Good City Player autobiographies

[Scaring Europe to Death]

Not read Paul Lake's book yet; it's still sitting there unread. I have read most of those mentioned in this thread and most of them are dire.

Books about Shaun Goater, Tony Book and Colin Bell are insipid, Mike Doyle's is a monument to self-pity and even my boyhood hero Dennis Tueart's book disappoints. We deserve better books than this about some of our best players.

But without a shadow of a doubt, this Ken Barnes book is the worst one I've ever read. I think the list price was about £16.99! Robbery! The facts that Ken didn't like coaches, smoked and swore a lot and held court at Maine Road run through the book like 'BLACKPOOL' through a stick of rock. The grammar and English are truly abysmal, and it must be the most badly written book since Free: Heavy Load which memorably, and unbelievably, began with the "Foreward." If you must read this book, I suggest stealing it.

It's even worse than Please May I Have My Football Back: My Life at Manchester City by Eric Alexander and that's saying something; that book garnered this realistic review on Amazon: "Plodding, dull and self-congratulatory are just some of the descriptions that would make this book seem more interesting than is actually the case. It is written in the style of a bad sixth-form essay ('What I did in the last six decades?') and reveals almost nothing of interest to this die-hard City fan. It only got one star because no stars was not an option. Dreadful."

Please Can I Have My Money Back should have been the title for this and quite a few more City-related books published in recent years.

Couldn’t agree more.


I appreciate why Colin Schindler splits opinion, but GEORGE BEST AND 21 OTHERS is original, informative, and above all, interesting.

Jeff Dawson’s BACK HOME is similarly appealing, and laced with irony.


In contrast, too many City fans, (and United are even worse) are blinded with misguided loyalty to a former hero, and the sad reality that his movement off the ball was more subtle than his clumsy literary technique.

As a keen City supporter, I’m well aware that we won the FA Cup in 1969. I’m more interested in why we used four goalkeepers in three seasons, at a time when Gordon Banks was available, and Peter Shilton was fighting relegation at Leicester City.
Rather than everyone blaming Rodney Marsh, I want to know how the players contrived to lose to Southampton in 71-72, just a few weeks after the Saints had been so publicly humiliated at Elland Road.

Above all, I want to finish a book about City with the feeling that I’ve actually learnt something

 

[johnnytapia]

Read Cascarino's a while back and enjoyed it. Although hes also not a blue I also found Paul McGrath's a good read. City wise Lake and Morrison's pulled no punches at times and would recommend both. I find a lot of football biographies follow the same formula and can be a bit predictable.
Not a football book and I don't really follow boxing but Eamon Magee's book is some story.

How Eamonn Magee is not yet dead will puzzle scientists for generations. Fantastic book.

 

[Vienna_70]

Since this thread was started - and forgotten by me - I’ve read Andy Morrison's autobiography.

He certainly pulls no punches and is very honest and forthright about his demons.

It's well worth reading, and I’d recommend it to anyone.

 

[Healthcare29]

If you want a Book that's well written James Lawton (RIP?) is your man, as to a certain extent is Gary James' but for pure entertainment & shock it is Andy Morrison's, it's the book I'd recommend to anyone City or not as to the one to read.
Still haven't recovered from reading Colin Bell's though.....

 

[King KdB of Belgium]

I have read the following biographies of Manchester City players. The first one was Bert Trautmann's, Mike Doyle's, Ken Barnes and Neil Young's. All of which I found very interesting.

Took Neil Young's book on a trip to an away game at Newcastle, by the time I got back to Manchester I had finished the book.

 

[Gary James]

Since this thread was started - and forgotten by me - I’ve read Andy Morrison's autobiography.

He certainly pulls no punches and is very honest and forthright about his demons.

It's well worth reading, and I’d recommend it to anyone.

Thanks for the comments. Appreciated. Hopefully before the end of the year I’ll have written Peter Barnes’ Biography. Watch this space.

 

[Dirty Harry]

Lawtons 'forever boys' & 'another breath of fred eyre'

How Eamonn Magee is not yet dead will puzzle scientists for generations. Fantastic book.

Interesting character Magee, and a very dangerous fighter back in the day, probably still is given the bits I know about him, I'll have a look into it, cheers.

 

[johnnytapia]

Interesting character Magee, and a very dangerous fighter back in the day, probably still is given the bits I know about him, I'll have a look into it, cheers.

Put Hatton on his arse. Magee had been training like a demon for that fight, knew Hatton had a killer body shot so Magee had people hit him with iron bars on his liver/stomach to get used to the pain. Then he got hit with iron bars for different reasons! Hard as fucking nails. But man, what a drinker.

 

[Dirty Harry]

Put Hatton on his arse. Magee had been training like a demon for that fight, knew Hatton had a killer body shot so Magee had people hit him with iron bars on his liver/stomach to get used to the pain. Then he got hit with iron bars for different reasons! Hard as fucking nails. But man, what a drinker.

Yeah up until Mayweather, that was the fight I really worried about for Hatton, had been keeping an eye on Magee for a while so it didn't surprise me one bit that he had him over.

 

[Cellarite]

I’ve been reading Tony Coton’s.

Now before I give my thoughts on it, let me say that I loved Tony Coton, he’s my favourite ever City keeper. I also thought we fucked him about so much that I didn’t really hold his move to United against him.

His book however, fuck me. He talks extensively about his progression through the Birmingham ranks and talks of his love for Watford. He doesn’t really say anything about not enjoying being a City player but skims through his time with us inside 31 pages.

I’ve since read 30 pages about his move to United, his brief stint at Sunderland and going back to United as keeper coach. He seems to desperately want to justify his United medals despite the fact that he never played a minute for them. He describes their treble season far more than his time actually playing for us.

I have around 70 pages to go and fear that he spends the rest of the book explaining how fantastic Bacon Face is. Really disappointed so far with a book that I looked forward to.