Man and Ball: My Autobiography

by Stephen Ferris

As hard-hitting, pacy, and entertaining an autobiography as you would expect from a giant of Ulster and Ireland rugby. "When I came into the Ulster team," Stephen Ferris says with typical candor, "we were crap." It was, however, preferable to his day job of paving driveways, and that day in 2005 saw the start of an incredible journey for Ferris, Ulster, and Ireland rugby. A Celtic League title in his very first senior season with Ulster. A Grand Slam in 2009, followed by a sensational Lions breakthrough. A starring role in Ireland's greatest World Cup win, over Australia in 2011, when Ferris famously picked up Will Genia and carried him 10 yards. And leading Ulster from nowhere to the Heineken Cup final. Stephen Ferris had an incredible rugby career, tragically ended by ankle injuries so severe they will never properly heal. He is an inspiration to the population of Ulster, an emblem of the sport that serves as such a positive expression of its culture and identity, and earned the respect and admiration of fans across Ireland for his strength, pace, skill, and courage. Fearless, funny, and full of an incredible array of stories from behind the scenes of Ulster, Ireland, and the Lions, this is the must-have rugby book of the year.

Genres: Nonfiction, Autobiography

350 pages, Hardcover

First published September 10, 2015

Reviews

[Patrick Lyle]

Very good autobiography, just let down by the structure. A great player #SUFTUM !

[BrianC75]

Enjoyed the frank approach Ferris takes. Superior to the restrained and sometimes 'safe' books written by some of his colleagues. His love of the game shines through and his descriptions of matches and off the field craic is excellent. Felt part of it as I had watched many of the matches he describes and had payed myself for over 30 years. He appears to be taking the same open attitude to punditry - long may it continue!!

[Wren]

I read the book in 1 night with lots of breaks some parts of the book were heartbreaking while some were rlly nice to read. My only fault with the book is the way that it keeps going back and forth with no way to tell dates/years, for me it wasn't the more annoying thing to happen. I loved this book and think it's crawled up into my favourites category which doesn't have a lot of book, I liked the way the book was written. 5/5 for me!

[cAtHy]

Frank and honest what a great player Stephen was I really enjoyed this book as an Ulster and Ireland Supporter

[Conor Doyle]

Player I didn't know a great deal about. Interesting read, improved by a frank and honest writing style.

[Samuel Cowan]

As an Ulster supporter who has watched Steven Ferris play, I was excited to receive Steven book as a gift and couldn't wait to read it.
It is very interesting to read how Steven meet many of those he played with in school, club, province and country teams.
The only thing that spoiled this book for me and infact I had to leave it for a while and then return to it was the strong language that was used. As a Christian and minister of the Gospel this really did spoil things for me.
Steven yes speaks his mind and that is one of the tings that is nice about him as he now does the punditry on games. He is not afraid to say what many Ulster supporters are thinking about players and the team themselves.
One are that touch a soft spot and as thought Steven was going to say was a defining moment for him was the lost of Nevin Spence. This lost touched many folks and it is still often felt as you watch a Ulster play and expect Nevin to be brought on.
I wish Steven well in his future life.
Well worth the read if you can get pass the strong language.

[Jessikah Hope]

This was a difficult book to rate. The content of Stephen's book and his anecdotes were worth a 5/5 but the story wasn't very well written despite the ghost writer's attempts. The chronology was poor and kept flicking back and forth in time in a jarring way and the tenses were inconsistent, making it a 2/5. I've tried to meet that in the middle because it was an enjoyable read despite it's technical flaws.

[Nav Logan]

an interesting and entertaining read written in a frank andopen manner, well worth it