We Are 2!

Two years ago today, the Football Attic cranked open its dust ridden hatch and let down the ladder of nostalgia for you all to climb up and sample our aged goodness... this analogy really isn't working is it?

Never mind that, it's our birthday!!! To celebrate, let's get all meta and be nostalgic about nostalgia! So come with us as we take a journey through our short lifespan...

14th Nov 2011 - We are born and the world instantly becomes a better place!

18th Nov 2011 - Our first proper post...Rich bangs on about a shiny piece of plastic

15th Dec 2011 - Chris writes something about Ceefax and the Attic explodes!

6th Feb 2012 - The Football Attic graces Twitter with its presence - the world is never the same again!

14th Mar 2012 - The Football Attic Confessional is launched.... and quickly forgotten ;-)

30th Mar 2012 - The League of Blogs is founded

23rd May 2012 - The League of Blogs Wallchart is complete!

4th July 2012 - The first Attic publication, the League of Blogs Sticker Albums are created!!!

10th Aug 2012 - The first Football Attic Podcast is recorded, covering the subject of Panini

30th Aug 2012 - Nearly a year after we came into being, Rich finally accepts Facebook exists and we join.

7th Sept 2012 - Rich's 5 Worst Subbuteo Items finds itself on the Guardian's 'five things they liked that week.'

28th Sept 2012 - The first Great Tracksuit Of Our Time makes its debut.

14th Nov 2012 - Our 1st Birthday!

16th Nov 2012 - The Greatest Shirt Sponsor Ever tournament begins!

1st Jan 2013 - WANG!

5th Jan 2013 - Our 2nd book, the Football Attic Annual sells out and goes worldwide! ;-)

22nd Feb 2013 - Re-e-brand!

10th Mar 2013 - Chris creates a Subbuteo wallchart as it would have been in 1900


31st Mar 2013 - The League of Blogs returns!

5th Apr 2013 - We make our first appearance in Backpass Magazine

30th Apr 2013 - The vote for the Worst of Modern Football begins - won by "Greed in general"

21st May 2013 - What was England's Greatest Ever Kit? 'England 82', apparently...

7th Aug 2013 - We take a look at the trends in kit manufacturing

4th Nov 2013 - Numbers on the back of shirts is so passe...

14th Nov 2013 - We are 2! Oh yeah... we covered that...

So what's set to grace the Football Attic pages over the next two years? Well we've got a podcast coming up very soon and before you know it it'll be time for the League of Blogs 2014!

Of course we couldn't have made it this far if it wasn't for you lovely people who bother to read our ramblings or engage with us on Twitter, etc, so a huge thank you to all who've dropped by and liked what you've seen and of course an even bigger thanks to all those who have contributed articles to the Attic.

THANK YOU! :-)

Rich & Chris

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Football Remains

That's what we were going to call this blog site. In the weeks leading up to 14 November 2011, Rich J and myself toyed with lots of different names, but eventually The Football Attic ran out the winner.

Though we remain satisfied that we made the right choice, there's no denying that Football Remains also had something going for it. It worked on different levels, making reference to the fact that 'remains' is a way of describing something that's left behind, like the memorabilia washed up on the shore from football's constant tides. It also conjures up images of a decapitated body after a particularly gruesome murder, and that's ostensibly why we didn't ultimately choose that title.


It does, however, reinforce the fact that with every passing day, month, year or decade, football continues to offer up all manner of different ways to be nostalgic. It's that very notion that inspired Rich and myself to create this blog site, and though it was based on a personal passion we shared for the sport, we weren't quite sure how many others would share it with us.

To be quite truthful with you, we probably didn't give the matter enough thought before the project got underway. For instance, how often can you write about Panini sticker books without sending your audience into an outright torpor?  At what point would the mention of Subbuteo prompt a regular visitor to engage in an irresponsible act of violent behaviour?  These things matter, you know.

As it is, we must have had an underlying belief that there was an appetite for the sort of articles we wanted to write, not least because of the growing disaffection among football fans for the modern game. Much talk has been heard from supporters over the last year or more about the various crises and controversies that abound in football these days. Whether it's racist slurs between players or greed and bankruptcy affecting clubs, it's no wonder fans are looking for something that reminds them of all that's best in The Beautiful Game.

And that's why we continue to do what we do. Though some people might think of football nostalgia as lightweight and clichéd, we believe it has more to offer than that. By looking in detail at the plentiful bounty that football has given us over the years, we can all remember why we fell in love with this glorious sport of ours in the first place.

Thanks to your support and contributions to this website over the last year, we can say without doubt that football remains and finds itself in excellent shape to entertain us for many more years to come.

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The Football Attic: Post 100

Allow us, if you will, a brief moment of joyousness, for what you are reading is the 100th post here on The Football Attic.

We wouldn't ordinarily take up your time in this way with such self-regarding nonsense, but it has to be said we're incredibly proud of the fact that we've done so much in such a short space of time.

Creating a blog about football nostalgia was an idea we had towards the end of 2011 and quite honestly we weren't really sure anyone would find it interesting. The fact that you've not only embraced the subject matter with your incredible support but also contributed greatly to the writing that appears here vindicates our belief in the project completely and totally.

So this 100th post is essentially the biggest 'thank you' we could possibly make to you, our wonderful Attic friends and followers. Without you, we wouldn't feel so much pride in what we do, nor would we have made quite so many friends that are happy to talk about the innocent pleasures of Subbuteo, retro football kit design, Panini stickers and much, much more.

With humble gratitude for making The Football Attic our favourite place -

Chris O and Rich J.

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At last - we're on Facebook!

Yes, it's true. The Football Attic finally has a page on Facebook and you're all invited to 'Like' it!

When we started out back in November 2011, we decided to ease ourselves gently into the murky world of social media. We didn't want to rush into anything, so we created our Twitter account first of all and waited to see if there was any negative fallout. With news reaching us that nearly 600 of you have since followed @FootballAttic, it's fair to say we're far from disappointed at the outcome, so thanks to all of you for that.

After Twitter, we dallied with Google+ and created a YouTube account but we always kept a Facebook page back as a last resort. We were never quite sure whether it was strictly necessary, but now we've decided to give it a go.

So what will you find on our Facebook Attic page?  For a start, lots of notices telling you about the great stuff we're providing for you on this blog site, but that's not all. We'll be spiralling off into all kinds of directions discussing the football nostalgia topics we know you love and getting you to interact with us too. We'll even tell you about great nostalgia material on other blog sites, because we're rather nice like that.

All in all, we'll hopefully provide you with a wonderful extra outlet through which we can satisfy your appetite for everything from Panini to Subbuteo. Just visit www.facebook.com/thefootballattic, 'Like' our page and spread the word.

Thanks very much and have fun!

Chris O and Rich J.

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Welcome

To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, when a man is tired of modern football, he is tired of life. Vintage football, however, is different.

We've clambered into The Football Attic to relive all that was good about the beautiful game and invite you to join us.

Long before big business and unbridled commercialism took over football, there was much to enjoy about our favourite sport. Whether it was collecting Panini stickers, playing Subbuteo or watching The Big Match on a Sunday afternoon, you couldn't fail to feel a tingle of excitement as the world of football took you on a sensory joy ride that you'd never forget.

And that's why we're here. There's much to remember and so much time to remember it, so join us as we dust off the memories of a lifetime up in The Football Attic.

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