Hatters, Railwaymen and Knitters

Travels through England’s Football Provinces

By: Daniel Gray

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

Daniel Gray is about to turn 30. Like any sane person, his response is to travel to Luton, Crewe, and Hinckley. After a decade's exile in Scotland, he sets out to reacquaint himself with England via what he considers its greatest asset: soccer. Watching teams from the Championship (or Division Two, as any right-minded person calls it) to the South West Peninsula Premier, and aimlessly walking around towns from Carlisle to Newquay, Gray paints a curious landscape forgotten by many. He discovers how the provinces made the England we know, from Teesside's role in the Empire to Luton's in our mongrel DNA. Moments in the histories of his teams come together to form soccer's narrative, starting with Sheffield pioneers and ending with fan ownership at Chester, and Gray shows how the modern game unifies an England in flux and dominates the places in which it is played.

Hatters, Railwaymen, and Knitters is a wry and affectionate ramble through the wonderful towns and teams that make the country and capture its very essence. It is part soccer book, part travelogue, and part love letter to the bits of England that often get forgotten, celebrated here in all their blessed eccentricity.

©2013 Daniel Gray (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Very Entertaining Tour

I enjoyed this audiobook immensely. I thought I knew some about most of the clubs the author visits. But I knew none of the rich details that he adds.

Because the book is about 15 years old, I hope he is ready to visit more grounds.

Derek Perkins narrates perfectly, as always.

What Bucket List Dreams Are Made Of

Daniel Gray has authored a journey that a football/soccer fan could only dream of living out. Whimsical yet insightful, this book not only details the adventures of Mr. Gray’s travels, but eloquently details past adventures of the towns he visits.

A perfect book for traveling, working, and everything in between. I have listened all the way through four times in six years of owning the book. It has inspired me to take a similar journey for the 2026 World Cup, and I am excited for my own adventures.

If you really love real football

A temendous journey through the soul of football, a nostalgic look back at English football as it was and the part football played in society , and moreso the part the towns, cities and areas palyed in the development of clubs and their identities. Thers a yearning for the magic thats been lost to the modernisation of the game, If only we could undo how the games been hijacked by the desire to make money rather than to represent a community.
A greatlisten, I was emotional whilst listening sad when it ended.