Mick Collins

All-Round Genius – Better than David Beckham

If Max Woosnam were alive today he would be bigger than David Beckham as he had more to him than a right boot for free kicks and corners. He has competed in sports and championships the old Golden Ball can ever dream of. In All-Round Genius Mick Collins has written a very fair and very honest account of his life in sports and outside too. This book has not been written by a Manchester City fan but by a sports journalist with an eye for the truth.

Max Woosnam was born in Liverpool in September 1892 the son of Rev Canon Maxwell Woosnam one time Archdeacon of Macclesfield and canon of Chester Cathedral. He was a well educated amateur who managed to go to Cambridge and not only did he become a Cambridge Blue he was a quadruple Blue. He captained the football team, cricket team, lawn tennis and real tennis as well as being a scratch golfer. After Cambridge he played amateur football for Corinthians and Chelsea.

Woosnam was one of the first footballers to sign up for the war effort and fought in the disastrous Gallipoli campaign. After the war he returned playing amateur football before signing for Manchester City who were a professional team but he continues to play as an amateur. He also had a very varied and busy life outside of football as he represented Great Britain at the 1920 Olympic Games winning a Gold and Silver medals in tennis, he also won a Wimbledon doubles title as well as played in the Davis Cup.

One of my favourite stories of Woosnam was that he excelled at table tennis and promoted it widely. In due course he played Charlie Chaplin and beat him using a butter knife rather than a bat! It also mentioned how he fell out with many of his former fans when he broke a strike to drive a bus during the General Strike of 1929.

This is a fascinating book well worth reading and enjoying to see there was someone who will always be better than Beckham but will always be a unknown to many.… (mehr)