The Smell of Football: 10th Anniversary Edition: Candid reflections on 35 years in the professional game as a player, manager and Premier League physio

Price: £19.99 - £15.39
(as of Jan 13, 2026 16:27:31 UTC – Details)


Longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year
Includes a brand new introduction and the opening chapter from the author’s new book – The Smell of Football 2
When Mick Rathbone signed for Birmingham City as a 16 year-old apprentice he was living every schoolboy’s dream. But when he discovered he was so nervous he was unable to speak, let alone pass the ball, in the presence of his boyhood hero and City star Trevor Francis, he realised that a career in football might not be everything he had imagined.
The Smell of Football is the brutally honest and utterly unputdownable story of how ‘Baz’ conquered his personal demons to build a life in the game – from the terrified teenager who purposely tried to get injured in training rather than get picked for the first team, to the experienced pro who became Head of Medicine at Premier League Everton FC in charge of the treatment of the likes of Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha and Tim Cahill.
Brilliantly written and packed with hilarious tales featuring a football ‘who’s who’ cast of characters – from Sir Alf Ramsey and ‘Big Sam’ Allardyce to David Moyes, Duncan Ferguson and Rooney himself – The Smell of Football is an engrossing and moving memoir that covers every aspect of the professional game and gives an unprecedented insight into what life is really like at football’s coalface.
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vision Sports Publishing
Publication date ‏ : ‎ 9 Jun. 2022
Edition ‏ : ‎ 10th Anniversary Edition
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1913412423
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1913412425
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 472 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 22.3 x 2.8 x 14.5 cm
Best Sellers Rank: 93,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) 44 in English Football Association 63 in Premier League Football 112 in Football References
Customer reviews: 4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars (14) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });