How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup
Encyclopedia
How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the F.A. Cup is the fourth novel by J.L. Carr, published in 1975. The novel is a comic fantasy that describes in the form of an official history how a village football club progressed through the FA Cup
to beat Glasgow Rangers F.C.
in the final at Wembley Stadium
.
Like all of Carr's novels, it is grounded in his own experience. In 1930 as an unqualified 18-year old teacher he played a season for South Milford
White Rose when they won a football knockout tournament. Described as the weakest of Carr's books it sold 2,124 copies and was remaindered.
The novel has been dramatised several times by different playwrights. In 1991, it was adapted as a play for eight actors and was performed at the Worcester Swan Theatre, the Leatherhead Thorndike Theatre and the Mermaid Theatre
, London where it ran for six weeks. More recently it was dramatised by Brian Wright for performance by an amateur youth theatre, with a cast of sixty, in Northamptonshire
.
The play was performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2011 by one actor, Mark Jardine of Lichfield Garrick Theatre Repertory Company, who provided all the voices and characterisations. In this version the beaten finalists were Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
.
Carr bought back the rights to the novel in 1992 and reprinted it in an edition of 2,000 copies as the fourth novel published by his own imprint, The Quince Tree Press
.
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
to beat Glasgow Rangers F.C.
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
in the final at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
.
Like all of Carr's novels, it is grounded in his own experience. In 1930 as an unqualified 18-year old teacher he played a season for South Milford
South Milford
South Milford is a small village and civil parish located in the district of Selby, in the county of North Yorkshire, England. Historically an agricultural village, the population has recently boomed due to housing development...
White Rose when they won a football knockout tournament. Described as the weakest of Carr's books it sold 2,124 copies and was remaindered.
The novel has been dramatised several times by different playwrights. In 1991, it was adapted as a play for eight actors and was performed at the Worcester Swan Theatre, the Leatherhead Thorndike Theatre and the Mermaid Theatre
Mermaid Theatre
The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre at Puddle Dock, in Blackfriars, in the City of London and the first built there since the time of Shakespeare...
, London where it ran for six weeks. More recently it was dramatised by Brian Wright for performance by an amateur youth theatre, with a cast of sixty, in Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
.
The play was performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2011 by one actor, Mark Jardine of Lichfield Garrick Theatre Repertory Company, who provided all the voices and characterisations. In this version the beaten finalists were Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
.
Carr bought back the rights to the novel in 1992 and reprinted it in an edition of 2,000 copies as the fourth novel published by his own imprint, The Quince Tree Press
The Quince Tree Press
The Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...
.
Publishing history
- 1975 London Magazine Editions, ISBN 0904388026
- 1986 Grafton Books, ISBN 0586063587
- 1992 The Quince Tree PressThe Quince Tree PressThe Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...
, ISBN 0900847948 - 1999 Prion Humour ClassicsPrion Humour ClassicsPrion Humour Classics are a series of small-format hardback novels published by Prion Books in the UK....
, Prion Books, ISBN 1853753637 - 2003 The Quince Tree PressThe Quince Tree PressThe Quince Tree Press is the imprint established in 1966 by J. L. Carr to publish his maps, pocket books and novels. The Press is now run by his son Robert Carr and his wife, Jane.- History of the press :...
, ISBN 0900847948
Translations
- 2008 Come gli S.S. Wanderers vinsero la coppa d’Ingliterra, Fazi Editore, Roma, ISBN 8881128926