-- Purchasing Information
| Paperback | Hardback |
Publication Date: | 28 April 2016 | 16 April 2010 |
ISBN:
ISBN 13: | 1-785384-93-7
978-1-785384-93-6 | 1-906358-65-6
978-1-906358-65-5 |
Page Extent: | 418 | 402 |
Book Size: | 210x148mm | 216x138mm |
Price: | £12.99 | £15.99 |
P & P (UK): | | £1.80 |
P & P (Europe): | | £3.20 |
P & P (World): | | £5.00 |
UK: | | |
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USA: | | |
Price (USD): | $16.99 | $31.95 |
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Downloads: | | |
Publication Date: | 28 April 2016 |
Digital eBook ISBN 13: | 978-1-907792-01-4 |
Digital pdf ISBN 13: | 978-1-908382-85-6 |
eBook Price (UK): | £7.99 |
eBook Price (USA): | $12.84 |
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-- Reviews by the Famous and well Known
This is a fantastic book which all football and cricket fans will enjoy reading. Bobby Moore and Graham Gooch are two of the genuinely great sporting figures of the post-war period and two of my own personal heroes. Moore’s exquisitely-timed tackles and precision passing - Gooch’s crunching on-drives and attacking style are clear images in the minds of all sports lovers and were a real inspiration to me and hundreds of other East End kids. Moore was the great iconic figure of the Sixties and Seventies and probably the last of the genuine local heroes, while Gooch’s long career spanned the twenty years between 1970 and 2000.
I was born in Forest Gate Hospital, just around the corner from the new Olympic Village and a couple of miles from West Ham’s Upton Park ground. When I was four years old, like many local families, we moved out to Romford, always the first stop out into Essex for aspiring East Enders. But despite our new suburban surroundings, like both Bobby Moore and Graham Gooch, we were always stayed close to our roots. The heroes of this engaging book both went to school in Leytonstone, a tough working class borough close to the East End. Like many of us from the East End, Moore and Gooch had the benefit of strong and supportive families, and were extremely proud of their working-class background. Both stayed close to their roots. Dr Stevens’s book is the first to compare and contrast the careers of these two sporting greats within the context of a fast-changing post-war world.
If the book is a study of the sporting lives of Bobby Moore and Graham Gooch, it is also the story of thousands of football and cricket enthusiasts who helped to make the sporting culture of East London/Essex so rich and distinctive. The book includes hilarious anecdotes and stories from individuals and clubs, and explains how playing fields like Hackney Marshes, Wanstead Flats and West Ham Park, where many of us played as youngsters, had such a key role in shaping the sporting culture of the area. The book is a celebration of all that is good in local sport.
West Ham United, my old club, and Essex County Cricket Club share a common sporting heritage. Bobby Moore played cricket for Essex as a teenager, while Graham Gooch is a passionate West Ham fan and regularly trained with us at West Ham at the peak of his career. The area that stretches out between Upton Park in the East End and Essex’s headquarters at Chelmsford is a hotbed of local sport, and a place which has produced an extra-ordinary number of international sports figures of the very highest calibre. In addition to Moore and Gooch, sporting giants from the area include David Beckham, Dean Macey, Teddy Sheringham, Lennox Lewis, Sol Campbell, Paul Ince, Ravi Bopara, Sir Alf Ramsey, Nasser Hussein, Christine Ohuruogu and Sir Trevor Brooking – the list is endless. Dr Stevens’s book identifies what is special about the sporting culture of Essex and East London.
The playing days of Moore and Gooch were golden years when both reached the very heights of sporting glory – Moore captaining England to World Cup victory at Wembley in 1966, and Gooch scoring century after century against the West Indies, one of the most fearsome fast-bowling attacks in the history of cricket. But as we professionals know only too well, sporting lives are short-lived and like all other international greats, our two heroes had to face the challenge of retirement. The book offers a fascinating account of the different ways Moore and Gooch faced their non-playing careers.
This book is a warm tribute to Bobby Moore and Graham Gooch, and to a truly remarkable sporting culture. Through interviews, archives and personal stories, Dr Stevens has managed to capture the sporting essence of the place, and gives the reader a real insight into what drove our two heroes to such dazzling heights of achievement. Sports fans are in for a treat.
Tony Cottee, Former Professional Footballer - Written the Foreword
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-- Newspaper and Website Reviews
SPORTING HEROES
The Mail on Sunday
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WHEN WEST HAM WON THE WORLD
A UNIQUE social history of sport in Essex contrasting the successes of football legend Bobby Moore and cricket hero Graham Gooch hits bookshops this month.
Phil Stevens' Sporting Heroes of Essex and East London 1960-2000 reveals how their working-class roots, family ties and the intensity of the area helped them reach the heights of glory in a hotbed of sport that produced a staggering number of stars.
The book, featuring a new interview with Gooch, retraces how two boys from the same "manor" conquered the world, as Moore captained England to World Cup victory in 1966, and Gooch scored century after century against the West Indies.
For the first time, the book tells in detail how Barking lad Moore, and Gooch epitomised the will, dedication and depth of feeling of sports lovers by shaping their aspirations and challenging class-based prejudices and the conventional image of East London.
Sky sports pundit, Tony Cottee said Sporting Heroes was the first book to compare and contrast the two legends within the context of a fast-changing world, and had succeeded in identifying what is special about sport in Essex.
The former West Ham and England player said the 400-page book was a "warm tribute" to the two heroes and East London's "truly remarkable sporting culture" adding that it contained "hilarious anecdotes" and that readers were "in for a treat.
Barking & Dagenham Post
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EX-DEPUTY HEAD'S SPORTS HEROES
THE former vice-principal of a city college will be returning to Plymouth to sign copies of his latest book.
