Glove Story 2 By Rob Stokes, Derek Hammond & Gary Silke Release date: 17th November, 2020 Publisher: Conker Editions List Price: £15.00 Our Price: £11.55 You Save: £3.45 (22%) Buy Now

In a week when the death of one of England’s greatest-ever goalkeepers, Ray Clemence, was announced, it seems appropriate to consider the merits of the recently-published Glove Story2, the latest, mostly humorous examination of footballing days of yore. From the team who gave us Got, Not Got and the original Glove Story plus a host of others (see the Conker Editions website for the complete portfolio), comes a rare celebration of goalkeeping, or a “catch-all compendium of ‘keeper culture”, focused primarily on the 1970s, 80s and 90s. A photograph of a smiling Clemence, endorsing Sondico footballs (remember them?), gloves and badges appears late in Glove Story2, and he features again in one of ten memorable goalkeeping moments, with David Harvey of Leeds United. Before then, we have a wonderful, memory-jogging assemblage of goalkeeping heroes, a marvellous collection of stamps featuring the men between the sticks and a mountain of ‘keeper endorsements which make you think that Peter Shilton must have made a fortune away from playing football. Once again, the authors have spread their net wide and produced a book which embraces players of every ability, not just the superstars. Indeed, one of the most memorable goalkeeping efforts features Jimmy Glass, Carlisle United’s number one, in the final game of the season against Plymouth Argyle at Brunton Park in May 1999. United needed victory to stay in the Football League and with the scores level as the match entered injury time, Jimmy went up for a Carlisle corner…. Naturally, there’s constant references to Subbuteo and the joy of trying to manoeuvre diving goalies on their extended sticks; there’s a truly amazing collection of rare and vintage goalkeeping gloves, as well as other ‘keeper memorabilia; a collection of miniature goalkeeper models which bear only a passing resemblance to the player they’re supposed to look like and much, much more. The Conker Editions trio have latched onto a winning formula; their photograph-accompanied snippets are short and entertaining, almost like a pub conversation, making Glove Story2 a perfect addition to anyone’s Christmas stocking.