Tranmere Rovers
"Alright Aldo" Book Review
By Matthew Jones
February 16 2011
Total Tranmere reviews the latest book by a Tranmere Rovers legend and hero......
I received John Aldridge's second autobiography, "Alright Aldo", for Christmas, having read his first book about five years ago.
Although it took me some time to start the book (I was already reading Michael Caine's autobiography), once I started, it didn't take me long to finish the near 250 page book.
Aldridge is a Liverpool fan, a passionate one at that. He supported the club as a boy, played for them, won medals with them and now of course commentates on their games for Radio City.
But he spent ten years of his life with Tranmere Rovers and it was a glorious time for "The Gunslinger", as he netted 174 goals in 294 games for the club, with his honours including a League Cup semi final appearance in 1994 and three play-off semi final appearances between 1993 and 1995.
When Aldo became player manager in 1996, he guided the club to safety in Division One before leading the club to Wembley in 2000 for their first major cup final, the Worthington Cup, in 2000, as well as successive F.A. Cup Quarter Finals in 2000 and 2001.
In his latest book, "Alright Aldo", published late last year, Aldridge recalls these times at Tranmere fondly, giving a generous amount of space in the book to our beloved Rovers, a book which is, it seems at first, predominantly about Liverpool - both his time with the club as a player and following them as a commentator.
The book is a terrific read and brilliantly backs up his first autobiography, published in 2000.
Unfortunately for Aldo, that book was written at just the wrong time, only months before we reached Wembley after that amazing run to the League Cup final, but "Alright Aldo" covers that time brilliantly and gives a great insight into what it was like to be Tranmere player and manager.
Naturally, the book mainly covers Liverpool Football Club as they were and are such a part of Aldo's life, but this part of the book is also an interesting read, as he writes about how he felt he was forced out of the club and what it was like to play in front of his beloved Kop.
John also talks about his time playing for Ireland and how much passion he feels for the country, as well as touching on life with Oxford, Newport and South Liverpool.
He also reveals some interesting developments about Tranmere Rovers, such as how he helped to save the club by loaning them £50,000 around the turn of the century, as well as how he was offered the chance to manage Tranmere again in 2006.
In my opinion, for Tranmere Rovers fans, this book is a fantastic read and gives a great insight into the life of one of Tranmere Rovers' greatest players of all time.
The book shows his passion for the club greatly and is a brilliant read for all those fans looking to be carried away on a wave of nostalgia back to the 90s when Aldo was king, regularly knocking in goals at Prenton Park for John King's Tranmere.
The book is available online and in many book shops on Merseyside for around £14.99.
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16/02/2011 23:18
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17/02/2011 15:45
I got it here [www.merseyshop.com]
