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The Only Way I Know: The Autobiography
Not yet published
Expected 3 Mar 26Brought to you by Penguin.
At the age of 16, a boy amongst men, Andy Farrell made his first-team debut for Wigan Warriors – and became a father for the first time. At 18, he won his first senior international cap. At 21, he won his first Man of Steel Award for the Super League player of the year. He went on to win the Golden Boot award for world player of the year.
All of that on its own would have been enough to make him a sporting legend – and none of it even hinted at the fascinating second chapter of his sporting life, as a rugby union player with Saracens and England, or the third chapter, as a highly successful and beloved union coach. Under his leadership, Ireland have played a brilliant brand of rugby combining precision and freedom, and have been consistently ranked either number 1 or number 2 in the world.
Warm, thoughtful and passionate, Andy Farrell is not just a brilliant rugby he is a fascinating human being. His autobiography brings us back to his childhood in Wigan, when he made a meteoric ascent to the highest levels of rugby league; and to the extraordinary moment when, aged 15, he and his girlfriend Colleen – now his wife – learned they were going to have a baby. He writes about his ambitious attempt to remake himself as a rugby union player in his thirties. He writes about his remarkable relationship with his first child, Owen – who has gone on to become a legend of English rugby – and about the importance of family in his life. And he traces the journey that has led to him become one of rugby's most successful coaches, explaining what he has learned about leadership along the way.
Andy Farrell 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
At the age of 16, a boy amongst men, Andy Farrell made his first-team debut for Wigan Warriors – and became a father for the first time. At 18, he won his first senior international cap. At 21, he won his first Man of Steel Award for the Super League player of the year. He went on to win the Golden Boot award for world player of the year.
All of that on its own would have been enough to make him a sporting legend – and none of it even hinted at the fascinating second chapter of his sporting life, as a rugby union player with Saracens and England, or the third chapter, as a highly successful and beloved union coach. Under his leadership, Ireland have played a brilliant brand of rugby combining precision and freedom, and have been consistently ranked either number 1 or number 2 in the world.
Warm, thoughtful and passionate, Andy Farrell is not just a brilliant rugby he is a fascinating human being. His autobiography brings us back to his childhood in Wigan, when he made a meteoric ascent to the highest levels of rugby league; and to the extraordinary moment when, aged 15, he and his girlfriend Colleen – now his wife – learned they were going to have a baby. He writes about his ambitious attempt to remake himself as a rugby union player in his thirties. He writes about his remarkable relationship with his first child, Owen – who has gone on to become a legend of English rugby – and about the importance of family in his life. And he traces the journey that has led to him become one of rugby's most successful coaches, explaining what he has learned about leadership along the way.
Andy Farrell 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
- GenresSports
384 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication March 3, 2026
19 people are currently reading
61 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 16, 2025
Farrell: The Only Way I Know — Andy Farrell (16 October 2025)
📦 A working class boy. A rugby league legend. A union convert.
💥 A memoir where grit is the grammar of greatness and reinvention is survival.
📍 Wigan terraces to Twickenham’s test match stage.
🗝 Discipline, transition, loyalty. Farrell charts the journey from league prodigy to union stalwart, dismantling the myth that toughness is only physical. The tension lies in duality: family man and ferocious competitor; northern grit and international acclaim.
What if the only way forward was relentless refusal to quit?
Farrell’s memoir is blunt, unsentimental, and steeped in the rhythms of northern working class life. He recounts his rise through Wigan’s rugby league dynasty, the bruises and triumphs of a career defined by collisions, and the seismic shift of crossing codes into union. The narrative’s pulse is reinvention: how loyalty to family and sheer stubbornness scaffolded a career that defied easy categorisation.
The detail is vivid: the grind of training grounds, the roar of packed stadiums, the quiet sacrifices made at home. Farrell writes candidly about the toll of expectation, the discipline required to endure, and the resilience demanded by reinvention. His story is less about glory than about endurance — about refusing to be defined by limits, and about the cost of carrying toughness as both armour and burden.
This is not simply a sports memoir; it is a meditation on determination as creed. Farrell shows how grit is not just a trait but a language, spoken in every tackle, every recovery, every refusal to yield.
If you like memoirs where toughness is both virtue and burden, this delivers the same moral unease as dramas where survival itself is the creed.
💭 “Grit is the only grammar some lives know.”
💭 “Determination is the bridge between codes.”
