Born to be a Baggie: A West Bromwich Albion Supporter's 50-Year Odyssey

‘What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes. It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city. It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.’ Sir Bobby Robson, West Bromwich Albion and England Dean Walton had no choice in his football supporting allegiance, he was born in 1960 to ‘Baggies’-mad parents. Over the last fifty years Dean has rarely missed a game at The Hawthorns and has followed his beloved Albion all over the world, watching them play in eighteen different countries. Follow Dean’s travels through three divisions over five decades. From UEFA Cup joy on a warm Valencia evening to questioning his own sanity on a freezing cold night in Hartlepool. From Wembley success to humiliating relegation in Bath, every emotion is covered. Football is about much more than the match itself. This book will strike a chord with any dedicated supporter.

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Born to be a Baggie: A West Bromwich Albion Supporter's 50-Year Odyssey

‘What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes. It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city. It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.’ Sir Bobby Robson, West Bromwich Albion and England Dean Walton had no choice in his football supporting allegiance, he was born in 1960 to ‘Baggies’-mad parents. Over the last fifty years Dean has rarely missed a game at The Hawthorns and has followed his beloved Albion all over the world, watching them play in eighteen different countries. Follow Dean’s travels through three divisions over five decades. From UEFA Cup joy on a warm Valencia evening to questioning his own sanity on a freezing cold night in Hartlepool. From Wembley success to humiliating relegation in Bath, every emotion is covered. Football is about much more than the match itself. This book will strike a chord with any dedicated supporter.

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Born to be a Baggie: A West Bromwich Albion Supporter's 50-Year Odyssey

Born to be a Baggie: A West Bromwich Albion Supporter's 50-Year Odyssey

Born to be a Baggie: A West Bromwich Albion Supporter's 50-Year Odyssey

Born to be a Baggie: A West Bromwich Albion Supporter's 50-Year Odyssey

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Overview

‘What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it. It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes. It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city. It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.’ Sir Bobby Robson, West Bromwich Albion and England Dean Walton had no choice in his football supporting allegiance, he was born in 1960 to ‘Baggies’-mad parents. Over the last fifty years Dean has rarely missed a game at The Hawthorns and has followed his beloved Albion all over the world, watching them play in eighteen different countries. Follow Dean’s travels through three divisions over five decades. From UEFA Cup joy on a warm Valencia evening to questioning his own sanity on a freezing cold night in Hartlepool. From Wembley success to humiliating relegation in Bath, every emotion is covered. Football is about much more than the match itself. This book will strike a chord with any dedicated supporter.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781445658582
Publisher: Amberley Publishing
Publication date: 04/15/2016
Sold by: INDEPENDENT PUB GROUP - EPUB - EBKS
Format: eBook
Pages: 160
File size: 6 MB

About the Author

Dean Walton has followed his beloved West Bromwich Albion all of his life, rarely missing a home game in the past fifty years. Dean is a West Bromwich Albion shareholder and a member of the Albion Assembly. He lives in Leamington Spa and is married with two grown-up children who, in keeping with the family tradition, are both Baggies’ season ticket holders.

Table of Contents

Foreword Tony 'Bomber' Brown 5

Foreword 'Super' Bob Taylor 7

Foreword Adrian Chiles 9

1 Baggie by Birth 11

2 Back in the Brummie Road 17

3 Teenage Rampage 24

4 Agony at Highbury, Part I 31

5 Viva Espana! 33

6 So Near, Yet So Far 36

7 Rat Trap 41

8 Hopping Mad in Zurich 44

9 First Division Mediocrity 47

10 Agony at Highbury, Part II 51

11 On the Slide 53

12 Decline and Relegation 57

13 From Beachwear to the Arctic Circle 62

14 Through the Barricades 68

15 Down, Down with Barmy Bobby 70

16 Questioning My Own Sanity 74

17 Ossie's Going to Wembley 78

18 The Italian job, Part I 84

19 Something Fishy Going On 87

20 The Italian Job, Part II 91

21 Coast to coast - Kirkcaldy to Birkenhead 94

22 Baggies Down Under 98

23 Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen 101

24 New Millennium, New Hopes 105

25 Arise, Sir Gary 110

26 Back in the Big Time (Briefly) 115

27 The Andy Hunt Tour 120

28 Vikings and Promotion 124

29 The Great Escape 127

30 Sold Your Seats for a Pie and a Pint 131

31 Boing Boing 135

32 Thank You, Roy 141

33 We know What We Are 146

34 Oh, Vienna 150

35 Up the Junction 154

Postscript 158

Biography 159

About The Author 160

Acknowledgements 160

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