tinpot: football’s forgotten tournaments from the anglo italian to zenith data systems cup

Tinpot is the story of football’s lost tournaments: the strange and forgotten competitions that sparked into life before shuffling off their mortal coil. The book tells their stories, giving them the spotlight they deserve.

It’s time for something different. It’s time to go somewhere new. It’s time to wander off the highways of football history and see where long-discarded paths lead.

England’s major football tournaments seem to have been with us forever. The FA Cup stretches back over 150 years, while the Football League is the oldest competition of its kind in the world. They are the survivors - the bright ideas that quickly caught on. Yet, behind these successes lie countless failed experiments. But they still have their stories to tell.

Simon Turner’s previous works include If Only: An Alternative History of the Beautiful Game, a fiercely original counterfactual history of football, Walsall Match of My Life, in which Saddlers legends tell the stories behind their most memorable games and 90 Minutes from Europe, the thrilling tale of how an innovative British Airways advertising campaign foretold Walsall’s greatest ever cup run. Simon lives in Lichfield with his family.