Good Value in The Far Corner

There are plenty of contenders for my favourite football book of all time but there is a clear winner for the one that I have re-read more than any other.

Harry Pearson's The Far Corner is the author's story of his travels around grounds in his native North East of England during the 1993/94 season.

To me it deserves every superlative ever given to it and like many other people I've often wondered whether there would ever be a follow-up.

The Farther Corner is the answer to that and although its publication has been delayed by this year's events it will be gratefully received when I do get my hands on it.

The Northern League provided the main focus of the original book and, at a time when it was still relatively affordable and easier logistically to watch Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough, the author has since said (in an interview with Mundial) that looking back it was perhaps the lowest ebb in the fortunes of Non-League football locally.

Harry was in melancholy mood after a visit to once-mighty Willington and pondered at another point how so many clubs had shown the resilience to survive in an area continually battered by economic storms.

Survive they have, however, and thrived in many cases as people seek out a cheaper, more enjoyable matchday experience.

In common with so many clubs all across the UK there has been a big fundraising drive over the past few months and an astonishing response from supporters (of the clubs themselves and the game in general).

Having hopefully now come through the curtailment of the 2019/20 season, attention is now slowly turning towards a 2020/21 campaign that may yet look familiar in terms of its length and spectators being allowed to watch.

Season ticket offers that I have come across in the North East so far include £25 at Middlesbrough Women, £35 for an adult at the re-born Newcastle Blue Star (of the Northern Football Alliance and whose classic black-and-white kit is selling very well) and a discount of £15 for Sunderland season ticket holders from the current campaign at Seaham Red Star.