| Paddy Crerand's
eagerly-awaited autobiography recounts the
previously untold story of one of post-war
football's fieriest characters. As a defensive
midfielder, famed for his tough tackling, for
Scotland, Celtic and Manchester United from 1957
to 1972, he was the Roy Keane of his day and this
book holds nothing back on or off the field.
Paddy Crerand's eagerly-awaited autobiography
recounts the previously untold story of one of
post-war football's fieriest characters. As a
defensive midfielder, famed for his tough
tackling, for Scotland, Celtic and Manchester
United from 1957 to 1972, he was the Roy Keane of
his day and this book holds nothing back on or off
the field. As a Catholic born in the then infamous
Gorbals area of Glasgow, Crerand was determined to
escape from an extraordinarily tough background of
family tragedy, religious bigotry and working in
the Clyde shipyard, to become a professional
footballer. As a Celtic player in the early years
of Jock Stein's management, Paddy Crerand was
forced to play in the shadow of the then dominant
Rangers team. At Manchester United, however, he
enjoyed great success in Sir Matt Busby's
post-Munich Air Disaster team, winning two league
titles, the FA Cup and the European Cup, and
playing alongside the likes of George Best, Bobby
Charlton, Denis Law and Nobby Stiles.In his own
distinctively punchy style, Crerand reveals the
full truth about his controversial friendship with
the hard-drinking Protestant Rangers star 'Slim'
Jim Baxter and the legendary Liverpool manager
Bill Shankly; what it was like to be George Best's
minder and Matt Busby's confidant; and his
passionate involvement in Irish nationalist
politics. Crerand's life story is a genuine
triumph over adversity told by someone whose
informed opinion on Manchester United and football
in general is as respected today as it was forty
years ago.
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