Frankly Mr Shankly Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 If you do Cake, your face will glow red too!! Nonce Sense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longtimeblue Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Nonce Sense! Theres no scientific proof for it, but it is a fact Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ackey Posted April 15, 2009 Share Posted April 15, 2009 Theres no scientific proof for it, but it is a fact Fact me 'til I fart! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Mac Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 For older Latics followers, did you see this in the Oldham Advertiser: ‘Warts and all’ pledge from shamed footballer by Carl Marsden SHAMED Oldham Athletic star Mark Ward will walk free from prison next month – and publish a controversial autobiography within days. The Advertiser can reveal that the 46-year-old former right-winger – who went on to shine at West Ham United, Manchester City, Everton and Birmingham after leaving Boundary Park – is to be released from Kirkham open prison on May 11. He is coming out on licence, after serving four years of an eight-year sentence for admitting possessing cocaine with intent to supply. In May 2005, police had raided a property in Merseyside which Ward had rented on behalf of a contact. Inside they found a cocaine stash with a street value of £645,000 – and what was described as a "drugs factory". Ward maintains he never lived at the address and only visited occasionally, but – as he will outline in his book ‘Mark Ward: From Right-Wing to B-Wing... Premier League to Prison’ – he refused to ‘grass’ on his associates. Tony McDonald has known Ward for more than 20 years and kept in constant touch through letters and prison visits. He told the Advertiser: "Wardy is a spiky, emotional character, someone who wears his heart on his sleeve and has always said what is on his mind – even if that has led him into more than a few serious scrapes over the years. His book will reflect those traits and their consequences. He didn’t want to hold back – and he doesn’t – but he didn’t want this to be just another ex-footballer’s boring autobiography." Within the book, Ward relives fond memories of his two seasons at Oldham Athletic after Joe Royle plucked him from the obscurity of Northwich Victoria in 1983 and set his career up and running. McDonald says a 5,000-word chapter called ‘Royle Approval’ recalls the thrill of scoring on his Latics’ debut at Brighton, his relationship with Royle, and revealing insights into what he and team-mates Micky Quinn, Darren McDonough and Andy Goram got up to while away from the club. The book also charts the heartbreak of rejection by his beloved Everton as a 16-year-old – and his joy at signing for them for £1m ten years later – plus his role in West Ham’s most successful league team. But the details of Ward’s life off-the-field are those that are likely to attract most headlines. Ward tells about the night he assaulted comedian Stan Boardman, and brushes with the criminal underworld that resulted in blackmail threats and a six-month intimidation campaign at the hands of a notorious crime figure. He also explains how he got embroiled in the drugs trade and befriended a man who turned out to be one of Birmingham’s biggest drug barons – and was later shot dead in a city centre pub. Then, of course, there are his experiences in jail. Mr McDonald said: "Mark is full of remorse for his crime. He wants to put his nightmare experiences behind him and is determined to rebuild his life. Getting out of prison and releasing the book is the start of that process." Mark Ward’s book will be published on May 30. See http://www.footballworld.co.uk/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oafc-lover Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 good luck on your release mark ,you deserve a second chance!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldhamSheridan Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 good luck on your release mark ,you deserve a second chance!! Indeed. You don't however deserve to make a further penny out of crimes which may well have lead to the deaths of people, be them smackheads. Although, he can point as much as he likes to this being a football book, the reality is it would be very unlikely to be released if it wasn't for his crime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennylatics Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Mark Ward book – Premier League to Prison Ward would no doubt have received a lighter sentence - possibly half - if he had named names when interrogated by police. But Mark Ward is no grass - "it's not my style and against all the principles I was brought up with," he says. He has taken his punishment on the chin, done his time and will never reveal the identity of the men whose drugs operation effectively condemned him to jail. He is so remorseful that he has spurned the opportunity to really repay society by removing the drug dealers from circulation. He owes them no loyalty so I have to agree that he is simply afraid of the repercussions of naming them. If he was honest enough to admit this, I would have sympathy. But to claim he has done an honourable thing - 'against the principles I was brought up with' - is pathetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch_KTF Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 (edited) He is so remorseful that he has spurned the opportunity to really repay society by removing the drug dealers from circulation. If you ask me society needs more drug dealers. This is based on a (conservative) report that 11 million people in Britain have taken illegal drugs (presumably because they enjoy it), not my own thoughts. Drugs ought to be legal anyway. Liberty issues aside, prohibition clearly doesn't work......the link to a recent article from a well respected publication expands. How To Stop The Drugs Wars Edited May 9, 2009 by Stitch_KTF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeslover Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 If you ask me society needs more drug dealers. This is based on a (conservative) report that 11 million people in Britain have taken illegal drugs (presumably because they enjoy it), not my own thoughts. Drugs ought to be legal anyway. Liberty issues aside, prohibition clearly doesn't work......the link