Jackie Milburn

Written by his own son, "Jackie Milburn: A Man of Two Halves" gives an unprecedented insight into the life and career of legendary Newcastle United forward Jackie Milburn. To this day, "Wor Jackie" remains the Magpies top goalscorer, having notched up 238 goals in 492 League and Cup appearances throughout the 1950s. Milburn also won the FA Cup with Newcastle three times in six years and, in the third final in 1955, he scored one of the competition's fastest-ever goals, after 45 seconds.This book delves beneath the surface of the glory to reveal how, in spite of his remarkable success as a player, Milburn was constantly tortured by his lack of self-belief. It details his days across the Irish Sea after becoming player/coach at Protestant Linfield FC, and explains why he felt the need to move on after receiving menacing threats directed at his family. It reveals how, as newly appointed manager of Ipswich Town, he had a totally unexpected fall out with the departing England supremo, Alf Ramsey. We also learn how the pressures of work led Milburn to the bottle, and how he spent his post-football days working in a scrapyard, before being rescued by the world of sports journalism.Later in life, many honours continued to be bestowed upon Milburn and, on his death in 1988, huge crowds lined the streets for his funeral parade, all the way from his home in Ashington to St Nicholas Cathedral in the centre of Newcastle. Throughout his life, few people had a bad word to say about Jackie Milburn and this candid biography demonstrates why he is still held in high esteem half a century after the peak of his career and 15 years after his death.