Tinpot: New book celebrates Bristol City and Bristol Rovers forgotten triumphs

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Tinpot is the story of football's lost tournaments: the strange and forgotten competitions that sparked into life before disappearing forever.

The FA Cup and Football League are the oldest competitions of their kind in the world. They are the survivors - the bright ideas that quickly caught on. Yet, behind these successes lie countless failed experiments. But they still have their stories to tell.

Featuring over 40 forgotten football tournaments, Tinpot visits the curious world where:

  • Bristol City won the Anglo-Scottish Cup after beating Alex Ferguson's young St Mirren side in the final

  • Bristol Rovers defeated Sheffield United in a penalty shootout to win the Watney Cup, the club's first ever knockout competition triumph
  • Bristol Rovers came within a coin toss of competing in Europe for the first and only time in their history

  • Manchester City contested a Wembley final against Chelsea only 24 hours after playing a top-flight derby at Old Trafford

  • Bobby Moore lined up alongside Pelé to captain a USA international side against England
  • Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and the rest of England’s top clubs sent their best players to compete in indoor six-a-side tournaments
  • Swindon Town beat Juventus at home and away as they marched to an unlikely Anglo-Italian Cup triumph
  • Watford became the first club to lose twice in the FA Cup in the same season
  • A Tranmere Rovers goalkeeper conceded six goals but was still given the man of the match award
  • Claudio Ranieri brought his star-studded Fiorentina side to the Potteries, but they couldn’t do it on a cold, rainy night in Stoke
  • England won a trophy for once, and it wasn’t even 1966: football really did come home!

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