04-13-2021, 05:50 AM
So today marks the 19th anniversary of Igor’s penalty. Almost two decades on and it remains for me one of the defining moments in Albion's history. On the 10th anniversary, I posted a thread on a different iteration of this forum and some of you will remember adding your own story of the day whether you were there, at home, on holiday etc.
Since then, I have written several social history books featuring people’s memories, including one on the history of my local non-league football club. I now hope to write a book called Unbridled Joy, telling the story of that day in Bradford, with the intention of publishing it on the day of the 20th anniversary next year.
The aim is for it to be a little bit different to anything else out there: football record books tend to lack emotion (“WBA beat Bradford 1-0 to leave them one win from promotion to the top flight”) and ‘proper’ oral history books feature verbatim accounts that can sometimes feel dull to read.
For Unbridled Joy, I would like people keen to contribute to send me an outline of their stories. I will then arrange to interview as many people as possible and their tale will be turned into a narrative telling the story of their day. The aim is to capture a sense of what the game meant to fans across the generations – this is not about quotes from managers and players, but the raw emotion felt by those who feel an unbreakable bond with their club.
Ultimately, it won’t really be about football at all, but about shared human experiences and emotions. I want your memories of the day whether you were there or not – I’m as interested in the stories of those listening on the car radio in Tesco’s car park or celebrating in their back garden as those who were in fancy dress behind the goal.
The book will only happen if people want to tell their stories and there are a few ways you can do it. The easiest is to complete the online form at bit.ly/unbridledjoy or email unbridledjoy@mail.com. Please do contribute and feel free to share with others who may want to record their memories for posterity. If there's enough interest in telling this story of a single day, then I'll do my best to try and make it happen.
Since then, I have written several social history books featuring people’s memories, including one on the history of my local non-league football club. I now hope to write a book called Unbridled Joy, telling the story of that day in Bradford, with the intention of publishing it on the day of the 20th anniversary next year.
The aim is for it to be a little bit different to anything else out there: football record books tend to lack emotion (“WBA beat Bradford 1-0 to leave them one win from promotion to the top flight”) and ‘proper’ oral history books feature verbatim accounts that can sometimes feel dull to read.
For Unbridled Joy, I would like people keen to contribute to send me an outline of their stories. I will then arrange to interview as many people as possible and their tale will be turned into a narrative telling the story of their day. The aim is to capture a sense of what the game meant to fans across the generations – this is not about quotes from managers and players, but the raw emotion felt by those who feel an unbreakable bond with their club.
Ultimately, it won’t really be about football at all, but about shared human experiences and emotions. I want your memories of the day whether you were there or not – I’m as interested in the stories of those listening on the car radio in Tesco’s car park or celebrating in their back garden as those who were in fancy dress behind the goal.
The book will only happen if people want to tell their stories and there are a few ways you can do it. The easiest is to complete the online form at bit.ly/unbridledjoy or email unbridledjoy@mail.com. Please do contribute and feel free to share with others who may want to record their memories for posterity. If there's enough interest in telling this story of a single day, then I'll do my best to try and make it happen.