Having a Ball

Eddie Turnbull

Hannan is a writer of such skill that, although the bulk of Turnbull's footballing life took place in a remote era, much of the material is appetising and relevant

Eddie Turnbull was one of Hibernian Football Club's legendary Famous Five. He won three league titles with the club in 1947-48, 1950-51 and 1951-52, and captained the team after they became the first British side to play in the European Cup in 1955. He lives in Edinburgh with his wife. 
 
Martin Hannan is an award-winning journalist and writes for Scotland on Sunday on racing, boxing, rugby, football and a host of other sports. He is also the author of Rock of Gibraltar: Ultimate Racehorse and Fabulous Prize in a Race of Giants. He lives in Edinburgh with his wife and two children.

As the first British player to score a goal in European club competition in 1955, Hibs hero Eddie Turnbull holds a unique place in footballing history. In Eddie Turnbull: Having a Ball, he charts his extraordinary career and tells the story of his eventful life so far. 
 
Turnbull explains how he became one-fifth of the most celebrated forward line ever to grace Scottish football - the Famous Five of Hibernian FC - and reveals how he had to wait until he was eighty-two to be awarded his first international 'cap', despite having played for Scotland nine times throughout the forties and fifties. 
 
After his playing career ended, Turnbull achieved lasting fame as manager of Aberdeen and his beloved Hibs. 'Turnbull's Tornadoes' beat Jock Stein's Celtic side to lift the Scottish League in season 1972-73 and won the Drybrough Cup twice, in 1972 and 1973. During his decade with Hibs, Turnbull also managed George Best, and here he tells all about his turbulent time with the late great legend. 
 
In this engrossing memoir, Turnbull candidly explains why he walked away from football in 1980, recounts many entertaining behind-the-scenes stories and gives his diagnoses of the ills of the modern game.

Martin Hannan

Classic Celtic Old Firm Clashes

Some football derbies around the world might have bigger crowds and feature more fanatical fans, but no fixture has as long and passionate a history as the Old Firm derby. For more than 120 years, Glasgow has been divided between the green of Celtic and the blue of Rangers. The first official match ever played by Celtic was a 5-2 win over Rangers in 1888. Since then, the Old Firm derby has grown in stature to be acknowledged as one of the great clashes of football. 
 
Concentrating on the twenty greatest Old Firm matches from the perspective of Celtic Football Club, renowned sportswriter Martin Hannan puts these games in context, showing how the two clubs became such massive rivals and why the Old Firm derby became and remains by far the biggest match in Scottish club football. 
 
With exclusive reflections from a number of Celtic managers and players past and present, Hail! Hail! covers all of the magical matches, such as the titanic, league-winning 4-2 match in 1979, the amazing 6-2 win in 2000 and, of course, the famous 7-1 victory in the 1957 League Cup final, which remains the Parkhead club's biggest win over Rangers. 
 
Highly entertaining and informative, Hail! Hail! is a must-read for supporters of Celtic, football fans in general and anyone who wonders what all the fuss over the Old Firm is about.

Martin Hannan

Books by Martin Hannan

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter