Naturally there's plenty of 1966 in Stiles' autobiography After The Ball--much of it charmingly candid about the small humanities behind the legend--and plenty too on Stiles' hugely successful Manchester United career, touched by the tragedy of the Munich air disaster. But the darker side of a life in football--whether it be the love-hate relationships Stiles enjoyed and endured with bosses Matt Busby and Alf Ramsey, or the bloody Anglo-Argentine feuds at club and national level--are unexpected highlights. As is the honest appraisal of how and why life after football went so wrong for Stiles. Skint, and slogging round the country in jobs on the fringes of the game, when he was once football royalty, Stiles is honest enough to express the bitterness, resentment and hopelessness he felt, never more so than when sacked by Alex Ferguson after it had seemed United had rescued its former star from the wilderness. Stiles' collaborator, award-winning sports writer James Lawton, may well have given the recollections some structure and polish, but there is a real sense of immediacy and relish in the telling of even the more familiar tales. No doubt Stiles' late-blooming career on the after-dinner speaking circuit has played the major part in the process of reviewing and refining the story of his life in football, with the result that the personal and the humorous drive the narrative to happy effect, but "After The Ball" is no "great times, great mates" sleepwalk. As a player, so as a man: Stiles has plenty of bite. --Alex Hankin --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Daily Mail
As football books go, this is one of the best I've read. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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