Autobiography

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Premier League, but it was clear from his cold response that he still had a chip on his shoulder. Simon Jordan never struck me as being an easy chairman to work for and I think Steve believed we could give him a better chance of realising his dream of managing a premiership football club. With or without Steve, I don’t believe Palace were anything more than a midtable Championship side. Clearly Steve wasn’t happy at Crystal Palace but nevertheless Jordan took out a High Court injunction to force Steve to adhere to the ninemonth notice clause in his Palace contract. The other extraordinary aspect of the situation was that Trevor Francis should make the journey in the opposite direction, to join Crystal Palace. Simon was outraged at losing Steve, as indeed I would have been in his position, and I can see what was going through his mind; what an irony and coup it would have been to have taken on the sacked Trevor Francis and win promotion to the Premiership while Birmingham stayed in the Championship with Steve Bruce. Rarely could there have been a greater incentive and I am sure Simon was employing Trevor as the manager of Crystal Palace in the hope that he could achieve promotion having failed in his five years with Birmingham. It would have been deeply satisfying to both Francis and Jordan, but they only managed to finish tenth and fourteenth in the two seasons 342
under Trevor. However I was delighted when Palace gained promotion to the Premiership under Iain Dowie because it is the local club to where I live and a great many of my staff are Palace supporters. It was disappointed when they went straight back down. My local paper is all Crystal Palace and most of my local restaurants are run by Palace supporters. I was equally pleased at the latest irony, when West Ham United were promoted after a tough season and took Palace’s place in the top division. A manager can have a purple patch when luck goes with him, but there is more to it than that, especially his relationship with the fans, the board and the media. The appointment of Steve, who guided us to two of our three eventual promotions, was possibly our bestever boardroom decision at St Andrews. 343
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PURE GOLD MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY Rags, Ri
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CONTENTS THE STENCH OF POVERTY ....
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PROLOGUE THE STENCH OF POVERTY Ever
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mistaken for the unclean smell of f
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CHAPTER ONE C1. ABJECT POVERTY One
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And all this would never have happe
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went through it all again and had t
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It was a miracle none of us expecte
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I used to have ultra violet light t
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It would have been easier for my Mu
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The noise on the wooden floor told
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Grandma Miriam Occasionally we were
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Ralph, Mum and Me, 1951 I was remin
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would be in, stripping the wood and
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would move from market to market. H
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scream and shout at him when he ret
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Christmas was always exciting for t
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wheeler bicycle hidden for two days
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The anti-aircraft guns were also be
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It was draughty, cold and damp, and
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The conditions on board were almost
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CHAPTER THREE C3. ABUSED Cenci, mum
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poke fun at him after he had passed
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It certainly was in the cinema on a
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CHAPTER FOUR C4. JEWS, JEWS AND MOR
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allotted time and spent the rest of
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everyone living in London was going
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a young man going to my first black
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and I wanted to know why. Maybe, I
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That jerky black and white newsreel
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newspapers like Redwatch and Storme
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I had only looked on them with disg
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will all end up coffee-coloured, an
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looked up the VC awards in The Time
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Thomas was in charge of the stowage
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news that Roberts and Gould had eac
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For several years Thomas was presid
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incredible courage that it took to
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etween the two playgrounds. Everyon
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olled up, flexing his muscles, when
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together, and from that moment on w
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however, it had still not sold due
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Ralph and I were also pursued relen
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accomplish without dramatically inc
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1958 Vauxhall Victor It was a telli
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Cessna aircraft and five-seater EC1
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(Bizarrely, many years later my fri
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Godfrey was permitted a monthly vis
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make up stories of where he was. I
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station to buy drinks and fruit fro
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CHAPTER EIGHT C8. RUN RABBIT RUN Fo
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noted by the coach and instead of s
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I remember it well as I watched on
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feet tall when he recognised me. Fo
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To this day I remember him calling
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I was naturally devastated, but I w
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To my surprise and delight, Johnny
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CHAPTER NINE C9. SLAVE LABOUR When
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of fruit in the market (ironically,
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speak on the telephone, he stays ov
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journey on our bikes as I set off w
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But they were great memories; ridin
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provide some additional stock, so t
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The same surge in customers happene
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had no qualms about ‘taking a cha
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still couldn’t believe two men ha
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against authority had begun and con
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The problem with fighting against t
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improved dramatically, so what are
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involvement in anything else. Needl
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the premises were worth more. So I
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there’s a surprise) with him and
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Luck has always played such a big p
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Elsewhere, Henry Cooper challenged
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George Cornell, 1965 It was early M
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was run jointly but separately by t
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It was only much later that the ful
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and his wife Joan in their new prop
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2005 general election when, speakin
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I married my first girlfriend, Bery
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discover on a day of betrayal I wil
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transfer, so for the second time yo
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‘They are not worth the paper the
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The door had closed, and I was lock
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Harder still was sitting with Beryl
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I now hate him with a vengeance. He
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the call - the orders had already b
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the two knights of the road and not
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‘I’m finished in the bathroom,
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sitting in the public area of the l
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up in her eyes as she recounted thi
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eplied that this time it would be f
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shattered when they said that Ann-M
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ight to publish erotica and defende
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former secretary Sue Caron. It was
