A book that centres on football in the Nottinghamshire town of Arnold five decades ago is out soon.

It's written by Roger Rann who played for Arnold FC, the forerunner of NCEL side Arnold Town, in the 1970s.

Born and bred in Arnold and having lived there all his life, he knew what it was like growing up in the town as a youngster in the 1950s.

He remembered the days when the town could boast two decent quality teams, Arnold St. Mary's and Arnold Rovers, who forged a fierce but friendly rivalry.

He knew that they'd played against each other in front of crowds of up to three and a half thousand because he'd been one of the spectators.

He thought the story of their rivalry might be worth telling, so he has.

Not only that but he has revisited the era when rationing was still the norm, very few people had a television set let alone a car, summers were hot and winters were cold and rock n' roll hadn't yet been invented.

And, Arnold had two 'recs', which were where the teams played - Mary's on the 'top rec' and Rovers on the 'bottom rec' which is why roger has called his book Kings of the Recs.

It's not quite the standard history of football book because this one has Benito Mussolini and Stanley Matthews in the same paragraph.

Marlon Brando, James Dean and Elvis Presley also pop up here and there and there's mention of the arrival of the bikini and the very first Miss World contest alongside Britain's entry into the nuclear arms race.

But, don't worry, for those with an interest in statistical detail, the book also contains final tables, results, appearances and so on for the period covered: 1946-1958.

If you would like your name to appear in the list of subscribers at the front of the book then please contact roger via roger@johnrann.co.uk.

All proceeds from the sale of the book (?10 per copy) will be donated to the MS Society.