Mike Summerbee

MIKE SUMMERBEE is one of the true cult heroes of English football, a player who inspired affection, anger and awe right across the game. He was admired for his brilliant wing play and feared for his hard-man tackling. He enraged opposition spectators with some of his antics, but was adored by many more for his jolly rapport with crowds as he sped up and down the touchline.

In the unforgettable era of the Swinging Sixties he had a charmed life off the field; he was the closest friend of George Best as they dated beauty queens together, and was also great pals with showbiz stars like Jimmy Tarbuck, Michael Crawford and Kenny Lynch.

Here, in his long-awaited autobiography, Mike tells the inside story of how he became a champion footballer in the magnificent Manchester City team of the late 1960s created by the fabled managerial partnership of Joe Mercer and Malcolm Allison.

He reveals the intense family heartbreak behind his journey from a YMCA team on parks pitches all the way into the England international side. And he explains how a small, shy, insecure boy called 'Tich' was transformed into a ferocious opponent who nobody messed with on a football pitch.

Even in retirement he couldn't stay out of the limelight. In the company of Bobby Moore, he became a Hollywood film star alongside Sylvester Stallone in the movie Escape to Victory. Mike Summerbee has always found a way to entertain the fans.