The Accidental Footballer
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4.4 • 41 Ratings
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- £0.99
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- £0.99
Publisher Description
***
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'A heroic outsider - a pleasure to read.' - The Guardian
'A fulsome evocation of football before the Premier League.' - The i
'Such a good storyteller...joyous.' - Financial Times
'Honest, raw, revealing and very funny. How to live a life and career to the full. Insightful book about the most successful outsider inside football ever...' - Henry Winter, Chief Football Writer, The Times
'Pat is a wonderful one-off...and this is the story of why that is.' - John Murray, Chief Sports Correspondent, BBC Radio 5 Live
'Unusually vibrant and elegant with heroic doses of humour, insight and self-effacement, this is an absolute must-read for the football connoisseur.' - Omid Djalili
'The biggest influence of my professional career both on and off the pitch.' - Graeme Le Saux
'I grew up captivated by Pat Nevin the player. As a man he taught me even more about the beauty of the game. One of football's great mavericks, and Chelsea's greatest players. And he can spin a mean tune too.' - Sam Matterface
'I used to walk miles to see Pat Nevin play football and I'd do the same now to read his thoughts. Always challenging, always entertaining.' - Lord Sebastian Coe
'A refreshingly honest and thought-provoking autobiography. As deftly delivered as some of Pat's ball skills in his 1980's heyday.' - ToffeeWeb
Pat Nevin never wanted to be a professional footballer.
His future was clear, he'd become a teacher like his brothers. There was only one problem with this - Pat was far too good to avoid attention.
Raised in Glasgow's East End, Pat loved the game, playing for hours and obsessively following Celtic. But as he grew up, he also loved Joy Division, wearing his Indie 'gloom boom' coat and going on marches - hardly typical footballer behaviour!
Placed firmly in the 80s and 90s, before the advent of the Premier League, and often with racism and violence present, Pat Nevin writes with honesty, insight and wry humour. We are transported vividly to Chelsea and Everton, and colourfully diverted by John Peel, Morrissey and nights out at the Hacienda.
The Accidental Footballer is a different kind of football memoir. Capturing all the joys of professional football as well as its contradictions and conflicts, it's about being defined by your actions, not your job, and is the perfect reminder of how life can throw you the most extraordinary surprises, when you least expect it.
Customer Reviews
Don’t Normally Read Biography’s
But this was a good read which l suspect offers more than the usual footballer biography
Not one from the bottle!
This is a special autobiography. Indeed I would say it is the most enjoyable I have read (& they’ve been many).
For anyone who has heard Pat speak, he writes the same way. Articulate, self depreciating & with humour.
This book is highly recommended.
Thanks for Everything Pat!
Erudition is a scarce commodity in football but the mercurial Pat Nevin displays considerable verbal (and physical) dexterity in this fascinating autobiography. I saw Pat display his magical skills on those awful football pitches back in the 80’s and his brand of exuberant wing play was exciting and almost a throwback to an earlier age. Of course, Pat’s brilliant taste in music also endeared him to me and thousands of others who did not follow convention. So, a great read with just one minor complaint - the ending is a bit rushed and I would have liked to know more about his later years at Motherwell and some reflections on his media work. Still, well worth a read and here’s hoping for a second volume!