My Father and Other Working Class Football Heroes

This is an eye-opening view of sport seen through the eyes of a brilliant writer in Gary Imlach. Here Gary Imlach the son, seeks for Stewart Imlach the father and professional footballer. Not only does he understand his father more, but he also begins to understand the nature of the changes in football from a working-class game to one driven mainly by money. Some of the well-researched examples are not only eye-opening but jaw-dropping, particularly those related to the Scottish Football Team, to managers and management, and those related to pay and conditions.Not only does Gary Imlach expose such examples, but he writes of them passionately and with such language as to bring them right off the page.Imlach now is the face of TV presenting for the Tour de France where his sharp wit and perception can be heard daily. In this book those attributes can be found on every page. One reviewer wrote that this book should be "mandatory reading for every Premiership star". It should be, but all football lovers will also find it will enlighten them about where the game came from and perhaps also about some of its vices and virtues.

This is the best football book I've ever read, but it's so much more than that. Beautiful written, this moving account not only recreates a lost world when footballers were part of the community and travelled to the home match by public bus and then walked to the players' entrance ; it also details a man's search for the father he had never really learned about while he was alive. In the first chapter, looking at a photo of the Forest team of 1959, including his father Stewart, lining up to receive the Cup from the Queen, Gary Imach asks "What had that moment been like for him ? Why didn't I know ? Why had I never asked him this simple question ? How had I managed to let him die without properly gathering together the details of his career, his life story ?" Many adults whose fathers are now dead will share these questions and emotions, but few if any will go on to recreate their father's life and times as impressively as Imalach does. A brilliant account of football in the 50s and 60s, when players didn't own flash houses and cars, and were enslaved to clubs by their one-sided contracts ; and a most moving family story. If I could give 6 stars I would !

Bit of a slow starter but ended up really enjoying this. A different era where the clubs had all the power and the Scottish FA were tighter than a ........

A fantastic piece of history that highlighted how footballers were treated before The Premier League and the admiration the author has for his father's involvement with football and as a man

A different approach than normal in examining the history of a football player - really a social economic history which combines insights into the culture of the time in the treatment of players by management, the expectations of people coming into football from a 'working class' background which crudely speaking meant they were wide open to be exploited - the 'human' element was present in the insight the book gave on not only the life of the player but the way the it affected the life styleThe written style is great and the honestly of opinions based on practical experiences of the author on what it was like to grow up in the family of a prominent football very revealingI honestly would recommend this book to any person interested in football from all its aspects - it is certainly not the highly vetted and tabloid book which is just trying to make money from gullible peopleExcellent - thank the author if you ever have a chance

This book charts the story of Stuart Imlach through his career through the 1960s and 1970s through the eyes of his son, Gary.I found the history of how footballers were treated in those days incredible! Brown paper bags, houses for free (until you became surplus to requirement) and the liberties taken by the owners incredible.It's a different world, both socially and commercially - the tale of the FA Cup be bought home just wouldn't happen in todays world.It's a fascinating insight in the 'old' world of professional football and how footballers were worshiped and taken advantage of all a the same time.Buy it and enjoy it.

The book is a well written account of the author's father and events in his life. His father was Stewart Imlach, one of Forest's FA Cup winning team of 1959.

lovely book

Great read

I really love this book and it is my best friend. I enjoyed this book and you have to buy this book this is the best book in all the planets

Really really good book. A slow burner that provides a background into the author's dad, that his dad was never able to articulate to him. Also an excellent history into the financial restrictions of being a footballer in the late 1950s. Highly recommended.

Very well written and a terrific insight into what used to be a working class game, a far cry from modern days. For anyone who loves the game and is truly interested in its history this is definitely a must read.

It arrives on time and in a great condition. No complaints, just what I expected.Great book about football, nice