When I met the amusing Mike Summerbee, he gave me several of his business cards as a "bespoke tailor". In Colin Shindler's new book Fathers, Sons and Football, about three generations of Summerbee footballers, the author says that former Manchester City winger Mike has also at various times been a deckchair handler, gravedigger and grass-verge cutter.
Shindler's book covers Mike, his father George and the third generation, Nicky.
Football books are usually dull and bereft of good personal anecdotes, but the book is amusing and candid and throws a bit of light on the dysfunctional nature of many of the people in the beautiful game.
Mike's mother, Dulcie, is one of the stars of the book. When Malcolm Allison was Manchester City manager he criticised her son in print. She recalled: "I went to see Allison and he said: "Hello, Dulcie, it's nice to see you' and I said: 'It isn't nice. You're a bugger, you are. Don't say things about Michael that aren't true'."
The account of Nicky in the modern game is revealing, from manipulative managers to cross-eyed City goalkeepers. Nicky played under Alan Ball at Maine Road, whose missus told off Keith Curle, saying: "You should have been tighter at the back." Maybe City should have appointed her.
There's also a sympathetic account of George's time as a player in the pre-war game. Back in 1937, when Dulcie was chatted up by George, then a Preston player, she was warned by her mother: "You've got to be careful. They've a terrible reputation have footballers."
That's true but, going by this book, the game itself should carry a health warning.
