True Storey: My Life and Crimes as a Football Hatchet Man

by Peter Storey

True Storey is the compelling autobiography of notorious 1970s football legend Peter Storey, dubbed 'the bastard's bastard', who gained a reputation for ultra-violence on the pitch and had a capacity to find even greater trouble off it - a fact borne out by a string of criminal convictions and several jail sentences. A key member, as their midfield enforcer, of the resilient Arsenal team that won the European Fairs Cup followed by the cherished Double in 1970-71, Storey was a confirmed ladies' man who loved a drink. In the mid-'70s, Storey's pub, the Jolly Farmers in Islington, became a magnet for north London villains and he rubbed shoulders with Great Train Robber Tommy Wisbey and Howard 'Mr Nice' Marks, Britain's biggest drug smuggler. Storey talks candidly about the crimes he committed and the spells in prison that blighted his life. He reveals the truth about his feud with George Best and relays an astonishing account of how Bertie Mee tried to make him miss the 1971 FA Cup final against Bill Shankly's Liverpool side because the Arsenal manager wanted Eddie Kelly to start instead. Today, Peter is an elusive character but a man transformed and at ease with life. Only now does he feel the circumstances are right to set the record straight and tell his side of a remarkable True Storey.

Genres: Football

279 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 2, 2010

Reviews

[John Newcomb · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a different sort of "footballers lives" story. Peter was a fixture of the Arsenal team I grew up with and though not a flamboyant member of the squad, like Charlie George or Stroller, he would certainly have been one of the first names on the team sheet. We all would cheer his no nonsense approach and how little the likes of George Best or Peter Osgood could get out of him. That said, after football, and from an age when footballers were not multi millionaires, he became a petty criminal after retirement and Highbury, Old Trafford and White Hart Lane were replaced by Wandsworth, Brixton and Wormwood Scrubs as the result of his silly crimes. Surprisingly honest, it shows how easily it was in those days to fall from riches to rags.

[John M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty disappointing as I never really felt I got to learn about what made him a hard man. The few anecdotes he does tell are no different to stuff I saw as a football manager for years in the so-called softer days of today.What does come across is a huge dollop of stupidity mixed with fecklessness and topped by infidelity, Not a nice guy - not for footballing reasons but "human" ones. Read it if you get it very cheap and there is nothing else to do.

[Sean Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to read a sensationalised account of the authors earlier life then this will not be for you.
Peter Storey sticks to what happened and how it happened without glamourising or seeking sympathy.
An account of how football friends succumbed to gambling and alcohol and the rocky path he followed post soccer.
You can feel him sinking into depression and alcoholism as he grapples with his demons.

[Nirjay]

Excellent.