Author Archive

When The FA Cup Really Mattered
Matthew Eastley
Authorhouse, £13.99
Reviewed by Roger Titford
From WSC 283 September 2010

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Bliss was it to be alive as a fan in the 1970s, even with a dodgy haircut and platform shoes – that's Matthew Eastley's (born in 1966) reasonable premise. His focus is on ten FA Cup finals as seen through the fans' eyes. I saw nine of them on telly and one at Wembley and this book is a decent memory-jerker that rings true despite, I suspect, some creative embellishments of his contributors' stories.

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Me, My Dad And The Dons
by Stuart Donald
Hachette Scotland, £ 12.99
Reviewed by Keith Davidson
From WSC 284 October 2010

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Despite the title, this book has nothing to do with Sir Alex Ferguson and his time at Pittodrie. Instead it's a memoir by Stuart Donald, looking back on his childhood as a Perth-based Aberdeen fan in the late 1970s and 1980s, and how his relationship with his father developed while they watched the Dons together during the club's most successful era.

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by Matt Le Tissier
by Writers Name
Harper Sport, £18.99
Reviewed by Tim Springett
From WSC 279 May 2010

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In keeping with his career, Matt Le Tissier’s autobiography is an interesting read but doesn’t truly satisfy. One reason for this is that both the front and back covers, as well as the internal layout,
look appalling.

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My Story
by Paul Scholes
Simon & Schuster, £19.99
Reviewed by Paul Campbell
From WSC 299 January 2012

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In the first sentence of his foreword to Paul Scholes's autobiography, Alex Ferguson calls the player dour. You can only assume Ferguson has read the book. The United manager doesn't publish his players' autobiographies, but if he did, they would all read like this – like a press release from MUTV. Scholes spends 300 pages telling us things we already know.

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From Hitler Youth to FA Cup Legend
by Catrine Clay
Yellow Jersey, £16.99
Reviewed by Mike Ticher
From WSC 279 May 2010

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Bert Trautmann was born in the worst possible year for a 20th century German, 1923. At ten he was eligible for the Hitler Youth just as the Nazis came to power. At 17 he was ready for war. Most of his contemporaries did not make it to 25, let alone quiet retirement in Spain.

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