[dazcarrlegend]

A new book has arrived in the club store on Whittington Moor and is an ideal stocking filler a week before Christmas. The Power of the Badge is written by Bob Littlewood, a Chesterfield season ticket holder who has been a fan since the 1970s and was inspired by the takeover of the football club by the Community Trust in 2020. That was a unique event at the time, which saved one of the world?s oldest professional clubs from oblivion after relegation from the EFL. The book covers the period 1978 to 2024 and includes interviews with many of the people involved in major events, such as when the fans saved the club with their own money in 2001. It gives an insight into the complicated build up to the new stadium and The Hub, which now houses the Community Trust. It covers the Dave Allen regime, the invention of walking football at the club (now played by millions of people worldwide), the academy and the rise of women?s football. It also includes conversations with Spireites across the world, including Ukraine, Belgium, Norway and the USA. It?s a ?must read? for anyone associated with this great club.

This post has been edited by dazcarrlegend: 16 December 2024 - 12:14 PM

[Lincs Spireite]

Hope they have plenty of copies in the club shop, I would think it will sell out pretty quick.

[Town_Fan]

Does it delve into the community trust members that were active board members during our slide into oblivion or does it gloss over that? Any mention of them resigning these prime positions at the trough in protest at the way the club was being run or did they continue their active support of the incumbent regime?

Does the book suggest, as it was succinctly described to me, that those active board members were arsonists who subsequently and meekly showed the fire service where the fire was and tried to deflect blame by saying well we didn't buy the petrol?

Or is the book, as i suspect, the usual happy clapping, back slapping of the usual barnacles who will still be doing all they can to hang onto perceived power even if WW3 has happened and Sheffield Road is a charred wasteland?

[Goku]

Town_Fan, on 16 December 2024 - 03:14 PM, said:

Does it delve into the community trust members that were active board members during our slide into oblivion or does it gloss over that? Any mention of them resigning these prime positions at the trough in protest at the way the club was being run or did they continue their active support of the incumbent regime?

Does the book suggest, as it was succinctly described to me, that those active board members were arsonists who subsequently and meekly showed the fire service where the fire was and tried to deflect blame by saying well we didn't buy the petrol?

Or is the book, as i suspect, the usual happy clapping, back slapping of the usual barnacles who will still be doing all they can to hang onto perceived power even if WW3 has happened and Sheffield Road is a charred wasteland?

You'll have to buy it and find out!

[stainlessstephen]

I hope they have one available on Saturday. I will buy one.

[Westbars Spireite]

Town_Fan, on 16 December 2024 - 03:14 PM, said:

Does it delve into the community trust members that were active board members during our slide into oblivion or does it gloss over that? Any mention of them resigning these prime positions at the trough in protest at the way the club was being run or did they continue their active support of the incumbent regime?

Does the book suggest, as it was succinctly described to me, that those active board members were arsonists who subsequently and meekly showed the fire service where the fire was and tried to deflect blame by saying well we didn't buy the petrol?

Or is the book, as i suspect, the usual happy clapping, back slapping of the usual barnacles who will still be doing all they can to hang onto perceived power even if WW3 has happened and Sheffield Road is a charred wasteland?

That's part 2.

[Johnnyspireite7]

Town_Fan, on 16 December 2024 - 03:14 PM, said:

Does it delve into the community trust members that were active board members during our slide into oblivion or does it gloss over that? Any mention of them resigning these prime positions at the trough in protest at the way the club was being run or did they continue their active support of the incumbent regime?

Does the book suggest, as it was succinctly described to me, that those active board members were arsonists who subsequently and meekly showed the fire service where the fire was and tried to deflect blame by saying well we didn't buy the petrol?

Or is the book, as i suspect, the usual happy clapping, back slapping of the usual barnacles who will still be doing all they can to hang onto perceived power even if WW3 has happened and Sheffield Road is a charred wasteland?

Obsessed!

[Johnnyspireite7]

Town_Fan, on 16 December 2024 - 03:14 PM, said:

Does it delve into the community trust members that were active board members during our slide into oblivion or does it gloss over that? Any mention of them resigning these prime positions at the trough in protest at the way the club was being run or did they continue their active support of the incumbent regime?

Does the book suggest, as it was succinctly described to me, that those active board members were arsonists who subsequently and meekly showed the fire service where the fire was and tried to deflect blame by saying well we didn't buy the petrol?

Or is the book, as i suspect, the usual happy clapping, back slapping of the usual barnacles who will still be doing all they can to hang onto perceived power even if WW3 has happened and Sheffield Road is a charred wasteland?

Obsessed!

