ian redford

In an era before big money arrived in football, Ian Redford, the son of a Perthshire farmer, was known as football's rich kid. But, in reality, there was no silver spoon. And at an early age, when it was discovered that Redford was completely deaf in one ear, he was advised not to play contact sport of any kind. But, against the odds, he made it as a professional footballer and went on to break the Scottish transfer record at the age of just nineteen. Redford's remarkable journey started when he got his first big move from Errol Rovers to Dundee FC. He played first-team football for Dundee at the age of sixteen and made his record move to Rangers at nineteen. Then, after nearly six years in Glasgow, Redford returned to Dundee, this time to play for Dundee United under the pugnacious Jim McLean - and his career reached new and unexpected heights. Away from football, Ian Redford's life has rarely been straightforward. As well as coping with his deafness, his family was touched by the tragedy of his younger brother contracting leukaemia. It was a tragedy that devastated his young life but gave the young Ian his survival motivation. Then there was his tempestuous relationship with his father, his mother's battle with alcohol and his own personal war with depression. But Ian Redford has come through it all - and has also learned some valuable lessons along the way on how not to deal with the Russian mafia! When he started out, Ian Redford could never have dreamt of the life to come and his candid, entertaining and searingly honest account of his life - written in his own words - is both moving and highly entertaining.