This volume traces a season in the life of Manchester City. Not just any season, but 1998-99, when the club found itself down among the dead men of English football. This once-proud club, with two League Championships and four FA Cups to its name, was forced to battle with the likes of Macclesfield Town, Colchester United, and Wigan Athletic in English football's third flight. With the cooperation of the club itself, Mark Hodkinson was allowed to mingle with players, ex-players, directors, office staff, and fans, to conduct numerous interviews with the people who form the passionate community of Manchester City. Hodkinson was involved in every aspect of the club through a long, stirring season, constantly on the look-out for the unusual, the offbeat, the hopeful and the heartbreaking. Through it all, he sought to remain impartial, and resist the temptation of becoming another facet of the club's PR operation.
Mark Hodkinson is a freelance writer working exclusively for The Times. His previous book, Life at the Top, is widely recognised as a football classic.