Hard Tackles and Dirty Baths: The inside story of football's golden era

George Best

Dec 2011 · Random House

About this ebook

'We were the first generation to have to deal with the modern stardom of football. Some handled it better than others' George Best

Written in the months before he died, Hard Tackles and Dirty Baths is George's farewell letter to the great footballing era in which he burned so brightly - a personal history of the golden years before TV and agents changed everything. From the breaking of the maximum wage to the cusp of the first million-pound player, it follows the triumphs and tragedies of every season from 1960 to 1974. It is the story of our greatest footballing generation - Greaves, Moore, Law, Charlton, Osgood, Lorimer, Jennings, Hurst and, of course, Best himself.

Ratings and reviews

He truly did love the game. His passion runs throughout

brilliant book

About the author

Epitomising football's new-found glamour in the 60s as a Busby protégé at Manchester United, George Best dazzled on the pitch and lived the high life off it. Christened the Fifth Beatle at his peak, Best was the first pop star footballer. Unable to cope with the success and fame that his talent brought him, Best fell into alcoholism and his life became littered with tales of women, sex and drink. Despite well-documented problems with his health and private life, George Best never lost the passion that made him an icon to his many fans.

Co-writer Harry Harris is the Group Chief Football Writer for Express Newspapers and a regular pundit on TV and radio. Twice British Sports Journalist of the Year and the only sports writer to win Sports Scoop of the Year twice, he is the author of over 30 football books, including the bestselling Pele - His Life and Times and the recent All the Way, Jose.