The management committee at Padiham Football Club are contemplating the possibility of writing an official history of the club - after an attempt by local authors to chronicle the club's past in a new book didn't work out as they had hoped.
A book on the town of Padiham by two well known local historians has recently been published, and consists of information, old photographs and snippets of history about the town.
The book provides information on historic halls and rural houses, industry, transport, inns and taverns, churches, chapels and education, conflicts and elections, people and places - and of course with sport being a central part of life in the town over the years, the authors have also attempted to reflect the part it has played in the town's development.
However, the coverage of Padiham Football Club in the book has turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, as Secretary Alan Smith explained.
"I had been told that the club had been featured in the book, which surprised me as the authors had not contacted the club for information about our history, or our photograph collection.
"Out of interest I spent £9.99 and purchased a copy of the publication and there on page 55 Chapter 6 was information on Padiham FC. But it was disappointing to read how much inaccurate information was contained in the article.
"The picture used and described in the book as the Padiham FC team of 1948-49 is not Padiham FC at all, and information detailed about the club is wrong. The article says Padiham FC won the Lancashire Cup in 1882 (which it didn't), the Arbories Memorial Sports Ground opened in 1948 (it was 1949) and more recently that Padiham FC returned to the North West Counties Football League in 2001 (it was 2000) and that we were promoted to the First Division of the NWCFL in 2009 (obviously now known as the Premier Division).
"I contacted one of the authors, Mr Nadin, and told him it was a good book and I was glad he had written it, but told him about the many mistakes in his small article on the club. He did apologise but said there was nothing that could be done now. The authors honestly thought they had got the information right.
"It's very frustrating that someone has produced a book that will form a history of the town, we as a club are featured in it, but the information about us is wrong. In 10-15 years time, there's a chance people will be looking at the book as an important reference for the town's history, so it's a pity the authors didn't check the facts with the club".
However, Alan says the whole affair has prompted the club to look at taking matters into their own hands.
"As a result, the management committee of Padiham Football Club is now looking into the possibility of organising our own book on the club's history. Providing we can find the funding to support the project, we can promise supporters of the club an interesting and amusing read".
