Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2796 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-24
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 432 pages

Synopsis
Paul McGrath is Ireland's best loved sportsman and also its least understood. An iconic football presence during a professional career stretching over 14 years, he played for his country in the European Championship finals of 1988 and the World Cup finals of 1990 and 1994. But, behind the implied glamour of life in the employ of great English clubs like Manchester United and Aston Villa, McGrath wrestled with a range of destructive emotions that made his success in the game little short of miraculous. That story has until now never been told. It is a story that runs from a hard, hidden childhood spent in Dublin's orphanages all the way to the pain of two marriage break-ups and the struggle to cope with life after football. Quite apart from his all too public struggle with alcoholism, the story runs through the surreal highs and calamitous lows of a life lived habitually on the edge of chaos. It is not just a football story. It is an extraordinary human story that is certain to surprise with its candour.

Here, for the first time, read about the father he never met; the mother whose love never died; the routine loneliness and ritual bullying endured by a black kid growing up behind closed doors in 1960s Dublin; the emotional breakdown suffered on leaving that institution; the recovery that - remarkably - brought him all the way to Old Trafford; the rollercoaster ride that followed. Here, the guilt, fear, self-loathing are all laid bare in a story fired with hope and determination for the future. It may well be the most candid sports book ever written.

From the Publisher
The autobiography of the greatest defender of the 1980s and 90s

From the Back Cover
PAUL MCGRATH is Ireland's best loved sportsman and also its least understood. An iconic football presence during a professional career stretching over 14 years, he played for his country in the European Championship finals of 1988 and the World Cup finals of 1990 and 1994. But, behind the implied glamour of life in the employ of great English clubs like Manchester United and Aston Villa, McGrath wrestled with a range of destructive emotions that made his success in the game little short of miraculous.

That story has until now never been told. It is a story that runs from a hard, hidden childhood spent in Dublin's orphanages all the way to the pain of two marriage break-ups, his all-too public struggle with alcoholism, and the surreal highs and calamitous lows of a life lived habitually on the edge of chaos.

It is not just a football story. It is an extraordinary human story.

"Laceratingly honest...remarkably unflinching" Mail on Sunday

"Gripping [and] unflinching... His story is as complex as it is moving, as vulnerable as it is brutal" Guardian

"An extraordinary book" Irish Independent

"Fascinating reading" Evening Standard

Customer Reviews

A totally honest account of a very sad life.
This is a totally honest account of the life of Paul McGrath. The book will bring the reader to tears on many occassions. You don't need to be a football fan to be moved by this book. A great read.

Sad, fascinating, honest. No major interest in Football required.
Paul McGrath certainly doesn't epitomise normality. A black person growing up in 1960's Dublin. An orphan, abandoned by his Mother. A world class athlete. A Catholic then a Protestant then a Catholic again. A national hero. A categorical and unequivocal alcoholic. Doesn't sound normal, does it? This book is the very candid story about these unique characteristics weaving together to create a very unique life. Paul McGrath's life.

I was a passionate soccer fan in my youth. Like many other young Dublin lads, it was play soccer, watch soccer, live soccer. Now I have just grown out of it all. Too many egos, too much money, not enough passion. It's just not the same as old days. So, I approached this book, expecting reminiscences of the good old Soccer before Mr. Murdock ruined it all!

But this book is much much more than Soccer. In fact, you would not even have to know what offside is to enjoy it. It's a most lucid, honest, genuine revelation into the very deep and dark side of McGrath's life. His melachonic childhood is told in such apprehensible detail, it would send a shiver down your spine and bring a tear to your eye at the same time. His adulthood is a deleterious lifestyle riddled with mistakes, regret and shame. It's plagued with endless drunken stupors. At a superficial level, he's famous, a fantastic soccer player, but a book that navigates his mind shows that soccer at times seams no more than a temporary escapism from very serious addiction and personal problems.

There is a striking and unique dichotomy in McGrath's story. He had crippling pain due to cartilage problems in his knees. But while he was able to overcome this and play professional Football at the highest level, he cannot overcome his emotional problems and deal with his alcohol addition.

This provokes two very interesting points:
1. This genius is flawed. On the pitch he is a world class soccer player, but off it, he's a fallable human being who cannot cope with reality. Is this part of his appeal? Like Alex Ferguson said, perhaps he is like
George Best in this regard. A hero with flaws.
2. How can he have so much inner strength that he can overcome pain which would make most players hang up their boots, but not be able to come even close to dealing with pyschological problems that are ruining his life?

The writing style is clear, honest and with a few minor exceptions, the book follows a chronological order. Along the way there are snippets and opinions from the key people in Paul's life. His mother, his best mates,
former managers, and host of others each add their two pence worth. This range of opinions gives book a very objective characteristic and a credibility which can only really engage a reader.

Before reading this book, I had one very obvious question about Paul McGrath:
What kind of soccer player would he have been if his knees held up?

After reading this book, and a close up view of Paul's perspective, I had two far more pertinent questions:

Can his childhood but blamed for the problems in his adulthood?
What kind of man would he have been if he was not an addict?

Not a typical autobiography,
Let me start by saying that I'm a huge fan of Paul's and believe that he was a great footballer and is a gem of a person. However I have lost a lot of sympathy for Paul after this book. Most autobiographies make me like and understand the author more but this one just bewilders me. Believe me he had it rough in the early days as the book describes in detail but Paul has had so many breaks, so many chances and so much love that in the end you don't feel sorry for him but angry at him. I wish him all the best with his demons.