Flyin' High: Uniquely told in poetry, this is a football memoir like no other

We accompany an awestruck, seven year-old Salford boy at his first game in 1966 watching Best, Law and Charlton in their pomp, through relegation, raucous away days and foreign adventures. There’s bucketloads of beer, banter . . . and Barcelona’s Nou Camp for the greatest night of all! The cast includes Sir Matt, Captain Marvel, Eric the King, The Baby-faced Assassin, Reliant Robin and The Ginger Prince. The writer revels in a Fergie Wonderland, yet there’s solemnity too, the passing of heroes and American imposters. Above the Theatre of Dreams though, the red flag was, as ever, flying high.