BOOK REVIEWS
Biography
Huddy
Jason Pettigrove
We Rate:
BOOK SYNOPSIS
One of the finest players football has ever seen, Alan Hudson is still revered at Chelsea, Stoke City, Arsenal and Seattle Sounders, and yet his professional success was dogged by injuries and enormous personal challenges. His love of the glitzy 'footballer lifestyle', dominated by hard-drinking and glamorous women, saw Alan descend into rampant alcoholism, depression, and frequent brushes with authority. Huddy - his official biography - reveals for the first time, the full story of the real Alan Hudson, the man behind the lurid newspaper headlines and booze-fuelled anecdotes. A straight-speaker who doesn't suffer fools gladly, he has as many enemies as close friends. Speak to either and you'll get a vastly differing perspective on just who the man is. Even his team-mates were evenly split; they either loved or loathed him. The one thing that couldn't be taken away from him, however, was his talent for the beautiful game. Some years after retiring from the sport he loved, Alan embarked on a new career in the media but, on December 15, 1997, he was the victim of a 'hit-and-run' car accident near his East London home and his 'life well-lived' changed forever. He sustained injuries that the medical profession thought would kill him. Huddy, lovingly written by his friend Jason Pettigrove, describes Alan's determined fight for life and how his single-mindedness enabled him, along with the brilliance of the NHS and the support of his closest family and friends, to recover from his horrendous injuries and rebuild his life. Alan Hudson's fascinating story is one that has never been fully told ...until now.
OUR REVIEW
I sometimes sit and wonder why there aren't more movies or TV shows based around sports stars lives because some of them are truly fascinating and Jason Pettigrove's fantastic biography on Alan Hudson would no doubt fill a cinema or TV screen for a good couple of hours with all the, quite frankly unbelievable happenings in one man's life. First up, the book is a brilliant account of Hudson's early life growing up near the King's Road, being rejected by Fulham, before being picked up by Chelsea where he would go on to become one of their most flamboyant and creative players in a side that was packed full of talent. Often compared with the greats from that era, injuries clearly took a toll and his haul of caps is too short for a man of his obvious talent.
The book doesn't just cover his time at Chelsea but also a good look at the Stoke City side of that era and how he was brought to the Potteries with high hopes that he could make the difference needed to get them to the next level and challenging for titles. His jaunts, firstly back to London with Arsenal, before heading over to the US to play football are also covered. Whilst an autobiography of a football player should be about the football, arguably the most fascinating aspects of the book are Hudson's battles with the demon's that many succumb too, his addiction with alcoholism that also link in with troubles controlling his life and being declared bankrupt with his life seemingly spiralling out of control.
The amazing story of almost losing his life after being ran over and the subsequent battle to overcome the life-changing injuries that he sustained is quite frankly scary and unbelievable that a man that has suffered that many injuries can survive and believe me it was touch and go. Its such a sobering story and just how it can affect and change a mans life is at times upsetting but also that their is a better 'ending' to the story and that what he has overcome to live as positive a life as possible, makes for a very interesting and insightful book.
As an added bonus, i'm sure you will find a familiar name in the book acknowledgements ;) - I was very honoured to play a very small part in the book as a proof reader and another set of eyes on the book. Get yourself a copy, you really won't be disappointed!
