The cover says 1946. The imprint says 1945. Between those two dates lies a fascinating question: how did a football annual reach its readers as Britain emerged from the Second World War?
At Soccerbooks.co.uk, we wanted to investigate when The Boys’ Book of Soccer for 1946 appeared, whether it was intended for the Christmas 1945 market, and what might explain its scarcity today. The circumstances seem daunting: damaged homes, rationing, returning service personnel and a country still adjusting to peace.
Would a boys’ football annual have struggled to find buyers? The research produced a more complicated picture. There were real obstacles to producing and distributing books, but there was also considerable demand for reading and football.
The evidence inside the book
The strongest evidence is the surviving copy itself. The cover is plainly marked “for 1946”, while the imprint states “First Published 1945". It names the printer as Morrison and Gibb Ltd., London and Edinburgh, and carries the Book Production War Economy Standard mark. [1]
These details establish the year and the stated manufacturing standard. They do not tell us which month the book went on sale, how many copies were printed, or how many were sold. Nor does the 1945 imprint alone establish whether it appeared before or after the end of the war in Europe or the Far East.
| Question | Current finding |
|---|---|
| Publication year | 1945, confirmed by the imprint. |
| Publication month | Unconfirmed; an autumn release for Christmas is a hypothesis. |
| Print run and sales | No verified figures are located. |
| Printer | Morrison and Gibb Ltd., London and Edinburgh. |
| Production standard | Book Production War Economy Standard, stated in the book. |
Christmas 1945: peace amid shortages
Britain’s financial position was difficult. The Bank of England’s archive describes huge external debts and negotiations completed in December 1945 for an American loan of $3,750 million, together with a further $650 million credit against the settlement of lend-lease obligations. Peace had arrived, but economic recovery was only beginning. [2]
The damage to housing was substantial. On 12 April 1945, the Minister of Health told Parliament that 203,720 houses had been destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Approximately 800,000 people had occupied those properties. These figures describe wartime destruction; they should not be treated as a count of people still homeless at Christmas. [3]
Demobilisation was another enormous undertaking. A parliamentary statement in January 1946 recorded approximately 1,511,800 releases and discharges from the services between 18 June and 31 December 1945. December’s unusually bad weather had also delayed transport home from overseas. [4]
Christmas brought modest concessions rather than an end to restrictions. For the four-week ration period beginning 9 December 1945, the government temporarily increased the sweets ration from 12 to 16 ounces per person. Separate additional allocations for children’s Christmas parties were refused. Parliament had also discussed high toy prices and scarcity ahead of Christmas. [6]
This was a constrained market for presents. However, the annual’s original retail price, its buyers’ circumstances and its actual Christmas sales have not been established. Without those details, we cannot determine how affordable it was or how well it sold.
Football had changed, rather than disappeared.
One assumption needs revisiting: football had not largely ceased during the war. The normal Football League programme was suspended, but regional competitions took its place. Chelsea’s official history records that 82 of the 88 League clubs participated in eight regional competitions beginning in October 1939. Guest players, altered teams and travel restrictions became part of the wartime game. The regular Football League returned for 1946/47. [7]
The annual’s contents make that continuation visible. Its subjects include Great Matches of 1945, wartime international matches, soccer in Paiforce and football among the Allies. The supplied Footballers at War page describes professionals serving in the forces and clubs fielding guest players. There was contemporary football to write about, even though its organisation differed greatly from the pre-war game. [1]
Interest could be immense. Chelsea’s official history estimates that around 100,000 people turned up for the Dynamo Moscow friendly in November 1945. This is an estimated crowd, rather than an exact turnstile total. It nevertheless demonstrates enthusiasm for football shortly before Christmas. [8]
Paper was scarce, but readers were plentiful.
For a publisher, paper supply was a crucial restriction. On 15 October 1945, the President of the Board of Trade announced that publishers’ paper quotas would rise from 50% to 65% of pre-war usage at the end of that month. Publishers were encouraged to use as much of the increase as possible to expand exports. [9]
That context helps explain the annual economy-standard mark. It makes production constraints plausible but cannot supply the missing print-run figure.
There is also an important counterpoint to the low-sales theory. Publishing historian Nicola Wilson, of the University of Reading, reports that consumer expenditure on books more than doubled between 1938 and 1945, with demand consistently exceeding supply. [10]
That is a measure of spending, not a doubling of copies sold or an inflation-adjusted sales figure. It concerns the book market generally, rather than this annual. Even so, it shows why hardship alone cannot establish weak demand for books.
Is the 1946 annual in a library collection?
