Graham Kelly had a very simple reason for writing Go Stamps Go!, an excellent new book about the history of the Calgary Stampeder Football Club.

“I’ve been covering the Stampeders from Medicine Hat since 1972 and, over the years, I gained a great appreciation for Calgary and for Calgary football,” said Kelly, a veteran writer who was inducted into the Reporters Division of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2002. “The club has always treated me royally and I wanted to write something as a way of saying ‘Thank you’ while also celebrating football in Calgary. I was very pleased to be able to do that.”

Kelly, who has written a weekly CFL column for the Medicine Hat News since 1972, emphasizes that the sharply illustrated hard-cover book is not at all about his own views of the football club, but rather those of the individuals who helped shape the Red and White’s history. Accordingly, he spoke to many people and collected many anecdotes while doing research for the book.

“Oh, a couple of hundred interviews,” he estimated. “Maybe more because I did most of the interviews over the years for my column and I would tape them and I kept them all. I can go way back.”

Kelly’s book is presented chronologically, starting with the introduction of rugby football in Calgary during the late 19th century and culminating with the revival of the Stampeders franchise when new ownership came onto the scene in 2005.

“The biggest challenge was trying to sort out how much of the early years to use,” said Kelly. “Calgary football went through a bunch of transformations until the Stampeders came along (in 1945). I cut about 60 per cent of the 1880-to-1945 stuff. I think there was good stuff lost as a result of that.”

On the other hand, the Stampeders era of Calgary football is covered in great detail. Notable is the coverage of the unbeaten 1948 squad, which comes to vivid life thanks to Kelly’s interviews with team members such as Pete Thodos, Normie Kwong, Dave Berry, Jim Mitchener and Rod Pantages.

Let’s not forget Norm Hill, whose famous sleeper play touchdown helped the Stamps beat Ottawa in the 1948 Grey Cup. Calgary fooled the Rough Riders by having Hill lay down on the opposite side of the field after the previous play, which left the Stamp wide open for a scoring pass.

“Norm told me that Barbara-Ann Scott, the skater, had come just at that point in time so everybody was turning around to look at her including the Rough Riders and so he was able to sneak along,” said Kelly with a chuckle.

Kelly, who had previously penned books about the Grey Cup and the Saskatchewan Roughriders, came up with the idea of a Stampeders book a decade ago but the club’s unstable ownership situation at that time and subsequent rebuilding period prompted him to hold off on production.

“We wanted to wait until the renaissance took place,” he explained.

Kelly doesn’t hesitate when asked about his favourite part of the writing process for Go Stamps Go!: “Renewing old friendships and getting a chance to talk to new guys. For example, until this year I had never interviewed Tony Pajaczkowski. Although I had talked to him on several occasions, I had never interviewed Larry Robinson. It was nice talking to new people.”

And now that the book — available for $27 plus GST at the Stampeders’ Ticket Office or via mail order for the same price plus shipping and handling charges — is out?

“There are actually two feelings, which are kind of contradictory,” laughed Kelly. “One is, ‘Gawd, I’m glad this is over.’ Secondly, maybe it’s a little like how women feel when having a baby, although I guess I really don’t know. But it’s a great feeling.”

Kelly’s not sure what football topic he’d like to cover next as an author — “I’m drawing a blank,” he admitted — but regardless of the subject, his motivation is sure to remain the same.

“My publisher said, ‘You’re not going to make a lot of money out of it’ — which is certainly true — ‘but it’s going to be a great source of satisfaction to go into a bookstore or a public library and see your book.’ And it has been.”

>> Randomly chosen season-ticket holders to win copies of Go Stamps Go!

For more info on the book, call the Ticket Office at 403-289-0258