What do you think?
Rate this book
Heads Up: My Life Story
'Alan's book is like his incisive, thoughtful, intelligent and consistently hits the target' Gary Lineker
'A brilliant, articulate, thoughtful man with a wonderful sense of Smudge encapsulates all he is and knows in this fantastic book that will capture the hearts of every football fan' Tony Adams
'It was different back then, at least through Arsenal eyes. This was a young, exciting team full of hope and desire, led by a manager bristling with ambition . . .'
Anfield '89. Copenhagen '94. Two of Arsenal's greatest triumphs in the modern era. Both matches defined by the goal-scoring prowess of one man - Alan 'Smudger' Smith.
Smith's rise in football was playing for Alvechurch in the Southern League one year, competing in the top flight twelve months later. His first three years at Leicester were characterized by a successful partnership with Gary Lineker. When Lineker left for Everton, Smith stepped forward as the main goal-getter. It was Smith's move to Highbury, however, that enabled him to become the winner of two Golden Boots and one of the most highly-rated strikers in the game.
Honest, insightful and authoritative, Heads Up reveals what it was like forging a career in the tough First Division of old before the glitz of the Premier League took hold; the ins and outs of playing for George Graham and rooming with Gazza; the truth behind Anfield '89; which team could easily have gone on to become the first 'Invincibles' had Chelsea not spoiled it one February afternoon; how the highs of the game can quickly be converted into morale-sapping lows; and how injury really does affect a career.
After twenty years of writing for the Daily Telegraph , covering four World Cups, four European Championships and countless club games, Alan Smith has done what few ex-professionals are able to do - describe in his own words what it's really like to play the game . . .
'Very enjoyable and typically honest account by my old mate on a fine career' Lee Dixon
'A brilliant, articulate, thoughtful man with a wonderful sense of Smudge encapsulates all he is and knows in this fantastic book that will capture the hearts of every football fan' Tony Adams
'It was different back then, at least through Arsenal eyes. This was a young, exciting team full of hope and desire, led by a manager bristling with ambition . . .'
Anfield '89. Copenhagen '94. Two of Arsenal's greatest triumphs in the modern era. Both matches defined by the goal-scoring prowess of one man - Alan 'Smudger' Smith.
Smith's rise in football was playing for Alvechurch in the Southern League one year, competing in the top flight twelve months later. His first three years at Leicester were characterized by a successful partnership with Gary Lineker. When Lineker left for Everton, Smith stepped forward as the main goal-getter. It was Smith's move to Highbury, however, that enabled him to become the winner of two Golden Boots and one of the most highly-rated strikers in the game.
Honest, insightful and authoritative, Heads Up reveals what it was like forging a career in the tough First Division of old before the glitz of the Premier League took hold; the ins and outs of playing for George Graham and rooming with Gazza; the truth behind Anfield '89; which team could easily have gone on to become the first 'Invincibles' had Chelsea not spoiled it one February afternoon; how the highs of the game can quickly be converted into morale-sapping lows; and how injury really does affect a career.
After twenty years of writing for the Daily Telegraph , covering four World Cups, four European Championships and countless club games, Alan Smith has done what few ex-professionals are able to do - describe in his own words what it's really like to play the game . . .
'Very enjoyable and typically honest account by my old mate on a fine career' Lee Dixon
296 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 23, 2018
5 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
Alan Smith
4 booksFootball commentator best known for his work on Sky Sports and the FIFA video game series. Former Arsenal and Leicester striker.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 28, 2018
My first televised Arsenal match was the 2006 Champions League Final versus Barcelona. Given this, I really missed out on the two great modern eras of Arsenal Football Club. As a result I enjoy reading anything by the legends who graced those teams. Alan Smith’s memior does not disappoint. Right from the kick off he mentions that he did not use a ghost writer as so many athletes do today, this gave his writing a poignancy and emotional rawness that I’ve encountered in few football books, especially since he started with the knee injury at the end of his career and worked backwards. Although the book is rightly centered around the two matches that defined his career, Anfield 89 and the Cup Winners Cup Final in 94, I wish it had more of a season by season chronicle instead of jumping around in time. You can’t blame him though, these two events are all most Arsenal fans will want to read about. Should have pride of place on any Arsenal fan's bookshelf.
January 19, 2019
Alan Snith is a nice guy. This book shows why he is a nice guy and he is much more eloquent than so many footballers. This is a well written autobiography. And he is a very high achiever. Thanks for the memories.
June 10, 2019
Alan Smith is a nice, sensible bloke and therefore this is a fairly sensible book, not too many wild stories to recount. As an Arsenal fan who started watching football during Alan’s time at the club I enjoyed picking up little nuggets of info from the book about that time.
Would say it is mainly a book for Arsenal and Leicester fans.
Would say it is mainly a book for Arsenal and Leicester fans.
November 23, 2020
I read this mainly due to a favourable review in When Saturday Comes and while Smith's decision to pen it himself was admirable, there were a few too many idioms that felt unnatural in a book that contained both interesting insights and humdrum details.
