Book reviews: 2009, the year of the flawed genius on sports bookshelf

Published on Friday 18 December 2009 23:25

THIS YEAR has produced another surprisingly large crop of books which cover the Scottish sporting scene.

Autobiographies are to the fore as ever, with football's most colourful characters – Ralph Milne, Andy Goram, Steve Paterson and Chic Charnley – all weighing in this year.

If you are looking for that late Christmas present, here's a good place to start for anyone interested in sport. We've rated our selections in a top twenty.

1. Flawed Genius: Scottish Football's Self-Destructive Mavericks

By Stephen McGowan

Birlinn, 14.99

Jim Baxter, George Best and half a score more of the game's finest are celebrated in style by McGowan in the year's most engaging sports book. You will have heard some of the anecdotes before, but a lot of the information here is exposed to the light of day for the first time thanks to interviews with friends and former team-mates of the titular geniuses.

2. Rangers 1872 The Gallant Pioneers

By Gary Ralston

Breedon Books, 14.99

Want to know the truth about how Rangers started? Author Ralston turns sleuth to reveal the tale of the four youths from Gareloch who actually preferred rowing to football, but who can glory in the title of founding fathers of a club now woven into the fabric of Scottish society. The history has not always been faithfully recounted. Even their year of formation is up for debate, but Ralston tackles this among many other issues in a remarkably detailed study. But the very human stories shared by the pioneers of the book's title makes it romantic as well as robust.

3. A Game of Two Halves: The Autobiography

By Archie Macpherson

Black & White Publishing, 17.99

The second autobiography from the man whose commentary style is ill served by the clich used in the title of this memoir. An enjoyable reflection on life, love and the sheepskin coat, as well as such awkward moments as when our hero realises his star co-commentator – hello, Bryan Robson – does not want to speak even when spoken to. Macpherson also turns his eye on the current state of broadcasting and reveals more than just those socks we were treated to on the re-hashed Scotsport, as a cross-legged Archie tried to make the best of a bad idea.

4. Just For Kicks: The Autobiography

By Kenny Logan,

Headline Book Publishing, 18.99

Logan delves into his demons in a revealing autobiography, which revolves around miserable schooldays and a life in the spotlight where the familiar grin masked a belief that he was simply stupid. He speaks with typical candour about how he overcame daily problems to win games, medals and 70 caps for Scotland, and how his life changed on discovering he had dyslexia. It is a better read than the tabloid headlines suggested, with Logan's typical blunt honesty making it a refreshingly candid account of professional sport.

5. Chris Hoy: The Autobiography

By Chris Hoy

Harper Collins, 18.99

Or, as the subtitle states, "How I lived the dream and became Olympic champion". From his modest beginnings in Edinburgh to his triple triumph in Beijing, Hoy takes us through his remarkable career in some detail, and with more than a dash of his trademark dry wit.

6. Lion Man – The Autobiography

By Ian McGeechan

Simon & Schuster, 18.99

A long-awaited book chronicling more than 40 years in rugby charts McGeechan's Scottish roots and outlines his desire to prove himself among England's private school elite and go on to coach Scotland and the Lions to success. Scotland supporters will be keen to read McGeechan's account of the 1990 Grand Slam triumph, but there is little mention, far less insight, of his unsuccessful second period in charge at Murrayfield.

7. Shooting Star: The Colin Stein Story

By Colin Stein with Paul Smith

Birlinn, 16.99

Long-overdue biog of the rumbustious Ranger in which the old-school centre-forward you professed to hate but secretly wanted in your team re-lives his hat-tricks (a record four in one match for Scotland), league-winning goals, tragic goals (he netted immediately before the Ibrox disaster), immortal goals (Barcelona) . . . . and more than a few of those sendings-off.

8. Confessions of a Highland Hero

By Steve 'Pele' Paterson with Frank Gilfeather

Birlinn, 16.99

Like the teams Steve Paterson put on the park, his book is direct, colourful and entertaining. It goes two-footed into Paterson's twin demons of drinking and gambling, and doesn't shirk from the unpleasant or uncomfortable parts of his life. It's just a wonder he remembered them.

9. There is a Bonny Fitba Team: Fifty Years on the Hibee Highway

By Ted Brack

Black & White Publishing, 11.99

Many books end in tears: this excellent volume starts off like that, with the young author mourning Hibs' loss in the Scottish Cup final of 1958. From there, Brack embarks on an entertaining journey through the highs and lows of the ensuing half-century.

His wide-ranging account culminates chronologically with the CIS Cup victory of 2007, though the peak is represented by the "Turnbull's Tornadoes" team of the 1970s. You do not need to be a Hibs fan – though it possibly helps – to identify with Brack's unfulfilled dream of seeing his team win the Scottish Cup.

10. Dundee United The Official Centenary History

By Peter Rundo and Mike Watson

Birlinn, 25

A lavishly illustrated and meticulously researched account of the Tannadice club, this book also includes a substantial statistical section documenting the club's results, and a shorter chapter consisting of brief biographies of its managers. United's origins among the Irish community of Dundee allow the authors to recount some fascinating social history, while closer to the present day the club's improbable rise to prominence under Jim McLean is fondly recounted.

