A retired regional press editor has written a book about the history of football goal celebrations.

Tony Rickson “spotted a gap in the market” before deciding to pen ‘Gooaal! The Joy of Football Celebrations’, which documents more than 200 celebrations practised by goalscorers.

Tony served as editor of the Dover Express, Folkestone Herald, and Whitstable and Herne Bay Times during his career.

At the time of his retirement, he was group sports editor of 21 titles with Kent Regional Newspapers.

Tony, pictured, told Kent Online: “I was very lucky to do a job I loved and was only half looking forward to retirement as I thought I would miss the buzz of daily deadlines and working alongside like-minded people.

“So I was determined to keep busy and stay as fit as possible, and writing a book seemed a good way to challenge myself.

“Budding authors are advised to pick a subject they know about, and as I’ve always loved football and seen thousands of matches during my life that seemed an obvious choice.

“Once a publisher offered me a contract I’ve enjoyed the whole process.”

He added: “Football books are a fiercely competitive field, but I think I’ve hit on something that hasn’t been tackled before and lends itself to a fairly light-hearted and fun treatment.”

The book, published by Pitch Publishing, is available now.