The Booked Pitch – 30 October 2026.

FOOTBALL BOOKS • PHOTOGRAPHS • CARTOONS

THE SOCCERBOOKS WEEKLY • ISSUE 03

30 OCTOBER 2026

BUSBY’S UNITED & HUGHES’ LIVERPOOL

Demob To Belgrade: Matt Busby’s Manchester United
Plus: The Emlyn Hughes Collection live auction.

BOOK SPOTLIGHT / PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 2026 / HARDBACK

From Post-War Ruins to European Ambition

Demob To Belgrade: Matt Busby's Manchester United

BY ROY CAVANAGH & ROGER GARDNER

In 1945, Manchester United faced an uncertain future. Old Trafford had been damaged by wartime bombing, and the club had gone decades without a major trophy. The arrival of Matt Busby marked the beginning of a remarkable transformation. With assistant Jimmy Murphy alongside him, Busby set about rebuilding United and establishing a new approach to English football.

Publisher: Legends Publishing
Published: 7 November 2026
Hardback: 280 pages
ISBN-13: 9781919249933
Dimensions: 20 × 1.5 × 26.2 cm

£24.99

ROYAL MAIL TRACKED 48

VIEW BOOK →

AUCTION SPOTLIGHT / THE EMLYN HUGHES COLLECTION

The Captain Who Made Liverpool European Champions

Emlyn Hughes with the FA Cup beneath the words Silverware from a Legend, advertising The Emlyn Hughes Collection auction on 2 November 2026

Few careers are so closely intertwined with a club’s rise to greatness. Across 12 years at Liverpool, Emlyn Hughes became a defining figure of the club’s most successful era, making 665 appearances and lifting an exceptional collection of major honours.

The Emlyn Hughes Collection
Live Auction

MONDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2026
12 NOON GMT

The Clubroom, Hope Street Hotel
40 Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9DA

From his first League and UEFA Cup double in 1972-73 to the FA Cup triumph of 1974 and another League Championship and UEFA Cup double in 1976, Hughes was central to Liverpool’s emergence as a force in English and European football. As captain, he then led the club to its first European Cup in Rome in 1977, before lifting the trophy again at Wembley the following year.

The medals offered in this auction were won in those seasons – records of an extraordinary Liverpool career and of a player who stood at the heart of the club’s ascent to European dominance.

THREE PIECES OF LIVERPOOL HISTORY