📚 Why @KlacksReads recommends: Because it proves reinvention is survival, and toughness exacts a price worth naming — a reminder that resilience is not glamorous, but essential.
@KlacksReads · London · 14 November 2025
📦 A working class boy. A rugby league legend. A union convert.
💥 A memoir where grit is the grammar of greatness and reinvention is survival.
📍 Wigan terraces to Twickenham’s test match stage.
🗝 Discipline, transition, loyalty. Farrell charts the journey from league prodigy to union stalwart, dismantling the myth that toughness is only physical. The tension lies in duality: family man and ferocious competitor; northern grit and international acclaim.
What if the only way forward was relentless refusal to quit?
Farrell’s memoir is blunt, unsentimental, and steeped in the rhythms of northern working class life. He recounts his rise through Wigan’s rugby league dynasty, the bruises and triumphs of a career defined by collisions, and the seismic shift of crossing codes into union. The narrative’s pulse is reinvention: how loyalty to family and sheer stubbornness scaffolded a career that defied easy categorisation.
The detail is vivid: the grind of training grounds, the roar of packed stadiums, the quiet sacrifices made at home. Farrell writes candidly about the toll of expectation, the discipline required to endure, and the resilience demanded by reinvention. His story is less about glory than about endurance — about refusing to be defined by limits, and about the cost of carrying toughness as both armour and burden.
This is not simply a sports memoir; it is a meditation on determination as creed. Farrell shows how grit is not just a trait but a language, spoken in every tackle, every recovery, every refusal to yield.
If you like memoirs where toughness is both virtue and burden, this delivers the same moral unease as dramas where survival itself is the creed.
💭 “Grit is the only grammar some lives know.”
💭 “Determination is the bridge between codes.”
📚 Why @KlacksReads recommends: Because it proves reinvention is survival, and toughness exacts a price worth naming — a reminder that resilience is not glamorous, but essential.
@KlacksReads · London · 14 November 2025
November 4, 2025
Loved every bit of this. In true Faz fashion, the last 25% is just references 🤣 but honestly, I didn’t mind — the insight, honesty, and heart throughout were brilliant.
Getting his perspective on the Lions was fascinating, and I knew Caelan Doris was meant to be captain before his injury — such a pity. His reflections on leadership, Ireland’s unity, and inspiring a nation were genuinely moving.
From becoming a dad at 16, his meteoric rise in rugby league to Mack Hansen promising (and following through!) to get Faz’s face tattooed on his thigh, to Finley’s bike vs. cricket line (still gas 😂), it’s packed with heart, humour, and humility.
Bless him, Faz is just so easy to read. You come away with even more respect for the man behind Ireland’s rise. 💚🏉
Getting his perspective on the Lions was fascinating, and I knew Caelan Doris was meant to be captain before his injury — such a pity. His reflections on leadership, Ireland’s unity, and inspiring a nation were genuinely moving.
From becoming a dad at 16, his meteoric rise in rugby league to Mack Hansen promising (and following through!) to get Faz’s face tattooed on his thigh, to Finley’s bike vs. cricket line (still gas 😂), it’s packed with heart, humour, and humility.
Bless him, Faz is just so easy to read. You come away with even more respect for the man behind Ireland’s rise. 💚🏉
November 22, 2025
Audible Version. I’ve docked a star for the most stupid of reasons I know, but the fact is that several players now, some in their own biographies, have called out how much was got wrong in the prep for the 2019 World Cup. I understand why Farrell, as a currently active head coach, couldn’t be entirely honest but there’s definitely more glossing over of that tournament than I’d consider acceptable. It’s just doubly a pity because in general terms this is an extremely frank and honest book that was an overall great listen.
November 15, 2025
Pretty good read if you are a rugby fan. Andy Farrell is a winner. His tough mentality is incredible but he manages to be people focused and supportive too.
November 19, 2025
Book finished rather abruptly. The early years chaperts were interesting but it all beco.es abit mundane after that. A good read for any rugby fan but not exactly engaging or exciting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 21, 2025
3.5 stars
December 24, 2025
**Audiobook** hard as fook. Loved every second of this.
January 2, 2026
Another bland sports autobiography. Apart from some early life stuff, don’t know much more about Andy Farrell than I did prior to reading this.
November 16, 2025
An amazing insight to a very guarded man, interesting to hear from him in a family sense and a head coach.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews