PANTOMIME HERO: MEMORIES OF THE MAN WHO LIFTED LEEDS UNITED AFTER BRIAN CLOUGH (FOOTBALL SHORTS) by Ian Ridley

Jimmy Armfield was one of the great figures of English football – captain of the national team before Bobby Moore, member of the 1966 World Cup-winning squad, one-club man with Blackpool.

Gentleman Jim went on to enjoy a wonderfully rich life and career as a manager with Leeds United, before becoming a broadcaster of warmth and insight, then consultant with the Football Association and the Professional Footballers’ Association.

In Pantomime Hero, award-winning football writer and author Ian Ridley tells the remarkable tale of when Armfield took over at Leeds after Brian Clough’s ill-fated 44 days and came up with a novel and unique idea to restore the morale of a club in turmoil.

Around that amazing tale, Ridley also describes a friendship forged through the bonds of cancer with a giant of a man who was already long established as a national footballing treasure at the time of his death in January 2018.

This is the first book in the innovative Football Shorts series.

(Publisher: Football Shorts. January 2023. Paperback: 160 pages)

 

Buy the book here: Jimmy Armfield