Foot Soldiers - Nick Collins

Victorian England in the 1870s and the early years of the FA Cup. Pitches are little better than mud baths. Crossbars and referees'' whistles don''t exist, while the players all charge around in a rough-and-tumble manner more suited to rugby. But one side dares to be different. Combining silky skills with military muscle, they pass the ball in a spectacular new style of play. And they have a team spirit like no other. They are a ''band of brothers'' who fight for Queen and Country - and for each other. They are the Royal Engineers from Chatham in Kent and Foot Soldiers is their extraordinary story. Among their ranks are ''Renny'', one of the game''s first superstars, and ''The Major'', the mastermind behind their astonishing rise. In a four-year quest to land football''s greatest prize both men must confront a disastrous fire, monstrous bad luck, the elements at their fiercest and the shocking death of one of the team''s favourite players on FA Cup Final day itself.