With thanks to the author Pat Nevin, publishers Octopus Publishing, and NetGalley for providing me with a DRC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I always enjoyed watching Pat Nevin as a player when I was growing up, remembering him as a tricky winger primarily for English clubs Everton, Chelsea and sometimes Tranmere, but outside of that didn’t know much about him so really enjoyed learning more in this book.

It was different from other footballer biographies I have read. It covers his footballing career from the point when he joined Tranmere Rovers until his eventual retirement, but also focuses largely on his footballing activities off the pitch, from his role as reluctant chairman of the English Professional Footballler’s Association (PFA) to being chief executive of Motherwell.

The story he tells is undoubtedly a bit of a rollercoaster of highs and lows, both on and off the pitch. However, what shines through throughout is Pat’s inherent decency as a human being who always treated people with respect and always tried to do what he felt was right in every situation, even if it was sometimes to the detriment of his own career progression.

A very enjoyable read and recommended for anyone who was a follower of English and Scottish football in the 80s and 90s. I’ll be picking up his previous book “The Accidental Footballer” which covers his development as a footballer prior to his Tranmere days after reading this one.

Another fine footballing read from Pat Nevin. Tales from management this time and written in his easy to read, humorous style. Recommended.

A great and rather different football biography.

I was aware of Pat Nevin but didn't really know much about him or Scottish football in this era. He's clearly more intelligent than your average footballer and has a considered perspective on things.

This book is different from the usual football bios as Pat never wanted to be a footballer, and he certainly didn't want to be in the real mess of saving Motherwell from relegation! There's also a playlist for each chapter at the back which I wish I'd noticed earlier.

I loved that he never wrote about his autistic son until his son was grown up and could consent to being written about. And that's how Pat comes across - trying to do the right thing despite the chaos of the football industry.

There's some hilarious bits in here, as well as sad, informative and shocking. It was really sad to read about the extent of sectarianism in the modern day.

One of the books where you'll keep on reading bits out to whoever is near you! I hope it does really well.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Normally biographies of football players can be very wishy washy but this was the total opposite. A very good and open book especially regarding his time at Motherwell. Definitely a book to recommend for a football fan.

This is frank look at the football world through the eyes of a former footballer and his latter career and move into directorship with the highs and lows of the footballing world. in England and Scotland and his coping mechanisms to survive and cope based in late 90's early noughties. well worth reading for most footballing fans

I really enjoyed Football and How to Survive It - whenever I hear Pat Nevin speak, he's unfailingly interesting, passionate, and insightful and this book was no different.

It was fascinating to see the realities of life at less glamorous clubs - from the fact that Tranmere for example was a more fun period in his career than Everton or Chelsea, to the difficulties in running a struggling club.

However I was most interested in the chapters regarding his (and his wife's) realisation that his son Simon was neurodiverse, the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, and the struggled to cope and get help for Simon - it's a struggle we're also currently going through, and I can imagine it being even harder 25 years ago than it is now.

Altogether a honest, interesting read.

Every now and then I like to read something a little bit different to my usual read,so I decided to give this book a go and I'm very pleased that I did.
It was a very interesting read focusing on the later years of the footballer Pat Nevin who achieved a good level of football even into his late 30's and then it went on to him working behind the scenes at Motherwell Football Club in a director's role.
What I found interesting was the least known parts about what fans don't know much about which is what goes on within a club,firstly getting a team out every week and trying to hold on to them when things are not going well. Motherwell fought hard to not sell everything to keep going but sadly it was not enough and the club went into administration.
A very good read
Thanks to Netgalley and Octopus Publishing for the ARC.