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It is a triumph to have emerged wit
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ecause he had a young son and these
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Just a few months before my court c
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scenes would have to be removed for
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The Pathetic Lord Longford On top o
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The passing of time has clearly vin
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Judge King-Hamilton threw down his
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The jury found the book Lady Chatte
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There was no possibility of receivi
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Judge Bernard Gilis. He was no bett
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Perhaps I should sign this long cha
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uphill section untouched. I wanted
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The postcards so saucy they were se
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From the early 1950s, tens of thous
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He added: ‘They are a vivid illus
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CHAPTER FIFTEEN C15. OVER MY DEAD B
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purchased another freehold in the Q
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it. It was always important that th
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Not only that, female agents were s
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an extraordinary rate and we had to
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In those early days it was difficul
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companies on the net, but none of t
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council could take this action desp
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I am extremely proud of my daughter
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have been horrified, as she was ter
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eating lunch with Mark’s wife Sue
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and our friendship was flourishing,
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would succeed, we followed that thr
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Malta Air Rally Winner 1980 On arri
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experienced. I heard nothing from h
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for him to tell her to put on her l
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had been held back as the drama unf
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feeds, and an AD (airworthiness dir
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Many years later after retiring fro
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It was hugely rewarding flying smal
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of, ‘in pursuance of excellence
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I will be driven in the Phantom to
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The only flying incident I have bee
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wrong tape, she’d been in the coc
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‘Hello Dad, just got your message
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Newspapers and next came our first
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as saying, ‘I feel like General C
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as their business acumen, determina
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Apart from the Racing Post, it is t
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Wednesday and a Friday paper, so we
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A lot of people have their doubts a
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It is all part and parcel of the bu
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never fought I’d be ’ere in the
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the horse his head and by the time
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local people, with more money to in
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Page 296 and 297: have worked tirelessly to achieve i
Page 298 and 299: It made us realise that when people
Page 300 and 301: in the 1992/93 season and the game
Page 302 and 303: confidence in Barry Fry. There was
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Page 306 and 307: us but also for our mum and all our
Page 308 and 309: manager, the players, the fans and
Page 310 and 311: Barry made a quick decision and we
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Page 314 and 315: His rows with Karren Brady and Davi
Page 316 and 317: It had been arranged for Jack Wisem
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Page 322 and 323: necessary to move the club forward.
Page 324 and 325: still adored. He is, to use an old
Page 326 and 327: the end to stave off the threat of
Page 328 and 329: It doesn’t come much crueller tha
Page 330 and 331: ground. In his anger, he twice took
Page 332 and 333: Trevor had now lost three semi fina
Page 334 and 335: tried to contact him on the Saturda
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Page 338 and 339: more like I was welcoming a new man
Page 340 and 341: CHAPTER TWENTY ONE C21. WELCOME HOM
Page 344 and 345: He won us promotion after just six
Page 346 and 347: Johnson and Paul Devlin (the Scotti
Page 348 and 349: Arsenal away (although no one expec
Page 350 and 351: again to sticking by measured judge
Page 352 and 353: He made himself intolerable to work
Page 354 and 355: us, with no one talking to him. I w
Page 356 and 357: CHAPTER TWENTY TWO C22. THE FA CUP,
Page 358 and 359: myself becoming embroiled, and in a
Page 360 and 361: Henry realised that he hadn’t eve
Page 362 and 363: When the cup is not being displayed
Page 364 and 365: CHAPTER TWENTY THREE C23. LOSER TAK
Page 366 and 367: financial blow that is only partial
Page 368 and 369: Chopard diamond watch which I had b
Page 370 and 371: We met them a number of times durin
Page 372 and 373: cannot play for Birmingham City aga
Page 374 and 375: from bottom. It was in the light of
Page 376 and 377: When Carson Yeung launched his succ
Page 378 and 379: sale of the 29.9% David Sullivan, R
Page 380 and 381: £1. Everything has its price and a
Page 382 and 383: there is no money there, they deman
Page 384 and 385: facilities at their stadiums and th
Page 386 and 387: using the cash to compete with each
Page 388 and 389: and did more harm than good. Clearl
Page 390 and 391: egain their lost and valuable statu
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I can remember Douglas Craig, the c
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there are kids playing football, wh
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turnover of a £60-70 million for 1
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house for dinner or we would meet u
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the radio that the actor and singer
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while; a thrill I could only have h
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difference. Ken Bates had a fierce
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thank you for coming and hopes, des
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Spurs have a remarkable hospitality
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chairmen in action, how they operat
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then taken to the press room, and o
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stories, especially when it is a cl
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There are many successful managers
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impatience. However the Prince took
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At that time, relegated clubs recei
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we needed fourteen votes to carry t
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vastly experienced in the machinati
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On the Thursday before our match at
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CHAPTER TWENTY SIX C26. THE IMPORTA
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are, and fatal, brain condition kno
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sometimes at a restaurant, sometime
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game - it was something I had not d
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I replied, ‘Lesley, you look beau
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young girl was bold enough to ask w
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we finished our drinks and left. We
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of dust. I saw beads of sweat appea
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I decided to open the cover so that
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experienced, right from the days of
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For her 88 th birthday she went to
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CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN C27. DO YOU HA
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While I was lucky enough to have be
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hugely rewarding. I would say to so
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a while it was obvious that it was
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to America in 1966. Because of my t
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confidence, just waltzing around an
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the little terraced properties whic
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from my vantage point I saw him ope
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I am often asked if the figures are
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more sophisticated wines such as Pr
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It is a ritual that reminds me of m
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West Ham United 2 Blackpool 1 With
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Autobiography

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