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A Seat In The Crowd

by Paul Windridge & Linda Harvey

If you are a regular visitor to the Theatre of Dreams website, the names Paul Windridge and Linda Harvey may not be familiar to you, but their pseudonyms Red Kelly and Salford Lass most certainly will be. Paul and Linda have been writing about Manchester United on the United mailing lists and on the website, for over three years now. What began as simple reports of the game, done by two people who were new to this writing business, developed into more complex narratives, each telling the story of a day and the experience, and including what goes on behind the scenes and the reactions to off-pitch issues.

Gradually they began to get reactions from people all over the world who asked again and again, when are you going to put it all in a book? Well now they have and the baby they have been nurturing all season is about to be born. "A Seat in the Crowd" will be published early in June.

"A Seat in the Crowd" is about travelling the length and breadth of England and Europe to watch Manchester United during this, the first season of the new millenium. It is about the lifelong journey of two supporters (with the help of one or two friends along the way) who have been following their club for over 40 years each. A lifetime's support which has enjoyed a renaissance over the last decade due to the superb management of Alex Ferguson, who has taken the team, and it's fans, to heights never before scaled. "A Seat in the Crowd" is about "being there" - and consequently is just as much about supporters as it is about the team on the pitch.

For those of you who have regularly read the match reports, some parts of the book will seem familiar, but don't let this put you off! Both sets of reports have been combined in new and creative ways, much of the book is new material written specially for it and it also includes comment and reactions to many off-the-pitch issues which have been debated by fans over the season.

The way the book has been developed and produced is very special. Through the internet and the mailing lists some of us have found friendships which will last the test of time, indeed one of those friendships has given birth to this book. Another has given birth to the publishing. Paul and Linda have known Steve Fisher through the mailing lists, an aquaintance renewed in the Hard Rock Cafe, on the Placa Catalunya in Barcelona, on a very famous day in May 1999. Steve introduced them to Trafford Publishing, based in Victoria, British Columbia. And it was Steve who stepped forward when traditional publishers didn't want to know.

"A Seat in the Crowd" is a book written in the UK, produced in Canada and (hopefully) sold all over the world - a truly trans-continental collaboration. hhttp://www.trafford.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000156549

The book is NOW AVAILABLE, and orders can be placed immediately, by contacting Trafford Publishing direct at:
TRAFFORD PUBLISHING

NOTE: If you live in the UK and are not able to buy the book over the internet,
you can get it at Waterstones on Deansgate in Manchester,
OR
you can order it from:
NHI
PO Box82,
Stretford, Manchester
M32 8BX

Reviews:

Just want to pass along a quick note to say, "IMHO, If you haven't yet purchased a copy of 'A Seat in the Crowd', I ask you, 'What are you waiting for???'"

For me, it was a chance to re-live some of the more memorable moments from this past season. Some, I had forgotten (and some, I would like to forget still..;-). It was also a learning experience about what life in the stands at Old Trafford and at the away grounds are really like. For those of us not fortunate enough to live near the 'Centre of the Universe', you can 'live' the match going experience thru the eyes of the authors. But, this book is not limited to just match facts, it also is loaded with thoughts and opinions on issues surrounding the club and its supporters without all the boring debate. A MUST for ALL United fans worldwide!!

Well done, Linda & Paul, well done!!

Darren Wayne Caudill
Darren's Manchester United Page
http://www.mufcusa.com
"It's a United World...everyone else just lives in it..."

From: Mark Longden
Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 20:12:25 +0100

Both,
Finished the book on hols, really struck a chord with me, it was almost like [I was] really there, Linda's diatribes about the direction the game is heading actually brought a tear to my eye (ok I was pissed) but [nonetheless], the best United book I have read for years.

Mark

FYI. ease off on the references to the list and add more sex and violence

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