EAST END HEROES,STATESIDE KINGS - The Story of West Ham United's Three Claret,Blue and Black Pioneers.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2.] FINE+/FINE.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp, clean,montage'd players' monochrome+colour photograph portraits+US Flag, illustrated front panel of dw/dj with dark blue,white and plae blue lettering to front,white+pale blue lettered spine/ backstrip also with thumbnail monochrome photographic detail from front illustration of Clive Charles,rear panel with b/w photograph of Clive Charles and white+blue lettered quote and attribution (Clyde Best); with negligible shelf-wear,bumping,creasing to edges and corners – no nicks,tears or splits present.Top+fore-edges bright and clean without blemish; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound – no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners – pristine,appears unread,apart from my own collation. Publisher's bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered original,plain red cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked silver gilt lettered spine/backstrip and immaculate/clean plain white sets of endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,xiii-xviipp+1- 269pp [paginated] includes anintroduction,8 chapters,8pp contemporary b/w+colour biographical photographs in 1 block,between pp110/11,appendices(I-III) and a bibliography; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a dedication,epigraphs(3),author's note,and contents list/ table. On 1 April 1972 West Ham United made sporting history by becoming the first club from the highest echelon of English football to field three black players in League competition.Their manager,Ron Greenwood, picked: Clive Charles (born in Canning Town,just a few miles from the Hammer's Upton Park home); Ade Coker (from Nigeria), and Clyde Best,who had made his wayto London's Docklands from Bermuda. Together,these three players smashed a social barrier for this most romantic and enigmatic of clubs. 'East End Heroes,Stateside Kings' tells of the origins of these players,that fateful day in '72 and their lives over the following 30 years as they became pioneering figurs in the success of the North american Soccer League. After being named by Pele in the all-time greatest NASL team,Charles managed the leading College side Portland Timbers,guided the American Women to World Cup glory and achieved historic results in Olympic competition with the US Under-23s. Coker was another leading light in the modern American game and represented the USA at international level,overcoming devastating injury problems. Best grew to be a legend in the NASL,and along with Charles,was one of only four former West Ham players to manage at internationa; level when he took over the Bermudan national team.He has recently been awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) - (then circa 2008.) Painstakingly researched and including a foreword and interview with Kenny Lynch,one of Britain's best-loved entertainers and lifelong West Ham fan,this book tells the story of three young black men who genuinely broke the mould. Dr Brian Belton was born within a short walk from West Ham's Boleyn ground.He is a senior lecturer at the YMCA George Williams College in Canning and has written more than twenty books,more than a dozen of which relate to the chronicles of West Ham Unites,making him the foremost historian of the club. Visually the exterior appearance is exceptional for a book of it's age, and even internally,the book is also in an exceptional condition/state of preservation and presentation. Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas customers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/CANADA customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard US AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **