Boot Money and the End of Shamateurism in English Football, by Jeff Brooks, Price: £10

JEFF Brooks has written three books about the club he supports, Tooting & Mitcham United, and it was while he was researching the latter two that the subject of ‘boot money’ caught his attention.
As he explains in the introduction to his new book, it was the term commonly used for many years for the illegal payments made to amateur footballers. It referred to the practice of placing coins and notes in players’ boots or shoes.
By the 1950s and 60s, it had became more common for sealed brown envelopes ...