Eleven lads who didn't quite shake the Wirrall

There was a very good edition of BBC Radio 4's The Long View strand the other day. It examined the idea of football-club-as-business in the light of the story of New Brighton Tower F.C. New Brighton Tower were founded by the owners of a Blackpool Tower-esque attraction on Merseyside, who needed to attract visitors in the long winter months. The club started out in the Lancashire League in 1897 and were elected to the Football League a year later. Things, however, didn't go quite as planned...

The programme aired on Tuesday morning, and the Beeb usually keep their shows available for streaming for a week. So listen while you can.