Dr Phil Stevens, who was a staff member at Estover Community College, has penned a book about the lives of sporting giants Bobby Moore and Graham Gooch.
Entitled, Sporting Heroes of Essex and East London 1960-2000, the book was released earlier this month and Dr Stevens will be in the city to sign copies next weekend.
After retiring recently, Dr Stevens, who is an avid sports fan having coached basketball, football and cricket, now lives in France.
He has published a number of articles over the years, alongside playing Devon league cricket and football for Leyton FC, Chingford FC and the University of Liverpool.
Dr Stevens will be at Waterstone's, New George Street from 11am to 1pm on Saturday May 15.
Sporting Heroes of Essex and East London 1960-2000: Bobby Moore and Graham Gooch, is printed by Apex Publishing Ltd and is on sale now.
The Herald
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SPORTING HEROES
Southend Echo
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Sporting Heroes of Essex and East London 1960-2000, by Dr Phil Stevens
By Simon Redfern
Despite the narrow focus suggested by the title, by placing two of England's titans of the period – Bobby Moore and Graham Gooch – at the book's core, Phil Stevens has broadened its appeal.
The links between footballer and cricketer were close: both were born into close-knit, working-class families from the East End – Stevens is illuminating on the symbiotic link between that area and Essex – both went to school in Leytonstone, Moore played cricket for Essex Youth, Gooch is a passionate West Ham fan.
Around these central characters the book darts off down a myriad byways, from Hackney Marshes in its heyday of 120 football pitches to women's cricket in Victoria Park. At times repetitive, in places overburdened with detail, this is nevertheless an entertaining muddle of a book.
Certainly the former Hammer Tony Cottee seems to have enjoyed it, as he lifted large chunks of the Introduction for his Foreword. Perhaps it's an Essex joke.
Published in hardback by Apex Publishing, £15.99.
Independent on Sunday
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SPORTING HEROES
Programme Monthly & Football Collectable
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SPORTING HEROES
Ipswich 24 Magazine
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The most difficult thing about reviewing this book is figuring out how to categorise it, as it is truly comprehensive. At the centre of gravity are Bobby Moore and Graham Gooch - one a soccer legend, the other a cricketing hero. Around them, however, the author weaves a tale which encompasses history, working-class culture and sporting adulation into one, seamless story. It will captivate anyone who loves sport, Essex or the East End. Compelling from start to finish.
Mike Hallowell, The Shields Gazette
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SPORTING HEROES
Winger Magazine: The Review of British Football
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SPORTING HEROES
Sports Trader Magazine
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ESSEX HAS TALENT
The Wisden Cricketer Magazine
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SPORTING HEROES
Row-Z: Official E-News from the Essex County FA
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SPORTING HEROES
Daily Star Sunday (Take 5 Magazine)
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COMPETITION
* The competition was also featured in the 'Macclesfield Express', 'Heywood Advertiser', 'Middleton Guardian', 'Accrington Observer', 'Rossendale Free Press', 'Stockport Express' and 'Rochdale Observer'.
Manchester Evening News
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Illuminating, entertaining and surprisingly broad in its appeal.
Simon Redfern, Independent on Sunday
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SPORTING HEROES
www.cricketweb.net
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SPORTING HEROES
www.cricketweb.net
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SPORTING HEROES
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
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-- Readers Comments
I was fascinated to find so much detail about the social setting as well as a narrative of sporting achievements. It’s a wonderful book which will be an asset to our collection.
Linda Rhodes, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (Local Studies Librarian)
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This book is great. Well written, it will appeal to even those who are not fans of sport in particular. An interesting read and excellent value for money.
Mrs FJ Lovell
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-- Book Signings and Events
Dr. Phil Stevens signed copies of his book 'Sporting Heroes of Essex and East London 1960-2000: Bobby Moore and Graham Gooch' at Waterstone’s, Ilford.
Waterstone’s, Ilford
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Dr. Phil Stevens signed copies of his book 'Sporting Heroes of Essex and East London 1960-2000: Bobby Moore and Graham Gooch' at Waterstone's, Walthamstow.
Waterstone's, Walthamstow
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Dr. Phil Stevens signed copies of his book 'Sporting Heroes of Essex and East London 1960-2000: Bobby Moore and Graham Gooch' at Waterstone's, London Wall, London.
Waterstone's, London Wall, London
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Dr. Phil Stevens signed copies of his book 'Sporting Heroes of Essex and East London 1960-2000: Bobby Moore and Graham Gooch' at Waterstone's, Cabot Place East, Canary Wharf.
Waterstone's, Cabot Place East, Canary Wharf
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Dr. Phil Stevens signed copies of his book 'Sporting Heroes of Essex and East London 1960-2000: Bobby Moore and Graham Gooch' at Waterstone’s, Basildon.
Waterstone’s, Basildon
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Dr. Phil Stevens signed copies of his book 'Sporting Heroes of Essex and East London 1960-2000: Bobby Moore and Graham Gooch' at Waterstone's, New George Street, Plymouth.
Waterstone's, New George Street, Plymouth
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20 April 2011 - Dr. Phil Stevens talked about and signed copies of his book 'Sporting Heroes' at Eastbury Manor House, Barking.
Eastbury Manor House, Barking
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27 August 2016 - Dr Phil Stevens talked about the life of the 1966 World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore, and his book 'Sporting Heroes' at the Valence House Museum, Dagenham.
Valence House Museum, Dagenham
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-- Libraries that stock this book
The Library of Trinity College, Dublin
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The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
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The Bodleian Library, Oxford
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The National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
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The University Library, Cambridge
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The British Library, Boston Spa
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