Football - It's A Minging Life!

Rick Holden and the story of his 'minging' life is not just a tale about football life, but more a tale of life and football. During his classical rugby-playing grammar school education, he was constantly told that he had left it too late to make it in professional football, but he had belief in his own abilities. He overcame those obstacles and life's problems, and he did it with a smile on his face. Rick’s rise from the Fourth Division with Halifax to playing in the First Division the following week with Watford was meteoric. His autobiography begins at Burnley and covers his moves to Oldham Athletic, Manchester City, Blackpool and finally Peel AFC on the Isle of Man. It tells of the problems he met and how he surmounted them all with his sense of humour, a trait that did not always meet with the approval he anticipated.

The managers and coaches that Rick worked under are Mick Jones, Billy Ayre, Steve Harrison, Joe Royle, Willie Donachie, Peter Reid, Brian Horton, Dave Moss, Graeme Sharpe, Sam Allardyce and Paul Hart. He also worked as physiotherapist and assistant manager to his great friend, Andy Ritchie, when he was at Barnsley. The book is filled with hilarious stories of the antics that Rick got up to at his various clubs and explains in detail, sometimes too graphically, some of the tricks that he played on his teammates and how he tried to live his life around the distractions that football imposed. Rick is a survivor and never gives up, and his autobiography conveys the message to aspiring athletes that if you persevere you will succeed. This book is about his life and not just an episodic detail about football players and games. Rick talks honestly and controversially, and this book is a must read.