Book Review on Saintsforever.com

Book Review :: One-Man Team: The Matt Le Tissier Story , by Lloyd Pettiford. Ardra Press. £8.95. ISBN 0-9548678-2-3. 159 pages. Buy Online by clicking here
All royalties from the sale of the book will go to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
Review by David Humphreys
It was the Monday after the final game of the season way back in the mid-90s. Once again Saints had escaped relegation, this time by the skin of our teeth, on goal difference at the expense of Manchester City , then managed by a certain Alan “I want to manage a big club” Ball. I was attending Nottingham Trent University on business, and with a colleague had wandered into a lecture. “There’s a student on the stage wearing a Saints shirt”, I remarked. Back came the reply: “That’s no student. That’s Lloyd Pettiford, and he’s a lecturer in international politics”. At this moment Lloyd stepped forward and declared to the assembled students “Welcome to the Alan Ball Memorial Lecture”. The football fans in the audience chuckled, while the rest looked puzzled. Something told me I was going to get on with this guy.
Lloyd is a diehard Saints fan, and in particular a diehard Matt Le Tissier fan. No longer a mere lecturer, he is now Dean of Arts, Communication and Culture at Nottingham Trent University , but he hasn’t allowed that to distract him from the important things in life. He has written a highly entertaining and informative biography of Saints’ perennial struggles against relegation in the 1990s, and of how time and time again one man saved us. The book is a fan’s eye view, with Lloyd sharing with us his own highs and lows as he follows the Saints, and in particular his idol Le Tissier. He informs us that in 1996 when England played Brazil a banner in the Brazilian section of the ground declared “ Brazil would pick Le Tiss”, before confessing that he wrote the banner. His spare room at home is a shrine to Matty. (I can vouch for that, because I’ve slept there. I thought I was in heaven when I woke up!) He shamelessly tells us how he embarrassed himself, and those with him, by sinking to his knees in a pub and bashing the table with both fists, screaming “yes, yes” after Matty scored a sublime goal against Villa during a Sky game. And when Le God scored a hat trick against Norwich , Lloyd used the match commentary of the third goal on his answer-phone: “Please leave your message after the goal”.
Like Nick Hornby’s classic book Fever Pitch about life as an Arsenal fan, One-man Team is a book that will appeal to anyone who loves football. The enthusiasm, commitment and obsession that shines through in page after page will be familiar to supporters of all clubs. Well, on second thoughts perhaps fans of one team should body swerve it. Pompey fans: don’t buy this book. Remember, you can’t read, and if you could it would only remind you of what you’ve missed.
Written in a racey and lively style, the book is enjoyable from start to finish. This is more than can be said for Lloyd’s other books on environmental politics, terrorism and web-based teaching. But then none of these books included a chapter titled “English Football’s Top Ten Goals Ever”. Not surprisingly, every one of them was scored by Matt.
Great effort Lloyd. And yes, I also enjoyed the Alan Ball Memorial Lecture.

Update on Sales

Lloyd Pettiford's tribute to his footballing hero has registered brisk sales since its publication 2 weeks ago, with copies dispatched to places as far apart as Southampton and New Zealand. We've even sold a few copies in Portsmouth! Our apologies to anyone affected by the database glitch we suffered over Easter - all orders have now been dispatched.
Lloyd's royalties from the book will be donated to children's charities, and we are delighted to announce that the sum of £144.99 has already been raised for this purpose. Many thanks to everyone who has bought the book - your support is greatly appreciated.
The book is now available at Ottakar's in Eastleigh. Watch this space for details of further outlets stocking the book.
Fingers crossed and best wishes to all Saints fans in the battle against the drop.

http://www.ardrapress.co.uk/news.php?uid=7&PHPSESSID=c0e42caa25cc5af700209bfcf2747e3e

The Book Made Me Cry

At times I found this book so funny that I cried.

It may look like a book about football, but it is really a book about a boy growing up to be an even bigger boy. Each of Mr Le Tissiers goals is recorded in the context of the amount of alcohol the author had been drinking (usually quite alot).

Anyway if like me you were of the opinion that only you could get "that pissed" and "make a total arse of yourself" this book shows that there is at least one other person out there.

If you like all of the following I suggest it is worth a read :-

• Drinking
• Football
• Girls (who like football and drinking)

It is available here (http://www.ardrapress.co.uk/store.php) and some the cash goes to the NSPCC.

Any other comments ?