Roger books a deep delve into football history

Every final league table featuring Blackpool Football Club and Fleetwood Town since the 1946/47 season is available to sift through in the respective publications marking 75 league seasons since the post-war resumption.

Roger Holmes, who has produced the booklets, said: “I am hoping they will appeal to fans of all ages; those who recall the fluctuating fortunes of the clubs and the younger generation who might enjoy learning a little bit of background about the team they support.

“Anyone who purchases the booklet is also helping the charity FareShare, which distributes food to the needy across the UK.”

Roger, 61, from the Isle of Wight, is a lifelong Portsmouth FC fan, who saw his first game as a five-year-old and is proud that his family history supporting Pompey goes back to the 1920s.

He has always been a keen scourer of records and during lockdown, started putting together the post-war league record of Portsmouth in a booklet for easy reference.

“It struck me that I could do similar for other teams and the idea just grew from there – to more than 100 clubs,” said Roger.

“I know some people feel football records are a lot more accessible these days via the internet but I find football fans really enjoy leafing through booklets and I hop they enjoy these.”

Roger has made allowances in his records for the varying histories of the clubs which are the subject of his books, as illustrated by the Pool and Fleetwood issues.

Whereas Blackpool FC was founded in 1887 and well established in the Football League by the time of the Second World War – actually leading the First Division at the outbreak of the conflict – Fleetwood has had various gestations over the years, with the current club founded in 1997 and gaining a Football League place in 2012.

“The records are there from 1946 - whatever club bore the name and whatever level it was playing at,” said Roger.

The 24-page A5 booklets - priced £3 - are available from Roger at www.thefootballtables.com.

Every sale enables FareShare to rescue enough surplus food for the equivalent of two meals.

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