This Is How It Feels

Hard Shoulder, M62 Eastbound, June 1982... Britain is on the verge of taking the Falkland Islands back from the Argentineinvaders, Margaret Thatcher is three years into her tenure at 10 Downing Streetand for the first time since the 1930s, three million people are unemployed – withthe nation reeling from recession. One of those searching for a job is standingat the side of the motorway which links the north of England’s east and westcoasts with his thumb out. Newly-retired former Everton, Manchester City and England striker Joe Royleis trying to hitch a lift to Boundary Park for what he thinks is an interview forthe post of manager at backwater Oldham Athletic. Behind him, smoke poursfrom his broken-down car’s engine. After a passing lorry takes him the rest ofthe way, Royle is told that the job is his – and that he will have to sell a playeror the club will go bust. Later that day, bailiffs drop in and eye up his officefurniture. That night he is in his own garage, stencilling the initials of players’names on training kit as the reality of the task in hand hits home. What happened next is one of the great, untold football miracles of all timeas unfancied Oldham emerged from the shadows of their illustrious Manchesterneighbours and embarked on a thrilling, white knuckle ride to the summit of theEnglish game. This is a story that has not been told before. It is a time when the impossiblewas possible, long before the vast millions in broadcast money arrived and thecreation of the Premier League changed football in England forever. A timewhen an astute manager and wily chairman could scour the big clubs for castoffs and achieve the unachievable. It is something that will never be repeatedand, in these times of huge salaries and commercial excess, is a tale of harderand yet often-happier times when small clubs could dream big. In the 30th anniversary year of Royle’s remarkable revolution, it is the perfecttime for This Is How It Feels to hit the book shelves.

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