Eddie Turnbull: Having a Ball

Mainstream Publishing, 2006. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 6.25" x 9.5. H/B 300 pages, condition is Very good. As the first British player to score a goal in European club competition, in 1955, Hibs hero Eddie Turnbull holds a unique place in footballing history. Now, for the first time, he tells his extraordinary life story in this compelling, sometimes hilarious and thoroughly entertaining autobiography. Turnbull reveals how he became a professional footballer after just one competitive match following his demob from the Royal Navy and gives his version of how he became one-fifth of the most celebrated forward line ever to grace Scottish football - the Famous Five of Hibernian FC. He uncovers why he played no more than nine times for his nation and reveals why he had to wait until he was eighty-two to be awarded his first international 'cap'. After his playing career ended, Turnbull achieved lasting fame as manager of Aberdeen and his beloved Hibs. 'Turnbull's Tornadoes' beat Jock Stein's Celtic side to lift the Scottish League Cup in season 1972-73 and won the Drybrough Cup twice, in 1972 and 1973. In his decade with Hibs, he also managed George Best, and Turnbull now tells all about his turbulent time with the late, great Georgie. In this remarkable account, Turnbull explains why he walked away from football in 1980. He gives his diagnoses of the ills of the modern game and recounts the behind-the-scenes stories of his playing days and his two decades as a trainer, coach and manager. Gift inscription on flyleaf.