The institutional search remains incomplete. No British Library holding or shelfmark for the exact 1946 volume was verified through the available catalogue access. This does not mean the library lacks a copy.
The National Football Museum’s published archive inventory explicitly lists Boys Book of Soccer editions from 1951 to 1967. It also mentions other annuals in smaller numbers, so the inventory does not establish whether the 1946 edition is absent. [11]
The British National Bibliography is not a contemporary source for this publication: it began in January 1950. The British Library’s main catalogue is a separate resource and may contain earlier material. [12]
Could the publisher’s or printer’s records survive?
No surviving 1945 Evans Brothers production ledger or impression book was located. Some correspondence involving Evans Brothers survives in the British Library’s Boosey & Hawkes archive, but this is correspondence held by another firm, rather than Evans Brothers’ production archive. [13]
Records of that age can survive. The University of Reading holds Longman impression books from 1794 to 1963, recording costs and numbers of copies printed. Reading’s Special Collections would therefore be a sensible place to enquire about the whereabouts of Evans Brothers’ records, without assuming that Reading holds them. [14]
Morrison & Gibb is no longer trading. Sources disagree on the precise closure year: the Scottish Printing Archival Trust gives 1985, while a contemporary 1984 economic report refers to the firm’s closure in 1982. That discrepancy remains unresolved. [15] [16]
There is evidence of surviving company material. Edinburgh City Museums’ printing collection includes a Morrison & Gibb letterhead, accession number SH.2008.120. It does not prove that the printer’s 1945 job books or orders survive, but it makes Edinburgh Museums and the Scottish Printing Archival Trust useful enquiry points. [17]
What might settle the remaining questions?
A dated advertisement or announcement in the 1945 book trade press could narrow the publication timing. A library accession or deposit date could also help, although it would not necessarily equal the launch date.
For the print run, the strongest evidence would be an Evans Brothers impression book or production ledger, or a Morrison & Gibb printing order, invoice or job-book entry. Sales records would then be needed to judge commercial success: the quantity printed and the quantity sold are different questions.
The annual’s confirmed 1945 publication places it in a remarkable period of transition. A Christmas release and constrained production remain reasonable possibilities. A small print run or poor sales have yet to be demonstrated. Its scarcity today cannot, by itself, distinguish limited original production from heavy use, lost copies or later collector demand.
Research links and sources
Research undertaken on 12-13 October 2026. The links below include contemporary parliamentary records, institutional catalogues and later historical research. No archive staff were contacted and no unpublished production ledgers were examined.
- The annual itself: cover, imprint, contents and Footballers at War scans supplied by Bob. Although the filenames include “1947”, the visible cover and imprint identify the 1946 annual. These private scans are the primary evidence; no public source URL is available.
- Bank of England archive: Anglo-US Financial Agreement Negotiations, series 1A49. Includes the December 1945 loan settlement.
- Hansard, 12 April 1945: War Damaged Dwellings (Statistics).
- Hansard, 22 January 1946: Demobilisation - Progress. Reports releases and discharges through December 1945.
- Hansard, 14 November 1945: Sweets Ration. Announces the temporary Christmas increase.
- Hansard, 29 October 1945: Commons Chamber. See the “Toys (Prices)” exchange and consumer-supply questions.
- Chelsea FC: VE Day 75th Anniversary – Chelsea in the Second World War, 8 May 2020.
- Chelsea FC: The Story of Chelsea, Chapter 3. Includes the estimated November 1945 Dynamo Moscow crowd.
- Hansard, 15 October 1945: Publishing Industry (Paper Supplies).
- University of Reading: Book clubs and the Blitz - how WWII Britons kept calm and got reading. Nicola Wilson, 16 April 2020.
- National Football Museum: published archive inventory (PDF). See the children’s annuals section.
- British Library: Share Family - British National Bibliography (Beta) service is live, 14 July 2023. Explains the BNB’s January 1950 beginning.
- British Library: Boosey & Hawkes archive, MS Mus. 1813/2/1/276/4. Correspondence involving Evans Brothers.
- University of Reading Special Collections: Longman Group Archive. Describes surviving impression books recording print quantities.
- Scottish Printing Archival Trust: A Reputation for Excellence, Volume 1 - Edinburgh (PDF), 1990. Page 8 gives Morrison & Gibb’s closure as 1985.
- Fraser of Allander economic commentary: The Scottish Economy, 1984 (PDF). Printed page 32 refers to closure during 1982.
- Edinburgh City of Print: Morrison & Gibb letterhead. Museum accession SH.2008.120 and collection description.