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Ben Thornley: Tackled: The Class of '92 Star Who Never Got to Graduate
Ben Thornley: The Class of '92 Star Who Never Got to Graduate is the autobiography of a Manchester United player who had the world at his feet, only for a tackle to shatter his knee - and his dreams. Ben tells his story with insights from the likes of Alex Ferguson, David Beckham and Ryan Giggs. It's the Class of '92 as you've never heard it before.
- GenresFootball
288 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 17, 2019
As United-mad kids in 1994, we knew that Ben Thornley was going to be the next big thing. Everyone said it. He was the best since Best. He’d scored in every round of the FA Youth Cup in 1992: dazzling in a side that included Beckham, Butt, Giggs, Gary Neville and Robbie Savage. Then, on the cusp of first-team success, auditioning for a FA Cup semi-final spot, he was wiped out by a journeyman defender in a reserve game, and he never quite got it back again.
This co-written autobiography – elegantly mixing Thornley’s reminiscences with those of schoolfriends, teachers, coaches and fellow players – is funny, honest and deeply moving, its emotional heft accentuated intentionally by the non-linear structure (the book begins with the horror tackle and ends just before, alternating between pre- and post-injury) and perhaps unwittingly by the prominence granted the FA Youth Cup Final, which has attained a near-mythic status in modern football folklore, but remains a mere footnote for those teammates who ‘made it’. For Thornley, that was as good as it got.
Occasionally the point of Thornley’s undoubted brilliance as a youngster is laboured – we don’t need every former first-teamer lining up to re-state it – and the effect that his professional disappointments had on his mental state is hinted at then rather glossed over, but he’s a very frank and likeable narrator, lacing the story with gossip and self-deprecation, and the chapters in which his family take turns to tease one another and bicker over past history are lovely, evincing a deeply loving but cheerily unsentimental dynamic.
Also good to have Mike Phelan confirm that he still loves a bacon butty, a fact that merited a two-page feature in the 1990 United annual.
This co-written autobiography – elegantly mixing Thornley’s reminiscences with those of schoolfriends, teachers, coaches and fellow players – is funny, honest and deeply moving, its emotional heft accentuated intentionally by the non-linear structure (the book begins with the horror tackle and ends just before, alternating between pre- and post-injury) and perhaps unwittingly by the prominence granted the FA Youth Cup Final, which has attained a near-mythic status in modern football folklore, but remains a mere footnote for those teammates who ‘made it’. For Thornley, that was as good as it got.
Occasionally the point of Thornley’s undoubted brilliance as a youngster is laboured – we don’t need every former first-teamer lining up to re-state it – and the effect that his professional disappointments had on his mental state is hinted at then rather glossed over, but he’s a very frank and likeable narrator, lacing the story with gossip and self-deprecation, and the chapters in which his family take turns to tease one another and bicker over past history are lovely, evincing a deeply loving but cheerily unsentimental dynamic.
Also good to have Mike Phelan confirm that he still loves a bacon butty, a fact that merited a two-page feature in the 1990 United annual.
October 21, 2018
Firstly I feel like I need to add a disclaimer because when I was a teenager, while my friends had posters of pop and movie stars on their bedroom walls, I had footballers instead. I started watching the game at the same time as the Class of 92 and so reading parts of this were like going back to those teenage years when I would join hundreds of others at a freezing cold Gigg Lane to watch the Manchester United reserves play every week. I really liked the style in which this book was written - some autobiographies can get dragged down with too much detail so they read more like a fixture list or discography but this felt like a conversation instead. It felt very real and honest and you can tell despite Ben’s mistakes, how well regarded he is by his friends, family and the football community. It just reiterates how devastating his injury was.
March 1, 2019
Ben Thornley: Tackled: The Class of '92 Star Who Never Got to Graduate is an autobiography written by Ben Thornley with Dan Poole. This memoir chronicles the short lived football (soccer) career of Ben Thornely and the promise that went unfulfilled when he got injured.
This book serves as an entry (A book by an author with the same initials as you) in the Toronto Public Library Reading Challenge 2019. This was particularly difficult to find, but thankfully a helpful librarian suggested using the smart algorithm in Amazon books so I typed in my first name and up came Ben Thornley.
Benjamin Lindsay Thornley is an English former footballer who last played for Witton Albion in the Northern Premier League, where he played as a winger. He is most widely known for his career as a youth and reserve team player at Manchester United, where he played in the left wing position from 1991 to 1998 (becoming a professional in 1992 after helping United win the FA Youth Cup) but was occasionally used as a striker.
The Class of '92 was a group of famed football players recruited by Manchester United under the management of Sir Alex "Fergie" Ferguson and trained by assistant coaches Brian Kidd and Eric Harrison. Some of the more notable alumni of this class were David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, and Ryan Giggs. Ben Thornley was a part of this class, but failed to graduate when he got injured.
Thornley was tipped for greatness by many some even suggest on par with Beckham and Giggs. However, a horror tackle in a reserve game, just weeks after his first team debut, severely damaged his knee and ultimately his chances of making it to the very top. Thornley recovered and played for a number of years but was never able to fulfill his vast potential.
Ben Thornley: Tackled: The Class of '92 Star Who Never Got to Graduate relates the story of Thornley’s life in football. The book jumps back and forward between the time before his injury and the time afterwards. The earlier periods are told through many voices including his family members and fellow classmates of Beckham, Giggs, and Scholes. The later periods are told in a more traditional autobiographical style.
Thornley is pretty open about his own failings in particular his fondness for booze and his constant cheating on his partners. At times the stories are a bit outlandish, which Thornley seems to relish the retelling of some of his less than polite behavior. However, the telling of his off-field life while a player is necessary to fully appreciate how difficult it must have been to come to terms with his reduced status in the game.
