This is indeed a call for help, help to get a book published that chronicles the history of the Manchester Corinthians, a leading English women’s football club of the 1950s and 1960s. The club was founded in 1949 by Percy Ashley, and it went on to represent Manchester, football and female endeavour for decades, winning major international tournaments in Europe and South America. The Corinthians are, without doubt, one of the most important football clubs ever to come from Manchester and they were a prominent and pioneering club in so many ways.
Manchester Corinthians: The Authorised History by Gary James will include interviews with players from every era of the club from a founding player back in 1949 through to those playing for the club in its final days over 40 years later. The book will finally tell the story of the club from start to finish via the voices of the women who played. Via these voices the entire history of the club will be explained with the key figures identified and remembered. There’s a remarkable trail of women linking the first game with the last.
The book James has been working on to tell the Corinthians’ story from formation in 1949 to their final days and beyond will be published this summer. “It’s been a real labour of love and something I’m extremely proud of,” says James. “It’s taken many, many years of research and dedication to get to this point and, of course, as with so many BSSH [British Society of Sports History] members’ interests, I’m self-funding all of this research. I’m totally funding the book, so pre-publication orders really help.”
People can now subscribe to the book and every subscriber will be helping the full story of the Corinthians to be published and told for the first time. In addition to buying the book, every subscriber gets their name published within a special roll of honour and gets a signed copy of the book.
Further information about the subscription offer is here.
