Author: Ian Hall
Journey Through A Season
Season 1996-97 was Derby County’s first in the Premiership. It was also their last at the Baseball Ground, that cramped theatre that has bubbled and cracked on many an afternoon and night of football stretching back over a century.
But this book is not just about the Baseball Ground. It is about following the Rams away from home as they visit some of the most famous stadiums in the world and battle for survival against the game’s elite.
It is also a journey in time, an opportunity to revisit many of the grounds where the author watched as a boy and played as a young man, for in this beautifully crafted book, Ian Hall looks back at the game he once knew, around him at the game it has begun, and forward to the game it might become as we step apprehensively towards a new century.
Wider issues are discussed as they arose during the season, and some football people have their say, too.
Most important, this is no retrospective look at the season with the benefit of that most precise of science-hindsight. Every observation, every comment, from the author, managers, players and commentators is as fresh as the day it was made.
True, Journey Through A Season will have particular fascination for Derby County supporters, but it will also appeal to all followers of football at a time when the nature of the game on and off the pitch is changing more dramatically than ever before.
