A Death in the Family

[kuha]

Just got to London this morning. Made my usual 'rounds' to Sportspages, and discovered to my utter shock that they are out of business. Gone! This is a sure sign of some sort of apocalypse...

[gh]

I'll bite: what's Sportspages?

[EPelle]

One reason you may not have heard of it:

Sportspages is a bookstore dedicated to cerebral armchair sports fans. The store has a particularly broad and deep focus on soccer and cricket.

Caxton Walk, 94-96 Charing Cross Rd. | WC2, London, England

[bad hammy]

One reason you may not have heard of it:

Sportspages is a bookstore dedicated to cerebral armchair sports fans. The store has a particularly broad and deep focus on soccer and cricket.

Caxton Walk, 94-96 Charing Cross Rd. | WC2, London, England

At first I thought you were zinging Garry on the 'cerebral armchair sports fans' part . . . smiley emoticon smiley emoticon

[gm]

I nearly cried when I read that story in Four Four Two magazine... it was the greatest sports bookshop in the world, and I spent a small fortune in there over the years.

[gh]

The only 4-4-2 that I relate to is the Oldsmobile muscle car of that name (4-barrel carb, 4-on-the-floor, dual exhaust)!

[Daisy]

I nearly cried when I read that story in Four Four Two magazine... it was the greatest sports bookshop in the world, and I spent a small fortune in there over the years.

May be they were bought out as the sportspages web site now points here.
http://www.sportsbooksdirect.co.uk/

Update. Seems to have happened in 2003/2004

Following the merger last week of two independent publishers, Duckworth and Overlook, comes news that two independent booksellers are joining forces. Sportspages and Sports Books Direct are complementary businesses, the former selling sports books from shops in London and Manchester and the latter specialising in mail order. Link

[Walt Murphy]

One reason you may not have heard of it:

Sportspages is a bookstore dedicated to cerebral armchair sports fans. The store has a particularly broad and deep focus on soccer and cricket.

Caxton Walk, 94-96 Charing Cross Rd. | WC2, London, England

If it's the same store that I was in (circa 1994), it was truly amazing. Did the one that closed specialize in old publications (for all sports)?

[kuha]

I nearly cried when I read that story in Four Four Two magazine... it was the greatest sports bookshop in the world, and I spent a small fortune in there over the years.

YES! I nearly cried when I went to the door and saw there was nothing inside anymore! Apparently they closed just last month... Yes, they had lots of cricket, football, etc., but they had a wonderful athletics section where you could always find the most obscure new things imaginable--things that simply could not be found in any other bookshop. I'm still a bit in shock... I've been an absolute regular ever since I first discovered it back in....(when?)...the late 1980s, I think... Sigh.....

[nevetsllim]

Re: A Death in the Family

Just got to London this morning. Made my usual 'rounds' to Sportspages, and discovered to my utter shock that they are out of business. Gone! This is a sure sign of some sort of apocalypse...

Oh no! When I went to London last year, I visited that sports bookshop, I bought Haile's biog and athletics 2005. It was a great shop.

I suppose it's surrounded by so many big bookstores, it would always miss out on big bucks.