The Quest to Write: Finding a Literary Subject
As a life-long bibliophile, I have always been fascinated by books, harbouring a secret desire to see my name on the front of one. But what could I write about? A lack of imagination and ability combined to rule out any attempt to join my literary heroes – Orwell and Dickens – on the fiction shelves. So it would have to be a tale of either football, cricket or modern history, or a permutation on the three – the subjects on which I am reasonably well-read. Then a couple of years ago, as I was aimlessly browsing on the internet, I discovered the answer to my prayers, in the shape of Michael White’s A sensational capture, the centenary celebration of the world-record transfer of West Ham’s Syd Puddefoot to Falkirk. Michael, who is Falkirk FC’s official historian, had done a marvellous job not only in revealing the events of February 1922, when Puddefoot abandoned east London for Stirlingshire, but his sporting career in general.
Puddefoot’s Spectacular Career Snapshot
And what a career it was with 207 goals in 308 games (Southern League, Wartime and Football League) for West Ham, three incident-filled seasons in Scotland with Falkirk, and an FA Cup winners’ medal as the highlight of his seven years at Ewood Park. And on top of all this, there were five England caps, he was Galatasaray’s coach and he played first-class cricket for Essex. So once I had made sure that no-one else had beaten me to it with a full-length biography of Puddy, I was ready to start. But where, and how, to begin? Fortunately, biographies have natural parameters: We are all born, we all die, and we get up to all sorts of things in between. And so began the process of filling in the gaps between Puddefoot’s birth in London’s East End in 1894 and his death in Rochford Hospital in 1972. As an aside, Puddefoot’s story ticked a fourth historical box for me: For he was born and raised in Limehouse, the home of my Morris’s since the early nineteenth century, and he then moved to Stratford, current home of his (and my) beloved Hammers. So I would also be able to indulge my interest in, and knowledge of, east London history.
The Hunt for Information: Archives and Relatives
But having then plotted out the main events in Puddefoot’s footballing career, the question remained: How to fill in the gaps? The first thing I did was to plaster social media with a request for information – stories, articles, photos – anything that might be helpful in producing a rounded view of the man. I also asked that any relatives of Puddefoot get in touch. I had already discovered that he had one grandson – Nicholas Puddefoot – but he has so far proved elusive. Nick, if you’re out there, it would be great to hear from you. As part of this Puddefoot-hunt, I also went on to Ancestry.com, and it was there that I found Graham Murray, Syd’s second cousin. Graham’s father was the famous Billy “Bubbles” Murray, whose curly locks were the inspiration for the Boleyn Ground crowd to adopt the hit tune I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles, when he played for West Ham Boys in 1921. Graham’s photos have been reproduced in the book, and he remains the only person I have spoken to who met Syd, in a Barking restaurant in the early seventies. Now the hard slog started, and my first port of call were the two main online newspaper archives – the British Newspaper Archives and newspapers.com. For those newspapers not yet reproduced online, I then had to turn to the British Library. Many happy hours were spent at the British Library, and even more precious time was spent at the Newham Local History Library in Stratford. The particular mystery of “Puddy’s” willingness to move to Scotland was largely solved by the online availability of the Falkirk Board minutes for the key period. Sadly, the West Ham Board minutes for the inter-War period seem to be lost without trace.
The Publishing Journey: Legends and Boswell
Towards the end of all of this writing and researching, I made visits to the local history libraries of Falkirk and Blackburn, and whilst in the former town, I met up with Michael White to pick his brains on all things Falkirk FC. After all this searching and researching, it was time to get down to the hard slog of writing, re-writing, checking and re-writing some more, all with the editing assistance of my faithful Boswell (my son Bill). Nearing the end of the writing process, I had to turn my mind to the question of publishing: In particular, whether to seek a publisher or go down the self-publishing route? Being as green as grass on these matters, I thought I’d try to find a publisher to take all of the burdens and risks, and my prayers were answered when David Lane of Legends Publishing got in touch to say that he would be willing to produce my tome. Working with David, who is a life-long Brentford supporter, has been a real pleasure – well it has been for me, though I think I’ve tried David’s patience a few times with my excessive, obsessive checking and general fussiness. David said to me at the start that he liked to produce books that are “works of art”, and an examination of Legends’ extensive catalogue of books on football and music will confirm that point; certainly, “Puddy – the life and times of Syd Puddefoot” is a grand production, even if opinions on the words in between the covers may differ. So now the next phase of the story can begin; will the readers read and like the book? Only time will tell.
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