The Second World War was one of the most turbulent periods for British football. It was an era when clubs struggled to find men to fill their eleven threadbare shirts, players laid down their lives for their country in combat, and those who remained behind performed remarkable feats. Stoke Citys Tommy Sale scored 56 goals in one season, while international star Neil Franklin regularly cycled back to his RAF base in blackout after midnight. Amidst Citys uncouth and foul-mouthed players, Lol Hamlett became a lay preacher and Frank Bowyer, one of Citys young starlets, reared pigs to feed his family. This book discloses for the first time the German bombing of the Victoria Ground, until now kept quiet. It also relates the Burnden Park Disaster in Bolton, when 33 spectators perished in a crush that was then Englands biggest footballing tragedy. But most of all, this book focuses on the personal war between a manager and his star player. Tensions mounted to such an extent that with Stoke City within touching distance of their first League Championship, manager Bob McGrory sold Stanley Matthews to Blackpool. The Second World War cost Stoke Citys players the best years of the careers. Many of them were on the brink of international caps that never came. The War deprived the club of a golden era, but created a wealth of tales and myths. Those stories are told in these pages through the eyes of those who played for, supported, administrated and wrote about the club. Stoke City were once giants of English football. Bob McGrorys team were so good that they were one match from claiming the League Championship. The years from 1939 saw the club at war on two fronts. The first enemy was Hitler, against whose tyranny many City players were called to arms. The second enemy, according to McGrory, was star winger Stanley Matthews. Their feud simmered throughout the eight years covered by this book. In June 1947 a third enemy appeared. Sheffield United stood in the way of Stokes first elusive championship …
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