Joe Royle The Autobiography - Tapa dura

FOREWORD BY SIR ALEX FERGUSON Joe Royle became the youngest player to play for Everton in February 1966 and went on to win six caps under Alf Ramsey and Don Revie.

Injury forced a premature end to his career at 32, after spells with Manchester City, Bristol City, and Norwich. Then he became the manager who fell of the back of a lorry when joining Oldham in 1982.

Fourteen fantastic, fairytale years followed at the hard-up, homespun Lancashire club which Royle put on the soccer map. Oldham achieved the impossible by going to Wembley and spending three years in the Premiership. Then, it was off to Everton, to Manchester City, and to Ipswich as manager.

With a foreword by Sir Alex Ferguson, this book is an honest account of Joe's career and life, written with his full cooperation.

Making his debut in 1966 at the tender age of 16, Joe Royle was Everton's youngest-ever player and became a legend in the blue half of Liverpool. By 1974, when he joined Manchester City, his 102 goals had helped the Toffees to a league title and an FA Cup Final.

Capped by England six times, Joe won the 1976 League Cup with Manchester City before playing for Bristol City and Norwich City. However, in 1982 his playing career came to a premature end because of a knee injury. Still passionate about the game, Joe threw himself into football management and in his first job he took Oldham Athletic into the old First Division, a League Cup Final and two FA Cup Semi-Finals.

After success at Oldham, Joe attracted the attention of other clubs and in 1994 his lifelong dream came true when he became manager of Everton. During the first season Everton beat Manchester United to lift the FA Cup and by 1996 they were sixth in the League, but Joe couldn't further strengthen the squad, so they parted company in 1997. A year later he was a manager for another of his former clubs, Manchester City.

For the first time in the club's history, City suffered relegation out of the top two divisions, but Joe returned them to the top flight with back-t-back promotions. Sacked from Maine Road following relegation in 2001, Joe's enthusiasm for management never waned and he was back in the hotseat in 2002 with Ipswich Town. He had one aim - one he has relentlessly pursued - to take them into the Premiership.

Always a straight-talker, here Joe Royle gives and honest account of his life; from his young days as a player to his current role as a manager of Ipswich, this book captures the spirit of the man and his incredible career.