There is something magical about Newcastle United and the
Number 9 shirt; no club seems to have such a passion for its centre-forwards as this club and Malcolm Macdonald is one of a select number of legends who have pulled on that famous shirt: Hughie Gallagher; Jackie Milburn; Alan Shearer are others. Malcolm Macdonald, or Supermac, as he was christened by the adoring Tyneside fans, played his
football in that strangest of times in English football, the 1970s. This was a
time of decaying grounds and declining attendances, but it was also a time when English clubs dominated Europe and the English national team went into the decade on the back of
World Cup glory. Most of all, it was a time of great characters: Kevin Keegan; Mick Channon; Alan Ball; Don Revie and the like.
Supermac has written a fascinating insight into the world of professional football during this decade. From his early
days at Fulham and Luton, to his glory days at Newcastle and his move to Arsenal for a third of a million pounds - an incredible fee for the time - he gives a clear, warts and all picture of the
game he so obviously
loves; the people he worked with and the often murky world of football politics. The book covers his England career, his retirement through injury, his less than illustrious managerial career, his drink problem, his difficulties in establishing himself outside of the world of football, his marriages and his eventual success as a media personality.
What makes this book work is the ambivalence of life as a professional footballer at this time. Certain passages sum this up well. Top flight Newcastle United players were worshipped by tens of thousands each Saturday but spent their training days shivering and huddled around a two-bar electric fire in a semi-derelict, training ground changing room. Terry Hibbitt who, sacked after an away game by the Newcastle manager, Gordon Lee, was left chasing the team bus as it left him stranded in the Midlands. This book is packed with such stories and images and is a wonderful read for everybody who loves the game; especially those of us who spent our childhood and youth watching football during this strange era in our national game.