of visiting a new ground with the phrase 'may nothing stop the feeling a first visit to a new ground gives'. Portrayals of towns and the characters who reside there alongside both footballing and local anecdotes will amuse and inform in equal measure.
It is perhaps obvious to compare Gray to Hornby given the subject matter, yet the comparisons stretch beyond a passion for football. Wry observations of the quirky behaviour of football fanatics and a dry underlying humour appear to be Gray's fortes, making Hatters, Railwaymen and Knitters a highly readable and entertaining piece. Beautifully written, nostalgic and reflective, this will also appeal to fans of Simon Armitage, Stuart Maconie and Tim Moore.
Before starting a family, I had a season ticket at Sheffield United. From 1998 until 2007 I could be found at the Lane every other week, and attended around a third/half the away games most seasons. I also went to youth team games (watching players including the now England regular Phil Jagielka), reserve games, open days, 'meet the manager' events, watched training sessions at the old training ground at Abbeydale and generally lived and breathed Sheffield United. I met my now husband via a Sheffield United online forum and chose to come to university in Sheffield so that I could watch more games. I have hundreds of photos of myself gurning alongside former players from waiting at the players entrance. I suppose what I am trying to say is that I know how it feels to have a bond to a team, to feel part of that community that football creates, to have an identity that is formed largely around the team you support. Just to prove to you that I am writing this review as 'someone who understands'.
Gray visited towns and cities across England in the 2011-2012 season, examining their relationships with the local football teams. From Burnley to Carlisle, Crewe to Leyton, Hatters, Railwaymen and Knitters explores the diversity of England and the relationship between a local team and the town they are part of. More than purely a book about football, this is a history lesson, a social commentary, a declaration of love for the beautiful game. Gray's acute observations will resonate with football fans such as the summing up of the anticipation of visiting a new ground with the phrase 'may nothing stop the feeling a first visit to a new ground gives'. Portrayals of towns and the characters who reside there alongside both footballing and local anecdotes will amuse and inform in equal measure.
It is perhaps obvious to compare Gray to Hornby given the subject matter, yet the comparisons stretch beyond a passion for football. Wry observations of the quirky behaviour of football fanatics and a dry underlying humour appear to be Gray's fortes, making Hatters, Railwaymen and Knitters a highly readable and entertaining piece. Beautifully written, nostalgic and reflective, this will also appeal to fans of Simon Armitage, Stuart Maconie and Tim Moore.
July 8, 2015
Excellent evocation of real football in real towns and cities. No show pony premier leaguers here - just good honest clubs serving their communities. Gray does a good job of providing flavours of many different areas of the country, and occasionally is almost Brysonesque in his observations.
His views on Scottish independence, whilst in the main agreeing with my own, are slightly superfluous to the main thrust of the book, but do not impinge too much on this whistle stop your of the lower leagues. I just wish he'd visited the City Ground!
His views on Scottish independence, whilst in the main agreeing with my own, are slightly superfluous to the main thrust of the book, but do not impinge too much on this whistle stop your of the lower leagues. I just wish he'd visited the City Ground!
May 30, 2016
Not sure if I did this book justice. A bit of a stop start read by me which did not help with the flow. May revisit it a later date. Well written, good subject would even forgive the misspelling of Bramall Lane!!!
May 3, 2020
Some of the chapters were a bit dull but I found the cities and clubs described in great detail. The gameday experience for each club was very relatable for anyone lucky enough to experience soccer in small town England.
October 27, 2013
interesting travels among englans lower division football.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews