The Chairman's Daughter by Ian Plenderleith

WSC regular contributor Ian Plenderleith has published a novel, The Chairman's Daughter. Subtitled Football, politics, money, sex and racism in the East Midlands, the book is available in Kindle format.

At the age of 29, former England prospect Carl Meacock can only look back on a fractured career marked by too many clubs, injuries and broken relationships. Discarded both by Crystal Palace and his agent, Gary "Fat" Fee, the pro has only one offer on the table, from "Lincoln’s fourth club", Dynamo FC, a team affiliated to a local plastics factory that plays in the Central Midlands Football League. Who would be insane enough to make such a move downwards, losing his reputation, his girlfriend and 90 per cent of his salary into the bargain?
 
Lured by a smart new 4,000-seat stadium and the charisma of the club's wealthy owner and chairman – inventor of the Margaret Thatcher Poop Scoop and three-times British Black Businessman of the Year, Derrell Dujon – Meacock moves anyway, intrigued by the chance to start again in a new city at a works team with big ambitions. The only snag is a strange clause in his contract forbidding him to start a relationship with Dujon's daughter.
 
The player doesn’t think this will be a problem until the daughter shows up in the form of 22-year-old Olivia, the club's new Community Liaison Officer. And he's not the only one on the team affected by her beauty. If Olivia watches, Dynamo win spectacularly. When she's not there, they lose. Will Meacock break his contract to try and win her attention? And who will dare to tell the over-protective chairman that his daughter holds the key to promotion?

Read an extract and buy the book here