Blue Thunder: The Jock Wallace Story

by Jeff Holmes

From a humble miner to one of Scotland's greatest ever soccer managers, Jock Wallace worked his way through the ranks, proving himself more than worthy of his team's name As a player, Jock Wallace had a love of giant-slaying, while a fruitful coaching apprenticeship included European glory before he won two unprecedented trebles with Rangers. At the height of his popularity in Glasgow he quit for Leicester City, where his typically brutal training regime guided the Foxes to the English First Division. After a spell at Motherwell, he moved back to Ibrox, but was sacked after just two trophies in three seasons. Seville was the next port of call, followed by Colchester. Sadly, the great man was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease during his time at Layer Road. When he died in 1996, his popularity in Glasgow gave rise to a suitably huge and colorful shrine at Ibrox.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 23, 2014

Reviews

[gillian chalmers]

Great read.

[Simon Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This manager was a legend at Rangers (and understandably so considering the huge haul of trophies he won) and at Leicester City (less understandably because although he got them promoted to the top league they promptly got relegated the next season). There was something about the man, though - a certain charisma - that means his memory is still cherished by fans of a certain age around Leicester way. This is a good football biography in that it describes Wallace's achievements and captures the man's attitude and spirit, but the writing isn't quite good enough to make it a classic of the sporting biography genre.