Achieve Back From The Brink: The Autobiography Articulated By Paul McGrath Listed As Paper Copy

read. Story stands well on its own but an interest in soccer recommended, This is remarkable. For those of you who dont know, Paul McGrath played at centre back for Manchester United and Aston Villa in thes ands, and for Ireland at numerous international tournaments in the same period.
At theWorld Cup, he was voted into the team of the tournament, Whilst playing for Villa, he was voted supporters player of the year four years running, and PFA Footballer of the Year in, McGrath was one of the best players of his generation, someone who made the game look easy, This is his autobiography.

But its no ordinary autobiography because McGrath reveals in excruciating detail the extent of the alcoholism that has scarred his adult life.
From the dependency on tranquilisers as a safe alternative to booze at the end of his career, to drinking a bottle of Domestos at home after just having retired, McGrath probably should be dead by now.
The fact that he isn't, and was able to play professional sport to such a high level whilst hopelessly addicted to alcohol, is truly extraordinary.
Throughout his career, McGrath regularly went on benders that ended up with him going missing for days, unable to recall why, for instance, he had woken up in a caravan on a beach in Wales, or face down in the gutter surrounded by down and outs.
Various managers and players attempted to literally barricade McGrath into hotel rooms to stop him drinking, sometimes leading him to shin down drainpipes to escape.


It all began in Manchester, where McGrath would regularly drink with Bryan Robson and Norman Whiteside from the end of training on a Tuesday into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
This was a time when football in England hadnt yet embraced the continental trappings of a healthy diet and not drinking forhours straight.
But alcoholics dont drink like other people, And Paul McGrath had more baggage than most,

Because the most striking thing about this book is not the tales of surreptitiously drinking, or the admittedly occasional games McGrath played whilst completely pissed, but the first section of the book.
Paul McGrath was an orphan, institutionalised from a young age, although his mother was still alive she couldnt look after him but still raised a severely disabled daughter.
To compound things, McGrath is of mixed race, So on top of rampant feelings of fear and betrayal, throw racism into the mix and its not surprising that McGrath grows up with such low selfesteem that only by drinking can he lose the panic attacks and sense of inner worthlessness.
Even now, he finds queuing up in the supermarket a nervewracking experience,

The book works so well because, as well as McGraths perspective, each chapter is layered with the views of the people in McGraths life from managers and physios McGrath was notorious for having bad knees which required constant attention between matches to friends and family.
And the impression is enforced that Paul McGrath is a shy and extremely vulnerable man in the grip of a horribly vicious circle of selfabuse.
Hes no saint, and his drinking has destroyed two marriages as well as betrayed the trust of dozens of friends and colleagues, but people have stuck with him because they could see the man beneath.
Or rather, the child beneath, There is a sense throughout that McGrath was indulged for two reasons: firstly, he made the teams he played for much, much better and two, people felt the need to look after him.


Its an amazingly honest account, and after finishing it I wondered how Paul McGrath is today it was written in, Not every exsportsman can become a pundit, or go into coaching, and they dont tend to run pubs anymore that would be a bad idea in McGrath's case anyway.
One exfootballer, Dean Windass, recently admitted to attempting suicide soon after retiring from the game, So, I wish McGrath well, And I hope that the writing of this book helped him to understand more why he drinks, and opened the door to getting better.


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Not only is this a remarkable life story, it's remarkable that McGrath decided to be so candid,

I have been intending to read this book for quite some time,

I understood whilst in his pomp that Paul McGrath had problems, but reading his life story, it's astonishing to see how he achieved what he did.


although published over a decade ago, still relevant,

highly recommended. This is the second best "football" book I've read, after A Life Too Short The Tragedy of Robert Enke, What they both have in common is that neither are really about football, While each made me think about the game on an existential level and question my blasé dismissal of footballers who don't meet my standards or play for a team I dislike, they are ultimately very human stories.


Paul Mcgrath is very candid in this autobiography, He does not approach it from the POV of a guru someone who has "beaten" addiction, In fact, he admits that he had not yet managed to get a good handle on it I checked with him on Twitter once I completed this, and thankfully he is doing great now and has been for a while.
The courage it takes to tell these stories is especially poignant in this light, It's always easy to dismiss your struggles as challenges when you think you're beyond them, But when you're talking as someone still in the midst of the struggle, past behaviour is undoubtedly yours, Mcgrath takes complete ownership of his journey, and makes it okay for others to do the same, I have read many football autobiographies, Paul McGrath's story is a harrowing tale of deep depression, Paul was a great centre back for both Aston Villa and Manchester United and also international football for the Republic Of Ireland, He was a stalwart of a player both at defending and a creative ball playing defender, Paul suffered with deep depression a feeling that I can relate to, and he was also a functioning alcoholic, Paul played most of his football back in the's and's and experienced racism when it was prevalent in our beautiful game at the time.
Suicide attempts and chronic up and down emotions hampered what was a really good football career, Paul suffered in silence and it was not until way after he had retired he bucked up the courage to lay it all out in the open.
Respect to you Paul. It is people like Paul McGrath who have brought about the awareness of mental health, Even famous and well off people suffer, after all we are all human, This book is well worth the read and I recommend it, The amazing life story of one of my heroes growing up, Very harrowing and amazing what he achieved once you learn about his history, A mustread for any football fans, A great player, but a story of his life that is just incredible, A well written autobiography that brought a grown man to tears, As a Villa fan I loved the great Paul McGrath but never knew the hardship he had suffered, It is a story that just has to be read, i met Paul recently and had my copy signed, For any Irish patriot this guy is amazing i person as portrayed in the autobiography, Going from a steel worker to being world famous professional footballer woth many demons in his closet, . . this is a tough read should you try put yourself in his shoes but definitely well worth a read for every football fan, An extraordinary memoir, one of the most painfully

honest I have ever read, So honest it's difficult to read at times, Who should read this Anyone who is Irish and has ever kicked a ball for pleasure or watched people kick a ball for pleasure, that's who.
The man they called God, . Frightening, nearly put me off the drink, The bits from his youth are especially good/feckin tragic, He's from the same place as me and the descriptions of the places and heads are spot on, awesome story read and reread this book over and over again
i am an aston villa fan and he is a legend on the field and a troubled man off it
i cry every time i read it
so so honest
I was aware of Paul McGrath's reputation before I picked this book up: great footballer, but a drink problem which was never deeply hidden.


Anyone I hope would admire his unflinching and candid writing here, There are no attempts to gloss over the dreadful things that happened and no excuses provided,

I was unaware of his troubled background and childhood before I started reading, and that part of the book makes for particularly uncomfortable reading, but these are tales from a dark and different era.


Despite the apparent deficient childhood, Paul doesn't apportion blame or regret, merely reflects on what could have been and what he did enjoy growing up like that.
Such an attitude seems remarkable, but at no point does it feel like a "poor me" sob story, just a stoical approach to a childhood few could understand and comprehend.


Aside from the obvious tales of alcohol, there are some witty and insightful tales of the explosion of football as the Sky money tumbled into it.
There are lots of anecdotes about the different methods employed by different managers, the growth of player power and the drinking culture behind some of the great players.


You don't need to be a football fan to enjoy this, simply have an interest in other people's lives, how they cope with adversity and deal with a problem that will never leave them.
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