JOE JORDAN & ALAN BALL autobiographies

ALAN BALL ‘Playing Extra Time’ & JOE JORDAN ‘Behind The Dream’

Two recently published in paperback football autobiographies that are both very readable and a cut above the usual ‘ghost written’ books that are very tedious to read. Alan Ball was a World Cup hero of 1966 and my interest lies in his time as Stoke’s manager and boy does he lay into the Stoke board and fans! I remember travelling back from an away defeat (West Brom I think) and fair play to the man he came on the supporters’ coaches and listened to the fans concerns/rants/abuse. Alan Ball does take a pop a few players and clubs plus reveals some of his personal life where he lost his wife to cancer and his daughter is battling against it now.

Joe Jordan like Alan Ball suffered heavily in his personal life losing his brother. On the field I remember him from his 1978 World Cup exploits (as an eight year old I had to go to bed as the games were on late UK time and my dad left a note for me when I woke up of the all important Holland score) through to his days at Man Utd and Leeds Utd. Again he managed Stoke for a brief time and as an assistant to fellow Scot Lou Macari (one of Stoke’s best managers in the past twenty years). Very short book, just over 200 pages and not bad but I would have liked more on his current past and the Scotland playing days.

For football fans both are well rounded and readable books.