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Colin Shindler first wrote of his deep love for Manchester City in Manchester United Ruined My Life. Now he tells the story of his sorrowful disenchantment with his home town club as, on the instruction of its new foreign owners, it turns itself remorselessly into a global brand.
From the nail-biting victory over Gillingham 1999 to the equally dramatic winning of the Premier League in May 2012 Shindler watches as his team becomes more successful yet, to his own bewilderment, he feels increasingly alienated from the club.
This is the story of a frustrated romantic who finds in the glitz and glamour of the current media-obsessed game a helter-skelter of artificially fabricated excitement. As he details how football courses through his veins, Shindler reveals how it intersects with his own life, a life that has been marked by family tragedy, and how he finally found personal redemption even as his team lost its soul.
From the nail-biting victory over Gillingham 1999 to the equally dramatic winning of the Premier League in May 2012 Shindler watches as his team becomes more successful yet, to his own bewilderment, he feels increasingly alienated from the club.
This is the story of a frustrated romantic who finds in the glitz and glamour of the current media-obsessed game a helter-skelter of artificially fabricated excitement. As he details how football courses through his veins, Shindler reveals how it intersects with his own life, a life that has been marked by family tragedy, and how he finally found personal redemption even as his team lost its soul.
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Reviews
Reviews of Manchester United Ruined My Life:
"This is a wonderful book ... it is also extremely funny"
His prose ... is never less than sharp, smart and easy on the eye ... His writing is so attractive ... [I] would be thrilled to read more
It is his childhood and absent friends that touch the rawest, universal nerve
Shindler's art lies in conversational writing, and an ability to change gear deftly from humour to devotion and back through fanaticism to the black comedy of Manchester City
Shindler is both touching and convincing in his evocation of his formative years ... it's skilful, entertaining and heading for the top of the league
Evocative, funny-sad and warm-hearted
Sits in the same class as Fever Pitch ... Shindler's down-to-the-bone honesty also reminds us self-indulgence can be great entertainment
This could still be the most important football book since Fever Pitch capturing, as it does, the delicious irony that caused City fans to fall into a soon to be legendary chorus of "Are you watching Macclesfield?"
'Manchester City Ruined My Life... is funny, touching and telling.'
'****'