Do you like books about football? Do you like big, bold, colourful books about football? Do you like football memorabilia?

That’s me, so when I was handed a copy of The Treasures of the World Cup, (Carlton books, by Keir Radnedge with Mark Bushell) and asked to give my thoughts, I thought something along the lines of “Get in.”

This is a big book, a bold book, and a colourful book, one that is twice the size of yer average Annual, and comes with its own box. In short, it looks the part. Once inside, you are greeted by a foreword from Gary Lineker, then a four page explanation of who thought up the World Cup, why, and what sort of seemingly ridiculous obstacles got in the way of actually getting teams to take part.

From there, you get two pages on each tournament up to 1966 when, as you’d expect, it moves up to four pages. Each tournament is described in detail, as far as stadiums, competitors, and results go, but there’s none of the minutiae that could bog down such a publication. Which is exactly as it should be with such a concise amount of space per tournament. At a total of 64 pages including credits, you could be forgiven for thinking that it would be a little brief, but there’s trick up its sleeve. As you might have gathered from Lineker’s foreword, the Football Museum at Preston’s Deepdale is a major contributor.

Each tournament’s description, as well as photographs, contains a pocket of some description, and in that pocket you’ll find a facsimilie or two of something to do with that year’s events. From pencil sketches of the USA goal keeper and the Uruguyan centre-forward to the obvious match ticket via a letter to Jules Rimet concerning the “battle of Berne” in 1954 and his reply, and team sheets.

On the downside, it was first published in 2006 in advance of that year’s World Cup. On the up side, if you like all of the things I listed at the top of this review, it’s full of them. It’s a cracking advert for the Football Museum – I’ve only paid it one brief visit, prior to that New Year’s thumping a couple of years back – and should be enough to nudge you into a visit next time you’re passing Deepdale. It looks good enough to be left out on display to say “Hey, not only do I like football, but I’ve got a really nice-looking book about it and I’m not ashamed to leave it lying about for all to see. Go on, have a look, but make sure you put the bits back where they belong.” In short, it’s a kids book for adults.

At £30 it’s not cheap, but if you had £30 to spend on a book about the football World Cup, this would be the one to get. If you want every important detail of how, where, when, and why the World Cup happened, it’s in here.

Sobs