The Iron Duke: Bobby Windsor – The Life and Times of a Working-Class Rugby Hero
£0.80
Lions legend Bobby Windsor has enjoyed triumphs beyond the dreams of most international players but has also suffered personal tragedy. His rugby career as the best hooker in the British Isles during the second golden era of Welsh rugby in the 1970s is a turbulent tale of blood and thunder on the pitch. There are riotous incidents off the pitch, including unscheduled fights with professional boxers, revelations about illegal payments during the so-called amateur era and what Windsor did to upset the Establishment and become blackballed by one of the most famous clubs in the world.
Windsor’s irrepressible sense of humour comes shining through on every page, except when he gives chapter and verse on the personal crisis that drove him to plan suicide.
The Iron Duke is the no-holds-barred, warts-and-all story of a working-class Welsh folk hero who rose from humble beginnings to become a permanent member of the greatest Lions team in the history of rugby union.
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Additional information
| Publisher | First Edition (7 Oct. 2010), Mainstream Publishing |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 240 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1845966503 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1845966508 |
| Dimensions | 15.24 x 2.29 x 24.13 cm |
by Wrxhm man
An icon and real hard-man hero from my era. Fascinating insight and real nostalgia for a game that has changed hugely since those happy days. Even at my lowly level of playing you felt part of one big community that included internationals at every-day club levels.
I couldnt put the book down and enjoyed it immensely – by the end however I had had enough of too much criticism of colleagues and an over-egging of the violence – no need – we all knew how hard these men were.
by R.P.M.
Bobby Windsor was one of the hardest and most skilful hookers ever to play the game. This revealing biography, which draws on endless interviews with the man, shows him to be an excellent raconteur, perceptive analyst of the game that he loved so much and played for free, and a genuinely nice guy and family man, though he could be a bit of a rogue!
Rugby Union when Mr Windsor played was not for the faint-hearted and one had to be prepared to do things during a match that would no doubt today result in the ‘aggressor’ being sent to prison and the ‘victim’ claiming compensation and expensive trauma therapy!
Mr Windsor is scathing but not personally rude about today’s calibre of players especially the much disempowered scrummage. I saw him play on a couple of occasions and would not have relished being on the opposing side playing hooker. The game was hard.
Read too about his personal tragedies, which are handled with open-hearted sincerity. The description of his beloved first wife’s final days and eventual funeral cortège on its way to St Woolos cemetery is particularly moving as is his suicide dash to Tenby.
A great read.
by Smithy
Incredible rugby player
by J. Purchase
Anybody who knows their rugby knows that Bobby Windsor is a legend of both the Welsh team and The British and Irish Lions. This book cements that reputation when you see the experiences he has had both professionally and personally. The title of the book sums Bobby Windsor up pretty well and it was a great read from start to finish. It covers his career from the very beginning, through playing for Pontypool and Wales before becoming a legend for the Lions in South Africa in 1974. The book covers a lot of his personal life which adds to the book greatly and shows what a fascinating life he has had. Fellow team mates offer contributions that go some way to explaining why Windsor was such an unstoppable force in a team littered with quality players.
I would recommend this book to anyone with in interest in rugby, whether Welsh or not. It was a great read and I really enjoyed it.
by James Davies
I don.t read many sports biographies but this one is a definite exception.
He played when rugby was a harder and in many ways a dirtier game than now, though he is scathing that rugby has not developed into a game for everyone.
An interesting life and a genuine working lass hero
by Amazon Customer
A great incite into the game of rugby from a hard working steel worker who led the game from the front row and was probably the best hooker in the world in the amatuer era
by Gordon R. Morris
This is a MUST read for any rugby player or fan of Bobby Windsor’s era and, indeed, present day rugby players and fans who wonder what the game was like in its amateur days with only one referee and two “touch judges” … no TMO, no multiple TV cameras, no interference from the touch judges, no big screen analysis of “dirty” play. The days when Hannibal Lechter could have been on the field murdering someone and the referee would ignore it. The days when Mike Burton was instructed to hit South Africa’s Free State one-eyed lock, de Bruyn, to blunt his fearsome reputation … Mick obliged, de Bruyn’s false eye popped out and, when it was eventually found, he stuck it back in with a piece of grass sticking out of the side. A very entertaining book for any rugby forward and an eye-opener for a good few rugby backs.
by Qprf
Bought on amazon as a used item looks like a new book.
Replacing another Copy which had fallen apart.
A great book about a great player from a never to be forgotten era an ever-present over many long seasons.
Not many like him around these days I Could not quite see him on I’m a celebrity get me out of here like some of today’s players.