[Town_Fan]

Goku, on 16 December 2024 - 03:21 PM, said:

You'll have to buy it and find out!

He he touche sir.

[calvin plummers socks]

Town_Fan, on 16 December 2024 - 03:14 PM, said:

Does it delve into the community trust members that were active board members during our slide into oblivion or does it gloss over that? Any mention of them resigning these prime positions at the trough in protest at the way the club was being run or did they continue their active support of the incumbent regime?

Does the book suggest, as it was succinctly described to me, that those active board members were arsonists who subsequently and meekly showed the fire service where the fire was and tried to deflect blame by saying well we didn't buy the petrol?

Or is the book, as i suspect, the usual happy clapping, back slapping of the usual barnacles who will still be doing all they can to hang onto perceived power even if WW3 has happened and Sheffield Road is a charred wasteland?

This has got to be a lawsuit waiting to happen surely?

[s42blue]

Goku, on 16 December 2024 - 03:21 PM, said:

You'll have to buy it and find out!

Late entrant for Post Of The Year Award.

[dazcarrlegend]

New book ? The Power of the Badge ? now on sale


A new book, The Power of the Badge, written by Bob Littlewood, takes a look at the story of how Chesterfield FC was saved, not once, but twice, by the local community.

Chesterfield Football Supporters Society (CFSS) was formed in 2001 and Bob attended the inaugural meeting at the Winding Wheel.

Over 1,100 people met at the Winding Wheel in 2001 and the group discussed if it would be possible to take over control of the club from Darren Brown to try and save the it from the threat of liquidation.

Bob said: ?We all threw a tenner in the hat, sort of thing, which was eventually used to buy the club and save it from going out of business.

?When you link it to the same sort of people who are running the Community Trust now to the ones who were a part of the inaugural CFSS group [in 2001], it made for a fabulous story, I felt.?

In 2020, the Community Trust purchased and rescued the club during a tough period for the Spireites, following relegation from the Football League in 2018.

Prior to the Community Trust?s takeover, the Spireites were battling against relegation to the sixth tier of English football but, soon after the takeover, the good times returned.

Bob spoke to many people associated with the Trust in order to get an insight into the work that they do around the community.

?I did around 22 interviews, mainly with people from the Community Trust rather than the club because a lot of the things within the club are well-documented. The Community Trust, being newer, is not so well-documented within the public domain,? he explained.

Bob met with John Croot, CEO of the club and Trust, to pitch him the idea for the book. He said: ?I asked if anyone was writing this down and he said ?no? but that he had been approached by multiple journalists to write the story.

?I was essentially offering to write a book about the history of the club from the 1970s to the present.

?The book starts around 1978 and finishes with promotion from the National League.?

The Power of the Badge is now on sale in the Club Superstore (?16.99).

Might answer some of the questions asked above.

[Town_Fan]

calvin plummers socks, on 18 December 2024 - 10:15 AM, said:

This has got to be a lawsuit waiting to happen surely?

I bet it would go about as well as yours did.

[tomjoad]

Town_Fan, on 16 December 2024 - 03:14 PM, said:

Does it delve into the community trust members that were active board members during our slide into oblivion or does it gloss over that? Any mention of them resigning these prime positions at the trough in protest at the way the club was being run or did they continue their active support of the incumbent regime?

Does the book suggest, as it was succinctly described to me, that those active board members were arsonists who subsequently and meekly showed the fire service where the fire was and tried to deflect blame by saying well we didn't buy the petrol?

Or is the book, as i suspect, the usual happy clapping, back slapping of the usual barnacles who will still be doing all they can to hang onto perceived power even if WW3 has happened and Sheffield Road is a charred wasteland?

Do us all a favour and give it a rest. Bitterness is self destructive.

[jonnythespireite]

Town_Fan, on 16 December 2024 - 03:14 PM, said:

Does it delve into the community trust members that were active board members during our slide into oblivion or does it gloss over that? Any mention of them resigning these prime positions at the trough in protest at the way the club was being run or did they continue their active support of the incumbent regime?

Does the book suggest, as it was succinctly described to me, that those active board members were arsonists who subsequently and meekly showed the fire service where the fire was and tried to deflect blame by saying well we didn't buy the petrol?

Or is the book, as i suspect, the usual happy clapping, back slapping of the usual barnacles who will still be doing all they can to hang onto perceived power even if WW3 has happened and Sheffield Road is a charred wasteland?

I think there?s a chapter in there about why season ticket holders get priority for away tickets though??.

[dazcarrlegend]

Interview with the author, Bob Littlewood, about the book:

https://creators.spo...tlewood-e2uhqvv