List Of Writers

VIGNES, SPENCER

Website: www.spencervignes.co.uk

Spencer Vignes is a 38-year old freelance journalist who lives in Cardiff. He has written for many newspapers, magazines and press agencies both in the UK and abroad including The Observer, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times and PA Sport. He is also the author of three books including The Server, listed for the William Hill Sports Book Of The Year Award 2003.

Reviews:
With respect to The Server (Pitch Publisher, 2003)

"…A sideways, exuberant and perceptive journey through the underachieving world that is English tennis...” 
John Inverdale, BBC Sport

“...Vignes plays everywhere from derelict inner-city courts to the upmarket surroundings of Queens Club, and amid the anecdotes makes points that British tennis needs to think hard about...”
Nick Szczepanik, The Times

With respect to Lost in France: The Remarkable Life and Death of Leigh Richmond Roose, Football’s First Play Boy (Tempus, 2007)

"...a terrific biography that rescues a charismatic figure from undeserved obscurity..."
Andrew Baker, Daily Telegraph


Selected Publications:
The Server (Pitch Publisher, 2003)
A Few Good Men: Brighton and Hove Albion Dream Team (Breedon Books, 2007)
Lost in France: The Remarkable Life and Death of Leigh Richmond Roose, Football’s First Play Boy (Tempus, 2007)



Lost in France: The Remarkable Life and Death of Leigh Richmond Roose, Football’s First Play Boy (Tempus, 2007)

In 1914 one of Britain’s most famous sportsmen went off to play his part in World War One. Like millions of others, he would die. Unlike millions of others, nobody knew how or where. Until now.

Lost In France is the true story of Leigh Richmond Roose. Playboy, soldier and the finest goalkeeper of his generation. A man so good at his position on the field of play that the Football Association made one of the most significant rule changes in the game’s history just to keep him in check. Small wonder that when the Daily Mail put together a World XI fit to take on another planet, Leigh was the first name on its team sheet.

The result of six years painstaking research, this new biography lifts the lid on Leigh’s remarkable life for the first time, documenting his colourful and frequently controversial career with a string of top clubs including Everton, Stoke City and Sunderland not to mention at international level with Wales. It highlights his superstar status among supporters, teammates, the opposite sex and the media plus his pivotal role in the game’s evolution. It also pieces together the events surrounding his tragic death and reveals how a simple administrative mistake prevented Leigh’s family from discovering his exact fate for 87 years.

Lost In France is the tale of an exceptional sportsman who became caught up in a global catastrophe – one that would cost him his life, his identity and his rightful place as one of football’s all-time legends.’

To purchase this title from amazon.co.uk, please click on its front cover