The Mud the Beer and the Rugby

This is a humorous book about grass roots rugby featuring a part real, part mythical club called 'The Vale'. It could have been any one of hundreds of clubs and the characters which include the author as a young soccer-mad convert, the club joker, the hard man, the would-be star player if he ever got fit enough and many others are guaranteed to remind readers of someone they know. This is a light-hearted look at rugby at the amateur level which focuses on the camaraderie, ethos and above all the humour in the game both on and off the pitch as the author tries to recreate for the reader all the fun and ambience of many a Saturday afternoon and evening without the inconvenience of having to put boots on. Bill Beaumont has contributed a Foreword to the book on behalf of the Rugby Football Union Injured Players Foundation and Richard Greenwood, a former England captain has described it as "the funniest and most accurate evocation of the real grass-roots game since The Art of Coarse Rugby". Proceeds from the book go to the Injured Players Foundation and the target of £100,000 will be raised if an average of 20 copies are sold per club affiliated to the RFU. The book is also available in paperback. The author will be visiting clubs and other events to promote the book during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.