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The Bluffer's Guide to Football

Packed with football trivia

Your one-stop crib to football

The Bluffer's Guide to Football
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Revelations include the fact that the residents of Chester once celebrated victory over marauding Danes by playing football with the head of a defeated opponent. Rather annoyingly, when I wrote the book I didn't know the story of how Subbuteo got its name, or that would have gone straight in. (The inventor wanted to call it ‘Hobby', but was denied permission for a trademark because the word was too general - so he chose the second half of ‘falco subbuteo', the scientific name for the hobby bird.)

One thing the book does contain is an explanation not just of the offside rule (everyone knows that), but of how to explain the offside rule (nobody ever knows how to do that).

Content

London Bus

A London double decker bus can lean further from the vertical without falling over than a human can. What a great way of learning about centres of gravity. The reason a Routemaster can lean so far is that there's a great long strip of pig-iron welded to its base, keeping you top-deckers safe as you go round corners. If you want reassuring photographic evidence, click here