{"product_id":"9781785312953","title":"Mud Sweat and Shears: Tales from the Turf - Life as a Football league Groundsman","description":"\u003ci\u003eMud, Sweat and Shears\u003c\/i\u003e is the story of Roy Oldfield - groundsman at Burnley FC through the 1970s and 1980s. It tells of how he went from miner to parks and recreation man and eventually became one of football's most-respected turf men. On the pitch he saw more bad times than good, but his offer to 'Av a brew' was gladly accepted by a procession of football greats: from Brian Clough to Bill Shankly, and Denis Law to Kevin Keegan. He faced daily battles with the weather and directors, but single-handedly produced a pitch which received continued praise from players, managers and referees well before the modern immaculate pitches. Roy used his wits, a mower, wheelbarrow, a couple of forks and sand; in an age when most pitches turned to mudbaths at a drop of rain and games were played on snow. This is a unique football book: through a groundsman's eyes, and it tells the story of what typically went on behind the scenes at one club before football became the multi-million-pound industry it is today.","brand":"Pitch Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47176951791856,"sku":"9781785312953","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781785312953_p0.jpg?v=1772805837","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781785312953","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}