The Smell of Football

When Mick Rathbone signed for Birmingham City as a 16 year-old he was living every schoolboy's dream. But when he discovered he was so nervous he was unable to speak in the presence of his boyhood hero Trevor Francis, he realised that a career in football might not be everything he had imagined. This is the brutally honest and utterly unputdownable story of how 'Baz' conquered his personal demons to build a life in the game - from teenaged apprentice to the experienced pro who became Head of Medicine at Premier League Everton FC in charge of the treatment of the likes of Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha and Tim Cahill.