Few footballers have 'Jailhouse Rock' played over the PA when the make their professional debut, but that's what happened to Jamie Lawrence when he came on as a substitute for Sunderland against Middlesbrough in 1993. In a life that has seen him go from prison to the football premiership, Jamie has one hell of a story to tell.In a career that has lasted over 12 years, Jamie Lawrence has played in the Premiership against some of the world's best players, including David Beckham. He has won the Liverpool Cup with Leicester and has played for Jamaica I World Cup qualifiers. But his route into football's elite was far from conventional, for Jamie spent his late teens in Borstal.Jamie's skill for football emerged at the age of three, but although he played for local teams in Battersea as a schoolboy, he wasn't scouted by a prefoessional club. When his parents returned to Jamaica when he was 17, Jamie fell into a life of petty crime. It was during his second spell in prison, at Camp Hill on the Isle of Wight, that he began to turn his life around. He joined the prison football team and his talent was spotted when they played a semi-professional team. Three months after his release from prison in 1993, Jamie was signed by Sunderland.Jamie's character, which is as colourful as his ever-changing hair styles, has endeared him to everyone he meets. Fans, managers, team-mates, opponents, friends and ex-lovers all tell tales of his various escapades, including his legendary capacity for consuming Guinness and his numerous sexual adventures. And Jamie reveals how he has matured to the point that he is now in a settled relationship and is taking responsibility for his children.This biography of a hilarious insight into one of football's greatest characters.

He was one of the hardest, most controversial footballers of his generation: the £20million man who became the first professional player to go to jail for an offence committed on the field of play. He was the fans’ hero who disappeared. Duncan Ferguson was an old-fashioned Scottish centre-forward who went from a boarding house in Dundee to the marble staircase of Rangers in a record-breaking transfer. His £4m move from Dundee United to Ibrox made him British football’s most expensive native player. But he would also become one of the most notorious footballers in the land. Sent to prison after head-butting an opponent during a Scottish Premier Division match between Rangers and Raith Rovers, Ferguson made history all over again. He served half of a three-month sentence in Glasgow’s infamous Barlinnie Prison. A twelve-match ban from the Scottish Football Association was later overturned following a long appeal process. Bruised by the experience, he turned his back on Scotland’s national team and the media. Ferguson reaped the riches of the Sky era. He was a folk hero at Everton, where he spent ten years either side of an injury-hit spell at Newcastle United. Although the game made him a millionaire, he rejected its new culture of celebrity and remained a fiery figure, racking up a Premiership record of eight red cards. And then, after scoring in the final minute of the last game of his career, he turned his back on football completely – or so it seemed.

A long-term study providing rare insights into the precarious career and ordinary working culture of professional footballers. Away from the celebrity-obsessed media gaze, the work of a professional footballer is rarely glamorous and for most players a career in football is insecure and short-lived. A former professional, Martin Roderick’s familiarity with the world of football is the foundation for this privileged research into a world that is typically closed to the public gaze and ignored by media reportage and academic research which prefers to focus on a small, unrepresentative group of elite players. Key themes explored within the text include: the culture of work in professional football the changing identity, orientation and expectations of players during their careers the fragile and uncertain nature of professional sport careers the performance and dramatic aspects of a career under public scrutiny the role of relationships with managers, owners, support staff and partners players' responses to the insecurities inherent in professional football such as injury, ageing, performance and transfer. The text deals with a wide range of issues of interest to sports students and academics, particularly those with a focus on the sociology of sport but also including sport development, sport management and coaching studies. The text will also be of interest to researchers in the fields of careers, industrial relations and the sociology of work.

Downloaded over ten million times a year the Football Ramble podcast has established itself as the essential, independent voice of football punditry. The weekly podcast has resonated with supporters around the world and their sold-out live shows have been a massive hit. This book is a collaboration from all four presenters and will tackle the real issues from fans you won’t see or hear on Sky Sports, or anywhere else for that matter. From the weird and wonderful, from the Alan Pardew to the Kevin Keegan, the Ramble has it covered. Putting all aspects of the game under the microscope, this book is a timely reminder of why we just can’t take our minds off football.

