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As the title suggests this book follows a season of football in Sussex, from League side Brighton, through Crawley and Lewes in the conference, all the way down to sides such as Little Common, in the Sussex County League division 3 (step 7 of non-league). It charts the Sussex clubs' fortunes month by month, including their cup exploits, accompanied by dozens of colour photos from various aspects.
A Season of Sussex Soccer is an easy read, with the summaries being objective, factual and concise. The general format of the book is a two page written summary of the month proceeded by about 10 to 12 full page photos, with clear and detailed captions. The photos are the stars of the book and could justify the book in themselves, making a great coffee table read for connoisseurs of football photography. The pictures are crisp and give a real sense of the passion for the game at all levels.The authors point out in their introduction that it was a struggle editing the many photographs down to a few; and you can see their point fairly quickly as you flick through some really excellent pics.
The shots are varied, ranging from close ups of action on the pitch to panoramas of lonely stands against the South Downs. Some of my personal favourites were at St Francis Rangers with the magnificent backdrop of St Francis Hospital, and a ground-level view of Bexhill United's delightfully ornate, steep stand against some high rise flats. These are my kind of snaps, framing the individuality and character of grass roots football.
  The one thing that would finish the book off nicely for me is league tables of the various divisions, covered at the end of each chapter. After the narrative of how the sussex teams have fared, with their highs and lows and league positions, a little breather pondering over the various league tables would have been nice. As it is, though, David Bauckham and Terry Buckman have put together a great volume here and it is well worth the money.
It is a good read accompanied by some top quality evocative photography. I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in lower league football. For those nowhere near sussex it's a good chance to see some new grounds and follow a new league and for those who already follow sussex football, a summary and keepsake of the season.
On a final note, and I couldn't let this go unspoken, the authors can just about be forgiven their use of the word Soccer in the title, on account of its alliterative function!
David Poole is a periodic contributor to Albion Road and the editor of The Groundhog, a blog about mostly non-league groundhopping.
A Season of Sussex Soccer
David Bauckham & Terry Buckman
128 pages
Centre Circle Publishing, June 2008.
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