A heartwarming footballing memoir by Roy Race and Giles Smith that has it all – kidnaps, helicopter crashes, gun-toting referees
There has never been a footballer like him; and it is almost certain there never will be. Captain then player-manager of Melchester Rovers from 1954 until a 1993 helicopter crash claimed his famous left foot, Roy scored 481 goals, contributed towards nine league titles, eight FA Cup victories and three European Cup wins. It’s an improbably long career, but then Roy was an improbable player: teetotal, honourable, fair and respectful of authority.
This is a remarkable book. Sporting autobiographies are normally repositories for long-standing grudges. Here we encounter the beautiful game at the peak of its beauty and innocence: when players arrived at the ground by bicycle; when youngsters on trial were happy to regrout the dressing room shower tiles, or polish the manager’s Morris Oxford; when a striker could light up a fag after scoring a goal and finish it by the time he had walked back to the centre spot, without an outcry from some busybody from health and safety.
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