Smith comes across as a fairly decent guy, and his age has given him the chance to reflect on his career in a way that fresher autobiographies don't. The more analytical aspects were interesting, as there are times he is happy with his personality and others where he wished he'd imposed himself more. By taking a broad overview there are no passages that just reel off match results or times he scored, to an extent that in his second golden boot season I was surprised he'd scored that many - he was careful to choose matches that mattered or contained a significant incident.
He was sadly less discerning when it came to more personal anecdotes. It was a difficult balance as his writing made it clear his family were always supportive, and the close relationship was worthy of inclusion. But he gave the model of lots of his teammates' cars and the stories of Lineker dropping his keys in the River Avon and meeting a consul's wife were a little long winded. Sometimes he would give details on George Graham's training methods that were insightful and gave the reader an idea of what it was like to play for Arsenal in the late 80's, and at other times he would talk about aspects of football in quite a cliched manner. I thought his analysis of his play for England was measured though, and was frank and revealing about both Smith and his managers.
It is hard to describe why the idioms were annoying but it was the sheer amount of them. Lineker was lazy in the warm up but in the match was 'all systems go'. Ian Wright's attributes 'should work a treat' with his. In isolation these were fine, but the cumulative effect was wearing, especially for someone whose punditry is original, and his brief chapter on his media work was quite good.
I was originally going to give this three stars but reviewing it has convinced me to bump it up. He was able to pinpoint why he played better before Ian Wright's arrival, and could articulate his respect for George Graham while still being willing to criticise as well. He avoided the worst aspects of autobiographies (lists of results, descriptions of goals) and did provide fresh information, as well as a few comments from his teammates and, interestingly, his family. However, I'm reminded of my cousin's wedding where the best man said "I'd love to give you some embarrassing stories but I haven't got any." If he hadn't got any great tales from off the pitch, there's nothing wrong with that but we didn't need to hear them, but it was nice that a non-extrovert could still be successful in the game.
Smith comes across as a fairly decent guy, and his age has given him the chance to reflect on his career in a way that fresher autobiographies don't. The more analytical aspects were interesting, as there are times he is happy with his personality and others where he wished he'd imposed himself more. By taking a broad overview there are no passages that just reel off match results or times he scored, to an extent that in his second golden boot season I was surprised he'd scored that many - he was careful to choose matches that mattered or contained a significant incident.
He was sadly less discerning when it came to more personal anecdotes. It was a difficult balance as his writing made it clear his family were always supportive, and the close relationship was worthy of inclusion. But he gave the model of lots of his teammates' cars and the stories of Lineker dropping his keys in the River Avon and meeting a consul's wife were a little long winded. Sometimes he would give details on George Graham's training methods that were insightful and gave the reader an idea of what it was like to play for Arsenal in the late 80's, and at other times he would talk about aspects of football in quite a cliched manner. I thought his analysis of his play for England was measured though, and was frank and revealing about both Smith and his managers.
It is hard to describe why the idioms were annoying but it was the sheer amount of them. Lineker was lazy in the warm up but in the match was 'all systems go'. Ian Wright's attributes 'should work a treat' with his. In isolation these were fine, but the cumulative effect was wearing, especially for someone whose punditry is original, and his brief chapter on his media work was quite good.
I was originally going to give this three stars but reviewing it has convinced me to bump it up. He was able to pinpoint why he played better before Ian Wright's arrival, and could articulate his respect for George Graham while still being willing to criticise as well. He avoided the worst aspects of autobiographies (lists of results, descriptions of goals) and did provide fresh information, as well as a few comments from his teammates and, interestingly, his family. However, I'm reminded of my cousin's wedding where the best man said "I'd love to give you some embarrassing stories but I haven't got any." If he hadn't got any great tales from off the pitch, there's nothing wrong with that but we didn't need to hear them, but it was nice that a non-extrovert could still be successful in the game.
February 13, 2019
One of the few autobiographies from a sportsman that wasn't ghost written with Smith's career post-football as a sports writer coming in handy.
The book is well written and concise and would probably be best enjoyed mainly by Arsenal and Leicester fans. Anyone who knows anything about Alan Smith should know this wouldn't be a book 'exposing secrets' from behind the scenes or anything like that. Sensible man + sensible life = sensible life story.
The book is well written and concise and would probably be best enjoyed mainly by Arsenal and Leicester fans. Anyone who knows anything about Alan Smith should know this wouldn't be a book 'exposing secrets' from behind the scenes or anything like that. Sensible man + sensible life = sensible life story.
November 24, 2018
A fascinating read.
An excellent book, full of interesting details that provides a fascinating insight into the life of Alan Smith and professional football during 1980's and 1990's.
An excellent book, full of interesting details that provides a fascinating insight into the life of Alan Smith and professional football during 1980's and 1990's.
October 10, 2018
Frank and insightful
Smudge describes his career very openly with warts and all detail. Well put together and worth a read by any football fan.
Smudge describes his career very openly with warts and all detail. Well put together and worth a read by any football fan.
September 9, 2021
Thoroughly nice fella with a decent read
February 11, 2025
Extremely well written account. Enjoyed the stories of the times I can remember him playing but interesting reading how he got there and how he coped in retirement.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews