Up Front…

by Victor Spinetti

Big, blond and a goal-scoring machine, Kerry Dixon delighted Chelsea and England fans during the 1980s. Yet his fall from grace, from the pinnacle of a playing career that had few equals, has been, by his own admission, spectacular.

Kerry’s life in recent years has been bedevilled with problems with gambling, drugs and, worst of all, a prison sentence in 2015 after he was convicted of grievous bodily harm following a fight in a pub. At that point, one of football’s golden boys finally hit rock bottom. This book is the honest, unflinching account of his rise and fall, and of the new life he is now slowly and patiently building.

His memories of playing in a more robust era of the game, before the days of multi-million-pound salaries and all the rest of the modern football circus, will appeal to plenty of nostalgic football fans, as well as to all those who remember him as one of the game’s all-time greats. Equally, his unflinching recollections of his darkest days, culminating in his time in prison, are about as far from the Beautiful Game as anyone can imagine, and as fascinating as they are sometimes uncomfortable. In the end, however, his stunningly successful career at Chelsea has ensured that he remains loved by fans, despite his troubles.

The world is all too familiar with tales of once-famous sportsmen and women falling from grace. Kerry Dixon’s story, however, is unique at once for its flashes of humour in adversity, its clear-eyed reflections on a different age of football, when leading players could all too easily be treated as disposable, and for its humility. For Kerry Dixon, as this often moving autobiography shows, the only way is up.

With a foreword by Frank Lampard and contributions from Harry Redknapp and Pat Nevin

408 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2006

About the author

Vittorio Giorgio Andre "Victor" Spinetti was a Welsh actor, author, poet, and raconteur. He appeared in dozens of films and stage plays throughout his 50-year career, including the three 1960s Beatles films A Hard Day's Night, Help!, and Magical Mystery Tour.

Born in Cwm, Spinetti was educated at Monmouth School and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff, of which he became a Fellow. After various menial jobs, Spinetti pursued a stage career and was closely associated with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop. Among the productions were Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be and Oh, What a Lovely War! (1963), which transferred to Broadway and for which he won a Tony Award. Spinetti's film career developed simultaneously; his dozens of film appearances included Zeffirelli's The Taming of the Shrew, Under Milk Wood, The Return of the Pink Panther and Under the Cherry Moon.

During his later career, Spinetti acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company, in such roles as Lord Foppington in The Relapse and the Archbishop in Richard III, at Stratford-upon-Avon; and, in 1990, he appeared in The Krays. In 2008 he appeared in a one-man show, A Very Private Diary, which toured the UK as A Very Private Diary ... Revisited!, recounting his life story. Spinetti was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011 and died of the disease in June 2012.

Reviews

[Ann Baxter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read, the stories are rude in places but never less than interesting, what a splendid story teller he was

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the first part of this biography, based in the valleys was much more vivid and interesting than the later parts. The later parts seemed more fragmented and patchy - may be representative of the comment that he always felt himself to be a 'jobbing actor' long after he had clearly established himself in his profession.