Books
This is the Best Trip
Chasing the Tangerine Dream…
by Ian Chisnall – with a foreword and afterword by Ian Holloway
It took all of a week for the implications of Blackpool’s Wembley success to sink in – so it was in early June 2010 that reality struck.
The club with the smallest resources in Premier League history would be asked to compete with some of the world’s richest and most famous football clubs. That reality became stark when the fixtures were released, listing the first four away games as Arsenal, Newcastle, Chelsea and Liverpool. However you looked at it, the campaign ahead was sure to be unforgettable.
BBC Radio Lancashire sports broadcaster Ian Chisnall was determined that a record of the journey should be made. After hours of documenting the details week by week this, The Best Trip, is his take.
From being top of the Premier League until 7.30pm on the opening day, through to the nerve jangling ‘Survival Sunday’ at the end of May, this book chronicles the highs and lows of a truly exceptional campaign. It includes quotes from the broadcastable post-match interviews with inimitable Tangerine’s manager Ian Holloway and many of the clips that could never have made it to the airwaves.
There’s the inside track on the transfer window drama and a whole range of emotions as the season sparked and then stumbled. Find out what the gaffer really said to Prince William, who sent the club a letter after enjoying his visit to the match against Wolves.
The Best Trip is a unique account of a remarkable season.
Another Spot On My Bum
by Gez Walsh
Parents and teachers of the world beware! Gez Walsh – the ‘Rude Dude’ poet – is back!
Psst! It’s me, Gez! I have been in hiding for many years in a rainforest by the sea, in a penthouse bungalow in Batley.
Those intrepid explores from Scratching Shed found me bronzing my lean godlike body in front of a nuclear power plant. All that radiation and I’m still not a superhero.
They wanted me to return and annoy the teachers and parents of the world with my in-depth poems about the things that matter most: spots, farts and burps.
At first I refused the riches and wealth they offered, but I finally broke when they offered me a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich. There’s only so much a man can take.
So here it is, the poetry book I said I would never write. It’s full of poems - many of which you may have read in the hugely successful Potty Poet series, plus lots of new ones that only the people who live here in my little cell with its lovely padding have read (just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there).
If you really want to know what it’s like to have a spot on your bum or get your willy caught in your zip then read this book. It doesn’t contain any answers to life’s embarrassing problems but it does let us laugh at the misfortune of others.
From Hull to Hell and back...
The autobiography of Lee Crooks; with Vince Groak
With a foreword by Peter Sterling
The most candid rugby league book of the year!
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When he broke dramatically onto the senior rugby league scene with his beloved Hull as a gifted teenager, prop Lee Crooks was an archetypal blood and guts heart-on-his-sleeve firebrand front-rower, adored by the Boulevard faithful.
From Hull to Hell and back… tells of all this and more. By turns confessional and controversial, moving and hilarious, this is the colourful story of a modern-day rugby league maverick. Think you know Lee Crooks? Think again!
A Cup winner and distinguished 19-Test international – best remembered for his nerveless last-gasp penalty from the sidelines to save a series against the Kiwis in 1985 - Lee Crooks then became the most expensive rugby league player in the world when signing for Leeds, against his wishes, as Hull hit hard times.
A subsequent move to Castleford rekindled an always lively playing career prior to coaching spells with Keighley and York before, unthinkably, he crossed the city of his birth and joined the staff at Hull KR.
From Hull to Hell and back... tells of all this and more. By turns confessional and controversial, moving and hilarious, this is the colourful story of a modern-day rugby league maverick. Think you know Lee Crooks? Think again!
A Lawyer for All Seasons
By Ronnie Teeman
Ronnie Teeman, the longest-serving solicitor in Leeds, has represented or been involved with some of the highest profile sportsmen in the United Kingdom.
A Lawyer for all Seasons is his long-anticipated memoir. It tells the fascinating story of a man who achieved national and international renown, especially in the world of sport, by representing a string of household names.
A Lawyer for all Seasons offers an inside view of astonishing and dramatic events, not least John Giles’ successful suing for his portrayal in the book The Damned Utd. An entertaining and informative read? Guilty!
Teeman also has a high profile in Europe, where his deep knowledge of EEC law enabled him to negotiate deals with Italian football clubs for the likes of Liam Brady and Joe Jordan.
In the UK he was involved in famous court cases like the Billy Bremner libel suit against the Sunday People which resulted in record libel damages; a plot to kill President Nkrumah of Ghana; and the Leeds police trial surrounding the alleged killing of David Oluwale which, 30 years after the event, continues to haunt those involved.
Teeman is also a former President of the Rugby Football League with a wealth of rugby league-related anecdotes to share. Do not miss this riveting read.
York's Great Races
By Steve Carroll
York’s Great Races is a spellbinding history of York’s magnificent racecourse, focusing on the big meetings, the top horses and best-known personalities. The book takes the pretext of a season at York’s world famous Knavesmire course, charting the early days and defining events around the venue’s great races; the Dante Stakes, Musidora Stakes, Yorkshire Cup, Magnet/John Smith’s Cup, Benson & Hedges/International Stakes, Yorkshire Oaks, Nunthorpe Stakes, Gimcrack Stakes, Great Voltigeur Stakes, Lonsdale Cup, Ebor Handicap.
Along with this, it covers Royal Ascot at York and the St Leger at York 1945 and 2006. Also examined are track and stand developments through the years and a look forward to what the future may have in store. The book is lavishly illustrated with pictures from York Racecourse and the archives of The Press and Yorkshire Evening Press. York’s Great Races offers a unique focus on the horses who have ensured York's place in turf history and reputation at the centre of the sport of kings.
Paperback, 256 pages.