Forgotten Football Clubs of Great Britain and Ireland by Philip O’Rourke – Review

By Karl Hornsey

Philip O’Rourke has returned with a second book focusing on some of the football clubs that sadly are no longer in existence, this time looking closer to home and at British and Irish clubs, after casting his net on a global scale first time around. Sadly, there’s probably enough material for three, four or five volumes, given the number of clubs that are no longer with us, but if so, O’Rourke will give them the recognition and respect they deserve, as he undoubtedly understands the heartache involved when a club ceases to exist.

While some of these teams hail from the far-flung annals of football history, there are also modern salutary lessons in how not to run a football club and this book is hugely relevant, when one thinks of the summer of turmoil suffered by the likes of Sheffield Wednesday and Morecambe. Supporters from both clubs could be forgiven for thinking they wouldn’t see the start of this season, thanks to long-running ownership wrangles, and the sheer number of outfits run by people with seemingly little interest in the towns and cities and supporters involved is quite frightening.

“Depth of emotion”

As with the global book, whittling down the number to 50 for the British version must have been hard in itself and there will be plenty of others who could have been included, but on the whole, O’Rourke chooses an eclectic selection, meaning there’s something for everyone across the chapters. Crucially, he also tells the stories from the viewpoint of the supporters who have been left without a club which, for any fan, is the ultimate nightmare scenario with their team. An integral part of their lives one minute, and literally non-existent the next. This human element adds a great depth of emotion to the book, and brings the clubs back to life, if only for a few minutes, making it arguably the strongest reason to read this volume. With local journalists also offering their take on events, the level of research put in by O’Rourke really pays dividends, unearthing nuggets of information hitherto untold.

Despite their clubs ceasing to exist, those supporters will enjoy reading about them, feeling that O’Rourke cares about their demise and being on their side when, throughout many of their falls from grace, they would have felt as though nobody was listening or paying attention. There’s a wonderful encapsulation of the more amateur days of running clubs, which ultimately led to some of their downfalls, but, alarmingly, so many of the lessons contained in this book have yet to be learned, and current owners, as well as the ordinary football fan, would do well to pay attention.

‘Forgotten Football Clubs of Great Britain and Ireland’ by Philip O’Rourke is published by Pitch Publishing