The definitive award-winning biography of Cristiano Ronaldo - fully updated to include the 2022 World Cup, Ronaldo's explosive exit from Manchester United and his record-breaking transfer to Al-Nassr As the Qatar World Cup opened to worldwide jubilation, Cristiano Ronaldo's second spell at Manchester United reached an abrupt conclusion. It was not to be the fairy tale ending to a glittering career. Instead, over the two seasons, it had snowballed into a toxic standoff between himself, the board and newly appointed manager, Erik ten Hag. The Theatre's dream was over. On 22 November 2022, Ronaldo's contract was terminated. In this compelling account, Guillem Balagué draws on impeccable sources, first-hand interviews and unprecedented access, taking us on a journey from Madeira to Manchester, and onto Spain, Italy and Saudi Arabia. From Ronaldo's tutelage under Sir Alex Ferguson to becoming the biggest galáctico of them all at Real Madrid, and captaining Portugal to the first silverware in their history at the UEFA Euro 2016, Guillem chronicles Ronaldo's career in its entirety. This is nothing less than the definitive portrait of a true icon of modern football, who has reached the very heights of the beautiful game and cemented his place as one of the greatest players of all time.

True crime stories provide the foundation of this prison memoir. Bill Dyer was robbed and shot at an ATM. In Doing Time with God, you go into prison with him and other victims of violence to meet with convicted felons who will be facing their worst and greatest realizations, before they are released. Nothing is predictable when victims and offenders come together and share their stories of the true crimes that have devastated their lives...and reshaped them. Victim-survivors remember their losses and feel their pain; Offenders come face-to-face with the hurt they have caused, and open wounds from their own past. Walls of defensiveness and fear are knocked down by empathy and compassion, vulnerability and tears. Raw emotions flow. The way to peace is often intense, turbulent, and heartbreaking. Even when it's not pretty, the journey is beautiful in its honesty... miraculous in the way it unfolds...divine in how it transforms lives. This Amazing Process Opens the Heart, Touches the Soul, and Renews the Mind

An essential resource for former convicts and their families post-incarceration. The United States has the largest criminal justice system in the world, with currently over 7 million adults and juveniles in jail, prison, or community custody. Because they spend enough time in prison to disrupt their connections to their families and their communities, they are not prepared for the difficult and often life-threatening process of reentry. As a result, the percentage of these people who return to a life of crime and additional prison time escalates each year. Beyond Bars is the most current, practical, and comprehensive guide for ex-convicts and their families about managing a successful reentry into the community and includes: • Tips on how to prepare for release while still in prison • Ways to deal with family members, especially spouses and children • Finding a job • Money issues such as budgets, bank accounts, taxes, and debt • Avoiding drugs and other illicit activities • Free resources to rely on for support

Best ways to avoid being beaten, sexually abused, or getting killed; US origin.

Robin Friday was an exceptional footballer who should have played for England. He never did. Robin Friday was a brilliant player who could have played in the top flight. He never did. Why? Because Robin Friday was a man who would not bow down to anyone, who refused to take life seriously and who lived every moment as if it were his last. For anyone lucky enough to have seen him play, Robin Friday was up there with the greats. Take it from one who knows: 'There is no doubt in my mind that if someone had taken a chance on him he would have set the top division alight,' says the legendary Stan Bowles. 'He could have gone right to the top, but he just went off the rails a bit.' Loved and admired by everyone who saw him, Friday also had a dark side: troubled, strong-minded, reckless, he would end up destroying himself. Tragically, after years of alcohol and drug abuse, he died at the age of 38 without ever having fulfilled his potential. The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw provides the first full appreciation of a man too long forgotten by the world of football, and, along with a forthcoming film based on Friday's life, with a screenplay by co-author Paolo Hewitt, this book will surely give him the cult status he deserves.

Footballing legend, Tommy Smith, played with Liverpool for eighteen years from 1960 to 1978. Here, Tommy gives us the inside story of a whole host of footballing legends -- Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Ron Yeats, Kevin Keegan and many more. It is a window on the glory days of Liverpool.