Into the Big Time by Neil Palmer – Review
By Karl Hornsey
Long-time Pitch Publishing collaborator Neil Palmer’s latest release is well-timed, given that much of its subject matter takes place 50 years ago, focusing on the Bristol City side that gained promotion against the odds to the top flight. Other than a bit of preamble, and then a ‘What Happened Next?’ finale, the vast majority of this book is a forensic account of the 1975/76 season, literally game by game, with match reports and line-ups, reaction from players, managers and fans, which creates a hugely detailed picture of a season never to be forgotten by Bristol City fans.
And that approach works so well, meaning even those who are too young to remember, can vividly picture the time, both in football terms and in the wider world, and relive every moment of that campaign. Palmer being a fan clearly helps an awful lot, and his closeness to the club and his contacts works massively in his favour, as he’s been able to get contributions from so many of those in the squad or at the club at the time. What also helps, is that those involved are by no means household names, in fact most readers won’t have heard of the players who became heroes, giving it almost greater gravitas and interest, as a period frozen in time for a club that wasn’t, and still isn’t, accustomed to success.
“Different perspective”
As is customary with such historical accounts, Palmer recreates the time from a societal point of view, in the middle of a decade that saw so many seismic events, yet one that also saw football at a crossroads, with the menace of hooliganism rife and a sport that seemed in almost terminal decline and a source, almost, of national embarrassment. With the national side in the doldrums, this was at least a time when English domestic football was unpredictable, with numerous different First Division champions being crowned, and that also extended to some of the lesser lights gaining prominence, if only briefly, and often through their FA Cup exploits.
The Robins certainly fall into that category, due to their historic 1975/76 season, and this is a great read for anyone hankering after a different time, a different mentality and a different perspective, when football was ‘just football’ and not the multi-billion pound industry it has become. The anecdotes that Palmer has assembled here from that squad will be a delight to fans of the club but, importantly, this has crossover appeal to anyone interested in that era.
Into the Big Time by Neil Palmer is published by Pitch Publishing
Karl’s love of writing was piqued at the age of eight, when he won a Blue Peter badge in an essay-writing competition. The location of said badge might be a mystery now, but the memory never fades. Hours spent writing about sport as a teenager, in pre-internet years when you had to make your entertainment, honed his skills, and Karl has worked in TV and radio listings at PA Media for 28 years, and the age of hybrid working means 50% of that can be at home listening to Classic FM and thinking about his next visit to his beloved Yorkshire Dales.
@KarlHornsey, hornskar
