Roy of the Rovers

Following on from his bestselling All-Round Genius (HB 9781845131371, PB 9781845132408) about a real life sports man who resembled a comic strip hero, Mick Collins turns his attention to a comic strip hero that many thought was a real life striker. Roy of the Rovers delighted fans from the early '50s right up to the strip's closure in the 1990s. This affectionate, entertaining book takes the reader through Roy's many incarnations and gets the inside stories from the editors, illustrators and story creators who worked on the comic through the years. It also has memories and contributions from sports celebrities involved in the comic, such as Bobby Charlton and Gary Lineker. This is a 'biography' of Roy, but it sets the comic in the context of the times showing how the rise in computer games eventually spelled the death knell for Britain's most famous sporting hero. Written in a light, entertaining style and illustrated with strips from across the years and a colour plate section, Roy of the Rovers is the perfect guilty pleasure for every childhood fan who is now a nostalgic adult.
Mick Collins is a freelance sports writer, BBC radio host and author of the hugely popular All-Round Genius, also published by Aurum. He lives in London.