11. Pittodrie Idols: the Story of Aberdeen's Cult Heroes

By Paul Smith

Black & White Publishing, 9.99

As well as being a must for every Aberdeen fan, the 20 players who are featured in this book make it possible for the general fan to dip in and find something to spark the imagination. Some of the characters deserve more than the dozen pages allocated to each cult hero, and the author has done his job well when the reader is left keen to learn more.

But perhaps Smith is trying too hard to appeal to the current generation of Dons fans by including Zander Diamond in the company of true Aberdeen legends, when the accounts of the likes of the mystical Zoltan Varga, 'Two Ton' Don Emery, Derek 'Cup Tie' Mackay, Joe Harper and Doug Rougvie could be expanded to further enrich this very welcome chronicle of Pittodrie folklore.

Every club has its own collection of cult heroes; every club should have a book like this to celebrate them.

12. What's It All About Ralphie?

By Ralph Milne with Gary Robertson

Black & White Publishing, 14.99

An extravagantly gifted footballer, the former Dundee United player was also, as he freely admits here, keen on the odd spot of socialising. The result was a career which hit some high spots, such as his time at Manchester United, but was also marked by under-achievement.

The villain of the piece according to the author is Jim McLean, who, Milne believes to this day, treated him unfairly. It cannot be denied, however, that some of the player's happiest days came as part of the team built by the legendary manager. Still, the element of self-pity in the book, does not detract from the sheer joie de vivre of Milne's all-too-brief peak as an entertaining player.

13. The Goalie: My Story

By Andy Goram with Iain King

Mainstream Publishing, 16.99

It's not the first Goram autobiography. It's not even the second. Yes, folks, its the third installment of the goalkeeper's colourful career, and there could be six more to go before he runs out of lives.

Goram was referred to by some during his career as 'The Goalie', as if he was so exceptional there was no other player worthy of that basic description. Unfortunately, the misplaced accolade has been adopted as this book's title.

The content is ripe and rough. Craig Brown, who Goram was "indebted to" in Life 1, is slaughtered in Life 3. Maybe he'll be back in favour by Life 9.

14. The Quiet Assassin: The Davie Hay Story

By Davie Hay with Alex Gordon

Black & White Publishing, 17.99

One of the finest midfielders of his generation for Celtic, Chelsea and Scotland, Hay went on to hold a host of managerial posts at Parkhead and elsewhere. As the title suggests, Hay's achievements tend to be underestimated. This account should go at least some of the way to redressing that imbalance.

15. Seeing Red: The Chic Charnley Story

By Chic Charnley with Alex Gordon

Black & White Publishing, 14.99

Scottish football's bad boys seem to be all the rage on the bookshelves this year, with Chic Charnley picking a fine time to release his memoirs when most of his scrapes are played out in the pages of similar accounts by Andy Goram and Ralph Milne, and indeed in our top choice Flawed Genius. But none of those mentioned can boast of fighting off a samurai sword attack during a Partick Thistle training session in a public park.

Chic's story of how he blew his big chance with Celtic – he drove to Old Trafford rather than take the team bus – sums up a player who made too many mistakes in his career.

16. Scotland's Greatest Games

By David Potter

Know The Score Books, 14.99

From the first-ever international football match back in 1872 to that memorable victory in Paris a couple of years ago, this book recalls 50 of Scotland's finest outings. When it comes to some of the more recent selections the use of the word 'greatest' is debatable but the amount of detail offered about some of the earlier games makes this a valuable contribution to the literature on the Scottish national team.

17. The Official Rangers Hall of Fame

By Lindsay Herron

Hachette, 14.99

Not to be confused with the unofficial and far less authoritative Rangers Hall of Fame publication which also hit the shelves this year, this book is the ultimate nostalgia trip for fans of the Ibrox club. It details the careers of all 74 players, from Moses McNeil to Barry Ferguson, who have been inducted into the official Rangers Hall of Fame since its launch in 1999.

18. Aber's Gonnae Get Ye!

By Billy Abercromby and Fraser Kirkwood

Macdonald Media, 9.99

Winning the Scottish Cup with St Mirren in 1987 should have been a lifelong cause for celebration for Billy Abercromby, but instead it marked the beginning of a descent into alcoholism that came close to killing him two decades later. The former player recalls it all in this frank account of his life on and off the pitch.

19. Happy Birthday Dear Celtic

By Douglas Beattie

Vision Sports Publishing, 16.99

Most of us know what happened on the pitch during Celtic's centenary season, but Happy Birthday Dear Celtic offers behind-the-scenes anecdotes and captures the views of the men involved in the infamous Old Firm battles and Margaret Thatcher's controversial Scottish Cup final appearance. It also tells how the different characters in the dressing room bonded to win the double despite the fact Rangers and Graeme Souness were spending big across the city.

20. Celtic The Supersonic 70s

By Gerard McDade

Black and White Publishing, 9.99

The fatal flaw in a book which attempts to celebrate the style of the 1970s is the total lack of any photographic evidence of its subject over 262 pages, other than on the front cover. Where are the flares, the perms, the ties wider than the Clyde?

The author is described as a writer, broadcaster, producer, stand-up comedian and hairdresser from the west of Scotland who does not read reviews. Good job. His book just doesn't work.