It doesn't take long to discover whether a sporting autobiography is going to be interesting or not. Believe me, I've done an extensive survey on them over the last 40 years or so, and if I were competing in Mastermind my special subject would be "The Written Works of West Ham United players from 1969 to the Present Day".

It's the details I crave. For years, before the idea that I would be a professional footballer evaporated like a morning mist, I prepared myself for all the ups and downs of my future life.

And the ups – as I had read in Goals From Nowhere (Stanley Paul, 1969), the life story of West Ham and England midfielder Martin Peters, artfully assembled by Peter Corrigan – would involve getting a cup of tea in bed on match days from my wife, whomever she would turn out to be.

I would also be allowed to read the morning paper at my leisure. For such were the privileges extended to Peters by his loving wife, Cathy, whose face I was already familiar with thanks to a special family photo-feature in Goal magazine.

There was much else of interest in that account of Peters' life, and I cherished it – but the conventions of the day precluded it from being totally revealing.

By the time another West Ham player who operated in midfield – although playing wider than Peters – got around to publishing his life story 40 years later the genre had altered, and total honesty – assuming the subject wanted to be honest – was admissible.

In his book From Right-Wing to B-Wing...Premier League to Prison (FootballWorld, 2009), former West Ham, Manchester City, Everton and Birmingham City winger Mark Ward charts his rise and fall – and rise – with an honesty that is unquestionable.

What sort of details are we talking here? Well, I open the book at random and what do I find? An account of a disagreement between two of Ward's West Ham colleagues, Paul Ince and Alvin Martin.

After being told to "keep it simple" by the veteran defender and captain, young Ince apparently responded "F*** off, you Scouse c***!" As Ward comments: "I heard him say it, and I thought 'You've overstepped the mark there, Paul.'"

Sure enough, as the teams troop down the tunnel at half-time, the big centre-half – according to Ward's account – picks up the midfielder and holds him against the wall before head-butting him and making the following suggestion: "Don't ever speak to me like that again."

Now that is what I call detail. I confess, that is one of the main reasons why I read football biographies. I want to know all about the goals and games and teams I have seen; I want to relive and expand those memories; and I want to know the nitty gritty!

Which brings me to James Willstrop.

Here is a sportsman who, by his own estimation, will never find himself headline news in the way that Martin Peters once was, even though he has proved himself at the very highest level in his sport – which, if you are not aware, is squash.

Willstrop, as I write, holds a proud place at the top of the World Squash rankings. Later this year this 28-year-old son of Norfolk will seek the title to go with his status – the World Open – at the National Squash Centre in Manchester. He has already been in the final once, losing to his England and Yorkshire colleague, Nick Matthew.

But if Willstrop has not yet managed to get his hands on the trophy in world squash, he has made a habit of winning big competitions. Earlier this year, he also published a book entitled Shot And A Ghost – A year in the brutal world of professional squash (CPI, £9.99) in collaboration with Daily Telegraph journalist Rod Gilmour.

In diary form, he charts his eventful season from 2010 to 2011, although he darts forward, and more often backwards, in so doing.


Last year I spoke to Willstrop about his frustrations over the IOC's continuing, and baffling, failure to welcome squash into the Olympic Games. A few weeks later I chatted to him about his sport while researching a book. His responses in both cases were helpful, thoughtful and very honest. So I knew what to expect when I got his book – and I was not disappointed.

It opens with a prologue in which our subject, in the aftermath of a surprise defeat in the 2011 British National Championship at the end of a long, exhausting season, effectively experiences a meltdown. "I've had enough," he bemoans, slumped against a wall behind the court.

It is one of many low points in his painstakingly – and occasionally painfully – honest account. Others include a reflection upon his defeat in the 2009 British Open final by Matthew, whom he accused in the aftermath of behaving unacceptably on court.

"His attitude that evening was unacceptable to me, and I have never been the type of player to go for the 'what goes on court stays on court' theme," Willstrop writes. "People don't need to swear and shout at each other, and start blocking and cheating in order to show passion. If a player is intent upon being pretentious and vicious on court, then I would rather keep to those same principles off it."

Say what you mean, James! Now that is what I call detail.

Willstrop reflects upon many aspects of his sporting life as he negotiates a season that includes his World Open defeat by Matthew but also triumphs such as his audacious securing of the Tournament of Champions trophy in New York. Back in his hotel room in the early hours of the morning, he looks at the trophy and the winner's cheque.

"I sit on the bed, wondering what on earth I do now," he writes. "My mind is busy and remnants of adrenalin surge through my body. There is absolutely no way I will sleep so I settle for this curious, lonely sensation, grateful that I am feeling an emptiness having won and not lost. The post-tournament comedown has fully taken hold; I have a sore throat coming on."

This feels genuine – although not having won an international squash tournament, or an international anything, I would not really know.

Matthew Pinsent would, however, and so when he commends the tome in the following words: "There aren't many sports books that I read and feel the sportsman himself jumps off the pages. James' book shows the stresses of top-level sport on and off the court. A great read" it is an opinion worth marking.

The devil is in the detail, and Willstrop retrieves detail with the relentlessness of.. well, a squash player.

The book can be ordered by clicking here.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, has covered the past five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. He is now chief feature writer for insidethegames. Rowbottom's Twitter feed can be accessed here.