to a recent article from a well respected publication expands. How To Stop The Drugs Wars Sadly the mood seems to be going the other way, with drinking and smoking being progressively pushed towards prohibition. Still, it guarantees huge profits for bad people who are happy to break the law, so lets keep on rolling with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch_KTF Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Sadly the mood seems to be going the other way, with drinking and smoking being progressively pushed towards prohibition. Still, it guarantees huge profits for bad people who are happy to break the law, so lets keep on rolling with it. At least that would show some consistancy in the approach....and I suspect that some of the people at the very top are ones who both profit from the drugs trade and influence policy. Why else would drugs be illegal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeslover Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 At least that would show some consistancy in the approach....and I suspect that some of the people at the very top are ones who both profit from the drugs trade and influence policy. Why else would drugs be illegal? I actually suspect that that is bollocks, and that it's just the result of an over-mighty state which any number of interest groups (self-righteous medical types, Daily Mail readers and so on) using the law to enforce their prejudices about personal morality. I reckon you should roll them up a fat one to help them unwind ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch_KTF Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 I actually suspect that that is bollocks, and that it's just the result of an over-mighty state which any number of interest groups (self-righteous medical types, Daily Mail readers and so on) using the law to enforce their prejudices about personal morality. I reckon you should roll them up a fat one to help them unwind ;) I suspect I watch too many documentaries on google video, but then I do have an open mind. I like how you put that though. And less of the talk of 'fat ones' please - I can't afford my progress to be slowing to 50 words an hour. The situation here is already comically desperate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Mac Posted May 17, 2009 Author Share Posted May 17, 2009 There's an article on Wardy in today's News of the World (page 15). For online users, go to the notw's sports section: http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/30935...n-new-book.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stitch_KTF Posted May 17, 2009 Share Posted May 17, 2009 Opening line - "A SOCCER star brought down by the evil of drugs" Or the evil of greed? Or the evil of gambling? Or the evil of criminal drug barons, who can expolit and thus create the evil of prohibition? Nope - the evil of drugs. Brainwash time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Mac Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 (edited) As Mark’s publisher, we are very aware that he will receive condemnation for the crime he committed and he expects that too. Even though he has never sold drugs to anyone nor encouraged their use, he knows full well he made a very big mistake by getting involved in the way that he did – by agreeing to rent a property in his name and then handing over the keys to people who used the house as ‘a stash’. Desperate though he was at the time, he knows there is no excuse and he clearly did wrong. But he has taken his punishment and served four years. We all make mistakes in life, though Mark’s was obviously a relatively huge one. Doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance, though? As for the actual timing of his book, Mark never set out with the intention of trying to ‘cash in’ on his crime. He was approached by several publishers who encouraged him to write his story and he went with us because I’ve known him for around 25 years and he wanted to put his trust is someone who would help him to tell his story the way he wanted it to read. I’m glad that he chose us even though other, bigger publishers offered him a better (financial) deal. He really began the writing process soon after his arrest in May 2005 – initially in the form of keeping a diary and then, after we agreed to produce his book, he focused on it more and more and in fact wrote some 100,000 words from his prison cell. Which is an achievement in itself. I’m certainly not trying to paint him as a saint, but what none of you will have read before is that he also spent time inside racing more than £2,000 for a children’s charity (by running a half-marathon on the prison gym machine) and, once he arrived at Kirkham open prison, walked three miles to church and back each day to tend the church grounds – much to the delight of the local parishioners. Not only did writing his book help to pass the time when he was banged up for 23 hours a day, but it was a cathartic experience and helped him to do a lot of soul-searching over the past four years. The book records, sometimes in harrowing and even heart-rending detail, the highs and lows of not just a former footballer, but a human being just like you and me. Mark certainly won’t get rich from writing his story but the writing process has been good for him and, after all said a done, he needs to get a job and find somewhere to live. No one could condone what Mark did immediately before he was arrested and what he got himself involved in, but I respect him for the way he has taken his punishment and retained his dignity. I also respect that everyone has the right to an opinion even if we don’t necessarily agree with it. To those who have/will bought the book, many thanks and I feel sure you will enjoy it. To those who decide not to buy it, that’s fair enough. Life is, after all, about making choices. In the meantime, some of you might like to tune in to BBC Radio 5 Live tomorrow morning (Tuesday) at 10.00am, when Mark will be the main guest on Victoria Derbyshire’s news and current affairs programme. The Independent newspaper are also running a 2-page feature on Wardy. Edited May 18, 2009 by Tony Mac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boboafc Posted May 18, 2009 Share Posted May 18, 2009 is this about him too?bbc tv prog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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