Читать книгу Glory, Glory Man Utd - Harry Harris - Страница 4

I WOULD LIKE TO thank Sir Bobby Charlton for his valuable contributions as he is part of the fabric of Manchester United and synonymous with the Sir Matt Busby era, as well as a current director, a global ambassador for the club and so an incredible link to the Sir Alex Ferguson era.

I have known Sir Bobby for many, many years. He is now 75, but I have played football with Sir Bobby, and even against him, when he was well into his 60s. I used to play for the England Press Team and Bobby was a regular, along with Sir Trevor Brooking and others such as Ron Atkinson. During the European Championships, one of the boot manufacturers organised a mirror tournament for the media and on the morning of the big match between England and Russia, the England press team had a squad of 20, while the Russians, who at that time had a tiny media corps, had some of their journalists still travelling back from another game, so only seven turned up for the kick off.

Coach Mike Hart, chief football writer for the Evening Standard at the time, delegated the usual England subs, myself included, to switch to the Russian team. I played left back for Russia and tried at least once to tackle Sir Bobby. When the rest of the Russian media turned up, I played for England in the second half, scoring against Russia. I sat in the dressing rooms afterwards amazed that I had played with and against Sir Bobby – it really doesnʼt get much better for a football reporter Living The Dream!

I would also like to thank David Sadler, of the AFMUP (Association of Former Manchester United Players), for putting me in touch with some of the real legends of Manchester United. Paul Parker, an old friend, also helped to direct me to some of the players he knows.

My thanks also to the Professional Footballers Association, to Gordon Taylor and Martin Buchan, and to Chris Joslin the PFAʼs commercial executive in London for helping me to find the right players to interview. A massive thank you to all the United legends past and present who have contributed.

To old friend and former journalist colleague David Meek, I extend my gratitude for his invaluable assistance. David was, for years, The Voice of Old Trafford as football correspondent for the Manchester Evening News and despite retirement many years ago, ghost wrote Sir Alexʼs programme notes right up to his retirement. My thanks, too, to Richard Bevan, chief executive of the LMA.

Thanks also to everyone at Empire Publications, particularly Ashley Shaw, Delennyk Richardson and John Ireland, for taking on such a book project and Anthony Verrill for his assistance.