A FOOTBALLER sent off for smoking on the pitch, a goal awarded when the goalkeeper’s cap flew into the net and the player who was injured after falling over his laces.

The stories all feature in a new book, A Noble Winter’s Game, from Keighley author Rob Grillo.

A follow-up to last year’s Late To The Game, which covered the growth of football across the Bradford district, Rob’s latest work spotlights the early development of the sport throughout Yorkshire’s West Riding.

“While working on Late To The Game – which I’d been invited to write for Bantamspast Publications – it was obvious that I possessed sufficient material to put out a second book covering the whole of the county so I had a head start when putting the new book together,” he said.

The book – Rob’s 14th to be published – covers all early league and cup competitions across each of the different regions within West Yorkshire, as well as the sport’s struggles to establish itself in an area where rugby was the predominant winter pastime. There are the more-humorous tales alongside stories of winners and losers.

A Noble Winter’s Game is available priced £12.99 from Amazon or email rob@robgrillo.co.uk.