Charles Buchan's Football Monthly has a fascinating history and since the 1950s has had many owners, most of whom took it on as a labour of love. There have also been many periods of inactivity, most notably in the 1970s. However, while at Chelsea Football Club, Ken Bates rekindled life into the magazine when it was published regularly once again in the 1990s, albeit without Charles Buchan's name on the front cover. In 1999, Charles Buchan's Football Monthly was acquired from Chelsea Football Club by Football Monthly Ltd when it was published briefly once again with Charles Buchan's name in the title. Now, most of the entire collection is preserved and stored electronically that can be accessed and used on a license basis.
The archives are the scanned version of the original Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly magazines. Buchan, who played for Arsenal, Sunderland and England started the magazine in 1951. It was the first magazine to cover the personalities, debates and issues surrounding football as the game rebuilt itself after World War II. Football Monthly was the most influential football magazine of its time. These valuable archives contain fascinating articles and comment on the game, issues and players as well as comic strip humour of the day plus original adverts.