Daniel Gray – The Silence of the Stands
On:15th November 2022, 7:00pm - 8:00pm
This is one for the football fans! We're so excited to be welcoming Daniel Gray back to the shop to celebrate the publication of his new book, The Silence of the Stands: Finding the Joy in Football's Lost Season. A quote from Daniel's book Scribbles in the Margins resonated with us so much that it is printed on the back of one of our bookmarks, so we couldn't be happier to be hosting a launch event for his latest! Daniel will be in conversation with photographer Alan McCredie.
We are planning for this event to take place in the bookshop with an in-person audience, as well as a livestream for attendees watching from home.
In-person vouchers can be redeemed on the night of the event against anything in the bookshop – we will have a list of attendees with vouchers at the ready. Livestream vouchers are valid until the day after the event and can be redeemed on our website against a copy of The Silence of the Stands.
About The Silence of the Stands:
The Durham City midfielder wore the resigned look of a man trying to find a jar of harissa in Farmfoods. Up front for Jarrow, a centre-forward darted around frenetically, as if chasing a kite during a hurricane...' When football disappeared in March 2020, writer and broadcaster Daniel Gray used its absence to reflect on everything the game meant to him.
That bred a pledge: whenever and wherever fans were allowed to return, he would be there. The Silence of the Stands is the result of that pledge: a joyous travelogue documenting a precarious season, in which behind-closed-doors matches and travel restrictions combined to make trips to Kendal and Workington seem impossibly exotic. Offering a poignant peek at a surreal age and a slab of social history from the two-metre-distanced tea bar queue, this is the moving, heartfelt and surprisingly uplifting story of a unique season that no one wishes to repeat.
Daniel Gray is a journalist and the author of Extra Time, Black Boots and Football Pinks, Saturday, 3pm and the Books Are My Bag Reader Awards shortlisted Scribbles in the Margins. The Silence of the Stands is his twelfth book. He is the editor of Nutmeg magazine and presents both the When Saturday Comes podcast and the Nutmeg podcast.
Alan McCredie is the author of 100 Weeks of Scotland, Scotland The Dreich, Scotland The Braw and Edinburgh The Dreich. He has collaborated with authors Daniel Gray, Val McDermid and Steven Millar on books including This Is Scotland, Snapshot, Tribes of Glasgow and Val McDermid’s Scotland. His work has appeared in national and international publications. As well as being a freelance photographer he is also a lecturer in photography at Edinburgh College.
Please note: Tickets for our events are non-refundable. Professional photography and videography may take place during this event. Thank you for your understanding.
The venue
The Portobello Bookshop
46 Portobello High Street
Edinburgh
EH15 1DA
Telephone: 0131 629 6756
Website: www.theportobellobookshop.com
Wheelchair Access
We have a ramp at the front of the shop which has a ratio of 1:10 and loading capacity of 300kg, and so should be able to be used by most wheelchair users or those with mobility vehicles. The front doors are fully automated. Our shop interior is designed to allow access throughout for wheelchair users and prams, though please note there is only 700mm wide clearance to access the staff toilet.
Sound
We use a PA system to enhance the audio at our live events. We also have a hearing loop system installed, if you’d like to use our loop system during an event please let us know and we’ll make sure we have it set up and connected to the live audio feed during the event. If you wish to attend an event and require BSL interpretation, please give us a few weeks notice and we’ll do our best to arrange an interpreter.