In Picking Up the Threads, John Chandler has assembled an eye-opening, well researched yet agreeably light-hearted look at the weird and wonderful stories behind the history of various teams' football strips, and how clubs came to choose their characteristic kit. One hundred and fifty clubs are covered in all, including every English and Scottish Premier and English Football League side - each featuring an illustration of a club legend sporting the colours in question. The whys and wherefores behind these worldwide strips will provide any kit aficionado with all the ammo they need for countless pub quizzes and watercooler conversations. Do you know which Premier League club's blue shirts are a hangover from post-war rationing? Which team's current kit was 'brought home' after a summer playing as Dallas Tornadoes? Or which London club's kit reflects the blue of Scotland, and the origin of the workers in the original jam factory side?

Author Biography

John Chandler has been illustrating the West Ham fanzine Over Land & Sea since 1989, his book Iron Filings being a collection of his cartoons from the publication. His illustrations have featured regularly in the Independent on Sunday, and have adorned titles such as The Mighty Book of Boosh and The Cook Pack by Gary Rhodes & Ron Van Der Meer.