Fifty Defining Fixtures – serie

SIR ALEX FERGUSON is one of the most admired and respected managers in the history of the beautiful game. Sir Alex Ferguson: Fifty Defining Fixtures presents a completely new perspective on the longest-serving manager of Manchester United. Covering his complete career as a player and a manager, this book highlights the games that projected the boy from the Glasgow district of Govan to the worldwide phenomenon that was Manchester United. From his Scottish Football League debut with the amateurs of Queens Park at Stranraer to his final game as manager of Manchester United at West Bromwich Albion, this fascinating book recaptures the many highs, and also a few lows, of a memorable and trophy-strewn career. It is the Sir Alex Ferguson story with a difference: fifty fixtures that defined the career of an ordinary footballer, who went on to become the most successful British manager ever.

Few, if any, who have pulled on the red jersey of Manchester United can have made a greater impact to the club’s glorious history than the boy from the Cregagh estate in East Belfast. Best brought joy and tears – often in equal measures during the final days of his Old Trafford career – to those who sang his praises from the sprawling terraces, or who worshipped from afar. His talents were numerous, blessed with a brilliance that left defenders a quivering wreck and the crowds who flocked to see him singing his name in unison. He was the epitome of the ‘swinging sixties’ both on and off the pitch. A player who could do things with a ball that most could only dream of. A player whose moments of individual brilliance helped Manchester United to glory time and time again.There have been many books on the ‘Belfast Boy’ – too many some might say – but while telling the story of the player who many believe to have been the ‘best ever’, they have merely skirted round many of the games when he laced up his boots, pulled on the jersey, and went out and caused havoc in opposition defences. He brought delight to the thousands who stood in awe. Here, however, within the pages of this volume, those games come to life; his bewitching skills come under the microscope as Iain McCartney selects fifty defining fixtures from the career of the footballing legend that was George Best.

Fifty matches that shaped the career of one of football’s greatest entertainers...Thierry Henry has come a long way since he was first spotted playing for local sides in the Paris suburb of Les Ulis where he grew up. Via Monaco, Turin, London, Barcelona and New York, he has reached the very pinnacle of his sport, winning every major trophy at both club and international level along with a glittering array of personal accolades. That rare combination of a great goalscorer and a scorer of great goals, Henry has enthralled football fans everywhere with his mesmeric talent during a twenty-plus-year career.This book is a celebration of fifty individual games, chosen by the author, that helped make his career so special.

Fifty matches that shaped the career of one of football’s greatest managers...JOSÉ MOURINHO is regarded by some to be the world’s best manager and one of the greatest of all time. Starting out as a player in the Portuguese Second Division, he later impressed with successful managerial periods at Benfica and Uniao de Leiria. As head coach to Porto, he won the Primeira Liga, Taca de Portugal and UEFA Cup in 2003. Moving to Chelsea the following year, they won the Premier League title with a record 95 points and the League Cup in his first season. In 2013, after several years with Serie A club Internazionale, Mourinho returned to Chelsea, taking the club to third in the Premier League in season 2013/14.

Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English footballer who plays for and captains Premier League club Liverpool. He has played much of his career in a centre midfield role, but also as a second striker, holding midfielder, right-back and right-winger. Gerrard, who has spent his entire career at Anfield, made his debut in 1998 and cemented his place in the first team in 2000, succeeding Sami Hyypiä as team captain in 2003. His honours include two FA Cups, three League Cups, two Community Shields, one Champions League, one UEFA Cup, and two Super Cups.On 21 July 2014, Gerrard announced his retirement from international football. With 114 caps for England he is the third most capped player ever, after Peter Shilton (125) and David Beckham (115). Tracing Gerrard’s most notable fixtures, Tony Matthews outlines why Steven Gerrard deserves to be recognised as a legend of the game.

Hour after hour of practice in the park close to his East London home set David Beckham on the road to becoming one of the world’s best-known sportsmen. An integral part of Manchester United’s Class of ’92 and Treble-winning team of 1999, he reluctantly left the club for Real Madrid after falling out with manager Sir Alex Ferguson, then played for LA Galaxy, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain. Twice runner-up as World Player of the Year, he is the only Englishman to win the league title in four different countries.In David Beckham: Fifty Defining Fixtures, journalist Steve Tongue traces the key matches for club and country among the highs and lows of Beckham’s extraordinary career. Former England manager Steve McClaren contributes a foreword defining his qualities as a player and a person.

Ryan Joseph Giggs OBE (born 29 November 1973) is a former Welsh football player who played most notably for Manchester United and the Welsh national team. He debuted at Manchester United in 1991 and played predominantly as a left-winger but in his later years as a central midfielder. He also captained the Great Britain team in the 2012 London Olympics. He is the most decorated player in football history with among other honours thirteen Premier League winner’s medals, four FA Cup winner’s medals and two Champions League winner’s medals.He retired from football in 2014 with 931 games at United under his belt and 64 caps for Wales. He is currently assistant manager at Manchester United and co-owner of Salford City. Delving into Giggs’ most notable fixtures, Tony Matthews outlines what games defined Ryan Giggs’ career and what made him one of the most recognised players of his generation.

Alan Shearer OBE (born 13 August 1970) is an English footballer whose prowess saw him score a hat-trick in his professional debut in 1988 while playing for Southhampton. Leaving Southhampton in 1992, Shearer went on to play as a striker for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United, where he stayed until the end of his career in 2006. Widely regarded as one of the world’s best strikers, his goalscoring talent saw him bcome both Newcastle’s and the Premier League’s top goalscorer in the 1995/96 season.During his career as a player, he captained England in 1996 and Newcastle from 1999 and scored a massive 283 league goals, of which 260 were in the Premier League, and a recored eleven Premier League hat-tricks. Named Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year in 1994 and the PFA Player of the Year in 1995, Shearer is one of the greatest footballers England has produced. In Alan Shearer: Fifty Defining Fixtures, Tony Mathews oulines why Alan Shearer deserves to be recognised as a legend of the beautiful game.

William John ‘Billy’ Bremner is one of the true greats of British football. He captained Don Revie’s Leeds United during the late 1960s and early ’70s – the most successful period in their history – and went on to make 587 appearances for the club, as well as winning over fifty caps for his native Scotland.The diminutive Bremner was the archetypal midfield general, renowned for his tenacity and tough tackling but also an astute and intelligent user of the ball, characteristics that helped guide Leeds United to two First Division titles, a Second Division title, the Inter-City Fairs Cup, FA Cup and a European Cup Final in 1975, which they lost to Bayern Munich. In Billy Bremner: Fifty Defining Fixtures, passionate Leeds fan Dave Tomlinson takes a look at Bremner’s career and remembers the games that defined Leeds United’s greatest ever player.