Gordon Milne: Shankly, My Dad and Me, with Steve Younger, published by Pitch Publishing, Price: £25
IN HIS engrossing football memoir, Gordon Milne recalls his journey from Preston to Newcastle via Liverpool, Blackpool, Wigan, Coventry, Leicester, Turkey and Japan.
Milne is a pure football man who has encounters with some of the greatest players and managers of the 20th century, experiencing football at all levels both in England and abroad during his 60 years in the game.
His life was positively shaped by his early experiences in the army, which is a far cry from the experience of young professional footballers today.
Milne believes that he was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time. Choosing Liverpool over Arsenal meant he was at the heart of the creation of a footballing dynasty. Success at Wigan led to international management, in turn leading to a wonderful decade at Coventry City.
When that came to an end, five great years at Leicester City followed. Follow-ing his pal Jim Smith’s resignation at the League Managers Association, he had an incredible opportunity, and without an off-the-cuff meeting with Bobby Robson, would he have ever gone to Turkey?
Would Japan have been in his thoughts if it were not for his connection with Gary Lineker?
Milne had a successful playing career with Preston, Liverpool, Blackpool, Wigan and England. He played alongside his hero Sir Tom Finney before being recruited by Bill Shankly to sign for Liverpool.
Milne recounts how Shankly transformed Liverpool from Second Division also-rans into the footballing dynasty that was to be ‘The Liverpool Way.’ He made 236 appearances for the Reds, winning First Division championship medals in the 1963-64 and 1965-66 seasons and making 14 appearances for England.
In 1964, he memorably played in front of 132,000 spectators at Hampden Park when England played against Scotland and later against Brazil and Pele in the Maracana.
Milne became player-manager of Non-League Wigan Athletic in 1970 and took them to the Northern Premier League title in 1971.
He states: “I owe my subsequent career to Wigan Athletic. Part-time they may have been, but such a greater education than I ever expected, one that I would never have received elsewhere, at a higher level, and it humbled me.
“This was football at its purest.…Those days at Wigan were invaluable and when I left, I was better equipped than when I arrived. I have so much to thank them for.”
Milne, now 86, believes his life has been truly blessed. Those he has met along the way reads like a who’s who of football. Facing Pele at the Maracana; Best, Law and Charlton at their peak; Yashin, Gento, Puskas, Eusebio and Di Stefano; lining up alongside Greaves, Moore, Banks, Armfield and Wilson.
For him, the icing on the cake was playing alongside his Preston-born idol Finney.
This memoir is a charming and delightfully nostalgic football journey through the decades. It is thoroughly recommended reading for anyone but especially for those who want to know how football has changed so dramatically since the 1950s.
Rating out of 10: 8
