Big Joe: The Joe Corrigan Story [Hardcover]

Joe Corrigan is a Blues legend. Born and bred in Manchester he played more than 600 times for City and was voted player-of-the-year three times by fans. One of the first inductees into the Manchester City hall of fame Corrigan was also honoured to be named as the club's greatest keeper of all time by City supporters. Yet it was not all plain sailing. Following in the footsteps of goalkeeping greats Frank Swift and Bert Trautmann, Joe found it difficult to gain the confidence of Blues fans in his early years at Maine Road and had to work incredibly hard to win them over. Despite many setbacks he rose to the challenge, becoming a genuine favourite of the City faithful. During his sixteen years at the club Joe Corrigan was centre stage for every important event in this successful, yet turbulent, era. There were triumphs in domestic cup competitions, strong challenges in the league and great runs in Europe, including the capture of City's only European trophy. There were also disappointments, notably City's failure to win the title in 1971/72, which Corrigan blames on the ill-judged signing of Rodney Marsh. Then there were the disastrous decisions about managers, some taken when City were on the brink of greatness. And, of course, there was the 1981 FA Cup final, dubbed the best of all time, but one that ended in disappointment for the Blues. Corrigan played with, or under, some of the most eminent names in Manchester City's history and he provides fascinating insights into what made them tick. They included Joe Mercer, Malcolm Allison, Tony Book, Mike Summerbee, Mike Doyle, Francis Lee, Rodney Marsh, Ron Saunders, Dennis Tueart, Trevor Francis, Peter Swales and John Bond. There is perhaps one aspect from his glorious career that still rankles: that he won only nine caps for England. Corrigan was part of that great triumvirate of Engklish goalkeepers, along with Peter Shilton and Ray Clemence. It was undoubtedly the most talented trio ever to be available to the national side but it meant that competition for the number-one jersey was incredibly fierce. Controversially, Corrigan believes that competition was often unfair and that selection policy was more often based on football politics and not goalkeeping ability. After retiring from playing Joe Corrigan became one of the most respected goalkeeping coaches in the country, most notably with Liverpool where he spent ten highly successful years. He is currently goalkeeping coach with West Bromwich Albion.