Before The Cemetery End
BEFORE THE CEMETERY END
Lost British Grounds & Stands 1970-1994
A prequel to the successful book, The Cemetery End, this brand new publication covers the period from 1970 to 1994 and features
more than 600 photographs of over 450 grounds, stands and terraces that were lost to British football in that period.
Running to 276 all-colour pages, and in A4 landscape format, the book is organised in a year-by-year format. Each ground and stand is accompanied by a short description highlighting the history of the structure, and how and when it met its end. Two and a half years in the making, Before The Cemetery End is the only place where the lost grounds stands from 1970 to 1994 can be viewed in one place; it is a seminal work.
Feedback so far includes:
"A brilliant piece of work" - Jock Gardiner
"Just incredible. Highly recommended" - Laurence Reade
"Absolutely outstanding" - Football Grounds & Groundhopping
"Another triumph for the Groundtastic team" - David Bogie
"A really stunning piece of football history" - Non League Crowds
For a full review by Mike Floate, please see below.
Ordering information
The book is currently available at our SPECIAL OFFER price of just £20 (plus postage).
Postage costs are as follows: UK - £3.50; Europe - £12; and Outside Europe - £22.
All orders must include the correct postage, depending on the delivery location.
IMPORTANT NOTICE - DELIVERY OF ITEMS OUTSIDE THE UK
If your order is delivered outside the UK, it may be subject to customs charges in your country, payable by you. This will be in addition to the relevant postage charge. Groundtastic is not responsible for the customs charges. For more information on deliveries to the EU please visit the Royal Mail website by clicking here.
ONLINE ORDERS
Order using PayPal by selecting the correct delivery location from the drop down list below.
POSTAL ORDERS
Orders can be sent to us at: Groundtastic, 21 Tiptree Grove, WICKFORD SS12 9AL. Cheques are to be made payable to 'Groundtastic'. Please include the correct amount of postage according to the delivery location (see above).
Review
Respected publisher and author Mike Floate, who has produced numerous titles under the Newlands Photographic title in the last two decades, has written a review of the book. It is reproduced below:
Before the Cemetery End by Paul Claydon and Vince Taylor
I’ve written, edited and published a dozen or so books on football grounds since 1995, all of which I’m really proud to have created. However, none stand in comparison to this book which is subtitled Lost British Grounds & Stands 1970 to 1994. A previous volume, The Cemetery End, covered lost grounds from 1995.
Paul and Vince launched Groundtastic in 1995. Bob Lilliman first took photos at football grounds in 1970. Put the parts together and the reason for the dates becomes clear. The quality and extent of historical images by Bob and other photographers delving into their archives is quite staggering. Other historical archives and sources have also been helpful in filling gaps and expanding our understanding of all that has been lost and re-developed over the years. Name a lost ground and it’s in here. Further quality and interest comes in the annotation detailing the historical background to each image, no surprise given Paul and Vince’s incredible knowledge and their ability to tease out references from sources others may never have located.
Printed in colour in softback, the A4 landscape format allows for the images to be edited together making the best use of space. The 274 pages are good to look at from a design perspective and the eye easily moves around to spot detail and read the text. Design in books like this is often overlooked and books can become tedious to go through. Not this one. Each page gives something memorable, and I lost count having got to over 300 different grounds and clubs included.
Highlights for me include the Holmesdale End at Crystal Palace where I first watched football, and the view towards the other end where Sainsbury’s now stands. One of my earliest memories is the delight at seeing fans on that terrace rise up, the swell of their hands and scarves rising to celebrate a goal adding to the excitement. The two contrasting ends at Swansea City’s Vetch Field bring back memories of watching the Swans go from Division 4 to Division 1 in the 1970s and early 80s, but at the first game in the top division there was no celebration from the Leeds fans as Alan Curtis scored his wonder goal to make it 5-1, the trajectory of the ball being a direct line forward from boot to net as I stood on the old North Bank. Any reader will have their own stories to tell seeing images in this book.
Such is the attention to detail that the photographer for each image is credited. Often overlooked, this acknowledgement is so important and very much appreciated by those contributing to the project. Check the names and you will be amazed to see how much of the country people like Colin Peel, Andy Dakin and Gavin Ellis have covered. I’m delighted to have got to know all three as well as Vince, Paul and Bob through our shared interest over the years. Then take a look at the early pages (the book run chronologically through the years as each ground, stand or terrace was lost) and then imaging how you would have got to take the photos that Bob did. There was of course no internet, no non-League magazines, and no non-League Directory in those years. I presume Bob used the Rothmans books which had League tables, the scores in Leagues I had never heard of which the more sports-focussed newspapers included and then asking around when he arrived in a town I guess. The book is a great monument to his dedication and resourcefulness through those years, and testament to his generosity in giving access to his archive, which was known to very few before the late 1990s.
Highlights for me include Oxford City’s White House Ground, Yeovil Town’s Huish, Redhill’s Memorial Sports Ground and Guildford City’s Joseph’s Road which were all grounds I’d heard of but never visited before my children got to an age, and I was earning enough, to get round and visit grounds myself. Llanelli’s Stebonheath Park is an even bigger regret. I did visit the ground in 1975, the third non-League ground I’d been to and the first I went to out of sheer interest. I took photos of the amazingly large stand, the end terrace and enormous bank on the far side (it would have rivalled the Swans’ North Bank had the club made it into the Football League when they applied for membership) but are among the very few slides from which I have since lost.
If you even slightly consider buying the book then do, soon. At £25 plus postage it’s great value and is undoubtedly going to sell out like the first volume. There has never been a grounds book this good and there is unlikely to ever be one better.
© Mike Floate/Football Grounds Frenzy 2023
