As a professional football coach and football scout, Edward 'Ted' Buxton is well-known in the world of professional football. He has travelled the world, scouting, assessing and negotiating for players working in the UK, USA and China. But had it not been for football, Ted's prospects would have been no better than other working class lads from South London...A tough Docklands upbringing during the Blitz, and subsequent conscription for national service, lead 18-year-old Ted away from playing football, to Malaya and the brutal realities of war. But it is here that he developed his instinct to survive: kill or be killed. After the war, knowing he'll never make the big time as a player, Ted realised his aptitude for coaching and spotting talent. From ordinary butcher boy and soldier, to Chief Scout and assistant to Terry Venables at the England squad, this inspiring book recounts life alongside many legendary football managers - Gordon Jago, Bobby Robson, Brian Clough, Sir Alex Ferguson, Sven-Goran Erikkson and Arsene Wenger.
Not forgetting the numerous players - from George Best to Rodney Marsh, Alan Shearer, Paul Gascoigne, Glenn Hoddle, Ossie Ardiles, Pele, Beckenbauer, Maradona - to name but a few. The book is packed with anecdotes and encounters with the famous and infamous - from Ella Fitzgerald to the Kray Twins, and behind-the-scenes at Downing Street and Buckingham Palace.