The
Crystal Palace
Foundation

To celebrate 125 years of the world's oldest football tournament, Bryon Butler has written a fascinating history of the most endearingly romantic sporting event in Britain. Drama, passion, surprise, courage, humour and everlasting hope: no other cup competition evokes such powerful emotions yet the FA Cup has retained its old and simple charm.

Brought to life with the finest collection of Cup pictures ever assembled, this book will delight football fans everywhere. It is a chronicle of famous names and deeds - from the bearded Lord Kinnaird and the Wanderers, by way of the White Horse and Stanley Matthews finals, to modern gladiators such as Paul Gascoigne and Eric Cantona. It is a tale, too, of little clubs who confounded the odds, the "giant killers", Walsall, Yeovil, Colchester and Hereford among them. It is a collection of compelling stories and facts embracing 3,000 clubs and more than 50,000 games.

Also within its 320 pages are 40 pages dedicated to the Crystal Palace Cup Finals played there between 1895 and 1914 and gives a commentary of each match giving dates, team members, scorers and gates.

Featuring many unusual photographs and a preface by Sir Stanley Matthews, C.B.E., one of the game's all-time legends, this is a book to treasure.

320 pages hardback 315 Illustrations