Book excerpt: Association Football did not magically begin with the formation of the Football Association in 1863: for centuries before, leather and rag balls had been kicked about, often as a smoke-screen for a jolly good brawl amongst the ruffians of the town or village! In medieval times, the common people from all over the Midlands would chase after a stuffed leather football, sometimes from dawn till dusk, from one end of town to the other. Football, in all its various forms, was the game of the people. Centuries later, in England's universities and public schools, the game was brought under a unified set of rules by middle and upper-class young men who formed exclusive football clubs for their fellows and tried to keep the Association game between themselves. Back in the Midlands, however, pioneering men started football teams for the working-class society, and within a decade, there were hundreds of such teams from Worcester to Sheffield. Football had been given back to the common man. This book gives an insight into over sixty small clubs who were the mainstay of organised football across the Midlands from the embryonic 1860s to beyond professionalism in the 1890s. Many new details and photographs are being published for the first time, as the author travels all over the eight counties of the Midlands to find the lost grounds and the Lost Teams of the Midlands. In This Book, Author Mike Bradbury Brings together a history and description of over sixty of the most prominent lost' Midlands football clubs from the Victorian era, many defunct even before 1900 Discovers the location of the lost Trapezium Ground in Wednesbury Discovers the location of the Shrubbery Ground where Tipton FC played in the 1870s Establishes four of the grounds used by Derby Junction and other Derby teams Establishes the site of Derby Midland FC's lost ground near the railway station Discovers the true origins of Walsall Town Football Club Unearths previously unpublished pictures of Wellington St. George's and their Shropshire ground Discovers the previously unknown team colours for over twenty teams featured in this book, including Notts Olympic, B'ham Excelsior, Calthorpe, Derby Junction, Staveley Unravels the mystery of the two St. George's football teams in the Birmingham area Finds out what became of Walsall's oldest team, Rushall Rovers Publishes unseen photographs of Birmingham's oldest team, Saltley College, and their ground within the college Discovers the first two grounds of the early Bloxwich FC (Strollers) Presents maps showing the lost locations of the grounds of Rushall Rovers, Smethwick Carriage Works, Lozells FC, Wednesbury Strollers, Crosswells FC, and others Unearths the 1873 advert where players are asked to form the Walsall Football Club Discovers the lost' football ground at Aston Cross, used by Aston Shakespeare and Aston Victoria Finds and gets access to the lost' ground of the Willenhall Pickwicks, seven-times Staffordshire Junior Cup finalists Photographs all three grounds of pioneering Birmingham club, Calthorpe FC, and unearths their colours and their link to Aston Villa Discovers the lost' Vulcan ground used by early Derby teams in the city centre Has created a web site featuring over 100 photographs and maps of teams, players, and grounds, details of which are given inside the book