Football wise, the book contains some interesting insights into the English game of the late 90's. In particular Thornley was fairly scathing of the short-lived Lilleshall model which saw the F.A. try to mimic the French Bluefontaine academy with very little success. Most of all, it gives quite a lot of insight into the Manchester United set up at the time, with a particular focus on the youth coach Eric Harrison.
Ben Thornley: Tackled: The Class of '92 Star Who Never Got to Graduate was written rather well. The format, while unconventional works rather well. It feels extremely genuine and the style captures the interaction among family and friends extremely well. There is a lot of humor and banter among the friends and many of the anecdotes may not have been told to a more traditional biographer.
All in all, Ben Thornley: Tackled: The Class of '92 Star Who Never Got to Graduate is wonderful account of a promising career cut short, his spiral downward about a life that could have been, and to find happiness in what he has achieved than what he could have.
This book serves as an entry (A book by an author with the same initials as you) in the Toronto Public Library Reading Challenge 2019. This was particularly difficult to find, but thankfully a helpful librarian suggested using the smart algorithm in Amazon books so I typed in my first name and up came Ben Thornley.
Benjamin Lindsay Thornley is an English former footballer who last played for Witton Albion in the Northern Premier League, where he played as a winger. He is most widely known for his career as a youth and reserve team player at Manchester United, where he played in the left wing position from 1991 to 1998 (becoming a professional in 1992 after helping United win the FA Youth Cup) but was occasionally used as a striker.
The Class of '92 was a group of famed football players recruited by Manchester United under the management of Sir Alex "Fergie" Ferguson and trained by assistant coaches Brian Kidd and Eric Harrison. Some of the more notable alumni of this class were David Beckham, Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, and Ryan Giggs. Ben Thornley was a part of this class, but failed to graduate when he got injured.
Thornley was tipped for greatness by many some even suggest on par with Beckham and Giggs. However, a horror tackle in a reserve game, just weeks after his first team debut, severely damaged his knee and ultimately his chances of making it to the very top. Thornley recovered and played for a number of years but was never able to fulfill his vast potential.
Ben Thornley: Tackled: The Class of '92 Star Who Never Got to Graduate relates the story of Thornley’s life in football. The book jumps back and forward between the time before his injury and the time afterwards. The earlier periods are told through many voices including his family members and fellow classmates of Beckham, Giggs, and Scholes. The later periods are told in a more traditional autobiographical style.
Thornley is pretty open about his own failings in particular his fondness for booze and his constant cheating on his partners. At times the stories are a bit outlandish, which Thornley seems to relish the retelling of some of his less than polite behavior. However, the telling of his off-field life while a player is necessary to fully appreciate how difficult it must have been to come to terms with his reduced status in the game.
Football wise, the book contains some interesting insights into the English game of the late 90's. In particular Thornley was fairly scathing of the short-lived Lilleshall model which saw the F.A. try to mimic the French Bluefontaine academy with very little success. Most of all, it gives quite a lot of insight into the Manchester United set up at the time, with a particular focus on the youth coach Eric Harrison.
Ben Thornley: Tackled: The Class of '92 Star Who Never Got to Graduate was written rather well. The format, while unconventional works rather well. It feels extremely genuine and the style captures the interaction among family and friends extremely well. There is a lot of humor and banter among the friends and many of the anecdotes may not have been told to a more traditional biographer.
All in all, Ben Thornley: Tackled: The Class of '92 Star Who Never Got to Graduate is wonderful account of a promising career cut short, his spiral downward about a life that could have been, and to find happiness in what he has achieved than what he could have.
July 18, 2022
A very enjoyable autobiography. Thornley's personality - mentioned throughout the book - comes across throughout the book. This book doesn't read like a conventional autobiography and is the better for it. Chapters of the 'story of my life' are interspersed with recollections of the defining moment of Thornley's career - the terrible knee injury - and his road to recovery. Crucially, and engagingly, the story of Thornley's life is told in the words and quotations of others. This provides different perspectives on his skill as a footballer and his potential and the promise that injury curtailed. Certainly more entertaining than many of the bland footballer autobiographies from the 'Class of '92'.
April 1, 2024
Brilliantly honest book from Ben Thornley,one of Manchester Uniteds most talented players from the class of 92 team.Ben details in depth the horrific injury that has affected his whole carrer and life and how he got through it,without that awful injury he definitely would of been a united first team regular for years and years to come along with the likes of beckham,schokes,giggs butt and the Neville brothers, the book is well written as well with insights from his family and ex teammates throughout the book.one of the best sports books out there,highly recommed this book.
June 29, 2022
Unlike most footballing Autobiographies, Tackled isnt just a diary of Ben's life, it shares conversations with players and you get the reverence in which he was held by his peers- many of whom went on to be footballing superstars.
A must read for a United fan from the 90s
A must read for a United fan from the 90s
April 16, 2023
I decided to read this autobiography after seeing Thornley on an episode of Under the Cosh.
What’s clear is that he potentially was the best of the crop of the class of 1992.
Coming back from that injury, surely he was never going to be the same player.
An enjoyable read.
What’s clear is that he potentially was the best of the crop of the class of 1992.
Coming back from that injury, surely he was never going to be the same player.
An enjoyable read.
February 12, 2019
Brilliant, loved the stories, heartbreaking in parts but she much joy and laughter to.
July 16, 2021
An amazing book about how is career fell apart and what an amazing player he could have been.
An insight from all ex man utd players and managers of what they thought of Ben Thornley.
An insight from all ex man utd players and managers of what they thought of Ben Thornley.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 6, 2021
Not bad, he's some character
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews