When Footballers Were Skint: A Journey in Search of the Soul of Football

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As the melange of adoration, money and off field activities can reveal, a footballer’s existence is certainly a charmed one at best. The nimble-footed winger Stanley Matthews of Stoke City, Blackpool and England had to deal with being clogged more often than most. The story went that Buckley was persuaded that monkey-gland implantations – a technique pioneered by Serge Voronoff, a French surgeon of Russian extraction – helped with stamina levels, recovery and improved mental performance. FIFA president Sepp Blatter is showered with banknotes by a prankster during a press conference in 2015. A patriarchal home life when he was a lad and a tightly knit mining community forged in him what I soon learn is an uncomplicated set of values.

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With bundles of natural skill and oozing silky moves, the Geordie boy played for his hometown of Newcastle United before moving on to several highly prestigious clubs. Some take to gambling on the back of team coaches, whilst others inject cash into get rich quick property schemes. At the peak of his powers, former left back John Arne Riise was bombing down the channels for Liverpool not to mention Fulham.He’d got one or two mates who stuck up for miners and he could use his tongue, my dad, but he could also use these [he holds up his fists]. His cynicism may prove justified but Colin Collindridge, one of the oldest surviving Football League players, lives here, an invaluable source for my book When Footballers Were Skint given his direct link with professional football’s pioneering days.

‘And, of course, generally I showed them that | Biteback

Its modern counterpart tends to be more subtle, more deceitful and – the biggest difference – those on the receiving end today are inclined to squeal regardless of whether or not they are hurt. He might even have talked about his long range effort that had eluded the Liverpool goalkeeper’s grasp for Madrid’s third goal. Not only did United handsomely avenge their 2-1 Cup Final defeat at Wembley earlier in the year, in which their goalkeeper Ray Wood was injured, Edwards exacted a little retribution of his own. Anything to ensure a bit of attention and to guarantee he remained one of the highest paid footballers in the world. My 1950s XI (traditional WM or 2-3-5 formation): Gordon Banks (Chesterfield, Leicester City, Stoke City); Bill Leivers (Chesterfield, Manchester City, Doncaster Rovers), Walley Barnes (Arsenal); Danny Blanchflower (Barnsley, Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur), John Charles (Leeds United, Juventus, Roma, Cardiff City), Duncan Edwards (Manchester United); Stanley Matthews (Stoke City, Blackpool), Jimmy Greaves (Chelsea, AC Milan, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United), Brian Clough (Middlesbrough, Sunderland), Jimmy Hagan (Derby County, Sheffield United), Tom Finney (Preston North End).

This is the third biography on this particular list, and although the name of Paul Ferris will be significantly less known than the other two biographies, the book was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the year. Well, she paid a million dollars to insure her legs and they were great legs and my missus had legs that were as good as Betty Grable’s. Newcastle were probably hoping that after I eventually signed for Arsenal the dispute over the retain-and-transfer system would fall away,’ Eastham says. However, years of gambling and alcohol issues took its toll on Sansom and he became homeless for a short period of time.

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From the first minute of a Second Division promotion match at Stamford Bridge Harris had been hacking away at Matthews until the referee finally intervened with a warning Clamp considered insufficient for the crimes that had been committed.

Henderson has spent four years interviewing former players, such as George Eastham, Cliff Jones, Dave Whelan and Tony Allcock, who are now in their 80s and whose stories were in danger of being forgotten.