And just reading the first few pages of 400 and odd pages does make you wonder who the **** was EGD Wright on. Ci?
Just a few of the ex players attending tonight... Dean Windass, Ken Wagstaff, Justin Whittle, Craig Fagan, Mark Greaves, Jason Price, Adam Lowthorpe, Matt Duke and Neil Buckley, as well as some ex backroom staff.
Left work at 7, straight to Mr. Chu’s in my Ford gear, paid me £20, got me book, ****ed off home, no time for pleasantries. Cheers Rich, but you could have warned me that I’d need a forklift to get it to my car
A fantastic evening, was glad I could make it. Great to see, hear and talk to so many players. Though your son stole the show Rich
Thanks for the comments everyone. It truly was a fantastic night, one that will live with me for the rest of my life. The players - Ash, Deano, Waggy, Justin, Greavesy, Pricey, Craig Fagan, Matt Duke, Adam Lowthorpe, Tom Wilson - were all terrific, utterly terrific, but it was the atmosphere created by the fans that made the night. Everything was so positive, and so passionate. There were a lot of high points - including both of my grandmothers, who have a combined age of 190, getting to talk to Burnsy, which made their nights - but the standout for me was Waggy signing a book for Chillo, and then receiving a picture of a smiling Chillo holding said book the next morning (it's on Matt Rudd's Twitter feed if you want to see it). Getting a book signed by everyone present to Pete Skipper's family (and being able to pay tribute to Skip on the night) was also one of those things that I just felt privileged to be able to do. Thanks to all those of you who came, or who have bought the book and been saying nice things about it. It's still the best selling football book on Amazon, somewhat unbelievably! The role that the not606 community has played in creating a stir around the book is not lost on me. Thank you all. Regarding its availability, the book is now for sale in Waterstones in town centre, and will be on the Cut Price Bookstore in Beverley as of this afternoon. Oh, and Quill, I'm well aware that the little sod stole the show. His pocket money has been docked for a few weeks.
I completely agree about how good the night was because of everyone's positivity and passion. I think everyone around City just needed something nice to think about and distract us from the situation around the club. It was great that so many supporters were there as well as all the ex-players and even people like Burnsy who really 'get' City. Even when the Allams were mentioned in response to Ashbee's comments, it felt like a celebration of the past and the future rather than a worry about the present. I enjoyed the Bristol City game and the lap of honour a bit more as a result of that night just lifting my spirits a bit. You've obviously done a fantastic job with the book, and the launch night as well was really quite excellent. Thanks for your contributions to the City community, Rich.
Thanks PLT. Such comments really do mean a lot. A handful of people have asked me why I didn't keep some money for myself, split the money with Dove House or something. But Saturday night was priceless to me. You can't buy experiences like that. And a lot of the comments I'm getting are the same. That's the best kind of payment you can ever get.
Just started reading the DECADE. Ian Ashbees forword made me feel proud that I was there and when Ashbee says he came because he knew the club were going somewhere, I had a big **** eating grin on my face, because I remember back there in the fourth division, going to Avenue after games and telling people we're going to the Premier League. People scoffed, shook their heads and even laughed at me. Even my uncle told me "Kemps Kemps Kemps, Hull City are and will always be a third rate, third division football club. Oh how satisfyingly smug I felt when I relayed his words to him just a few years later. This book is ****ing brilliant. Richard Gardham is now a Hull City Legend.
I'll settle for being someone who wrote a decent Hull City book, but thanks. Ash's foreword is rightly getting a lot of praise. I wrote 438 pages and he wrote one and he gets all the attention! More seriously, Ash just gets Hull and Hull City in a way that many people not born or raised in our fair city fail to. I'd love for him to be more involved in the club again. The love for the club from pretty much all players from the Great Escape onwards is still so evident. It's a shame there's so much detachment surrounding City right now as that sort of thing is so buildable on.