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As literary genres go, the footballing autobiography is a strange beast.

The last few years have seen the market flooded with books by ex-pros, current players, managers and even referees. This worrying trend really got going after the 2006 World Cup, causing Joey Barton to famously lament that "England did nothing in that World Cup, so why were they bringing books out? 'We got beat in the quarter finals. I played s**t. Here's my book.' Who wants to read that?".

Wayne Rooney 'wrote' his first autobiography at the tender age of 20 and David Beckham has notched up a number of bestsellers despite only finishing his career last season.

And it's that time of year again, with Harry Redknapp providing plenty of entertainment with his recent book, while everyone in football waits for the ticking time bomb that is Sir Alex Ferguson's imminent weighty tome to go off.

But for every 'Joe Cole: My Autobiography' (hands up who really needed to know the West Ham man's life story back in 2011?) there's a more revelatory, entertaining or controversial story to be told, so here's five more memorable autobiographies - for better of of worse.

Clowning around

Former Bradford, Newcastle and Sunderland man Len Shackleton was one of football's great entertainers in the 1940s and '50s, and he brought that showmanship to his autobiography.

With no medals and only five England caps - a selector once dismissed his international hopes by saying "We play at Wembley, not the London Palladium" - you'd be forgiven for thinking that he wouldn't have too much to talk about.

Using his nickname "The Crown Prince of Soccer" as the title for his 1956 autobiography, his fun-packed life story contained plenty of amusing dities about his on-pitch hijinks, such as playing one-twos with the corner flag, pretending to comb his hair while going past defenders and other such shenanigans.

But it was his off-the-pitch antics that that really irritated the establishment, as his showboating ways didn't half annoy his managers and chairmen who weren't fans of such rampant individualism. And you can bet your bottom dollar that they weren't impressed when they got to the chapter in his book titled "The Average Director's Knowledge of Football", which consisted of an empty page with the footnote reading "This chapter has deliberately been left blank in accordance with the author's wishes."

Take that

As prickly as the man himself, Roy Keane pulled no punches in his 2002 effort "Keane: The Autobiography".

Included are tales of his footballing education under Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest and his bust-up with Ireland boss Mick McCarthy on the eve of the 2002 World Cup finals, but there was one passage which dominated the headlines upon release.

Keane and Alf-Inge Haaland has a long-standing feud that began when the Norwegian accused Keane of feigning injury when he injured his cruciate ligament against Leeds in 1997.

(Image: Getty)

By 2001 Haaland was at Manchester City and Keano decided to settle a few scores when the two sides met in the Manchester derby.

“I’d waited long enough," wrote the Irishman. "I f**king hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you c*nt. And don’t ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries.”

At the time of the match Keane saw a straight red, was banned for three games and fined £5,000, but this passage of the book saw him hit with a further five-game ban and a £150,000 fine. Which is about £5,000 a word for the offending piece of prose. Ouch.

Now you see him...

Another former-Manchester United man got himself in a spot of bother with his literary effort, but instead of facing the Premier League's ire, he got the wrath of Fergie instead, which is undoubtedly far, far more terrifying.

One minute big Dutchman Jaap Stam was the Red Devil's rock at the back and the next he was whisking his way to Serie A after Lazio snapped him up for £15million, just like that. The reason why? It could well be this passage in his book "Head to Head" where he alleges that all was not necessarily above board when joined the club.

"We had to keep everything under wraps, so the club (PSV) didn’t find out about the unofficial approach," he wrote. "We spent most of our 30 minutes just talking about what my plans were and how he’d like me to come to Old Trafford."

Then all of a sudden Laurent Blanc was marshaling the United defence and a squad full of Manchester United players were reminded who's boss.

A car crash of a book

""They’ve agreed £55k and this is their best and final offer. Are you happy with that?” When I heard Jonathan repeat the figure of £55k, I nearly swerved off the road."

An autobiography is a chance to present yourself in a good light and get your story across in the best possible way.

So what went wrong for Ashley Cole?

(Image: Getty Images)

Apart from nearly crashing his car at the news Arsenal were offering £5,000 a week less than he wanted, his dear readers are treated to 288 pages of ego, ignorance and every other proverbial stick to beat the worst type of modern day footballers with.

What's more, the Chelsea man's ghostwriter has tried to tell the story in Cole's voice, using "weren't" instead of "wasn't", subbing "don't" for "doesn't" and whatnot to keep it real. Rather than effectively capturing the patois of his subject like Irvine Welsh in Trainspotting, for example, it's just annoying. On second thoughts, perhaps he's nailed Cole completely.

One best left alone if you have any respect for the game of football or the English language, though.

Common sense on trial

If you're were the manager of a title chasing team and had just seen two of your best players go through an ugly, very public court case that sullied the reputation of the club you were trying to transform, what would you call your book?

David O'Leary opted for "Leeds United on Trial", which promptly resulted in him 'losing the dressing room' as the time-honoured cliche goes (it's below the West Stand still, David).

The former Arsenal legend had transformed George Graham's dull but functional Leeds side into a swashbuckling young team that threatened to disrupt the upper echelons of the Premier League and even Europe before it all came crashing down and this book played a part in United's fall from grace.

The title of the book was defended as 'ironic' by the club and O'Leary insisted only one chapter was about the Woodgate and Bowyer case.

Whether it was bad judgement, naivety or greed on O'Leary's part is up for debate, but the man who was tipped at the time to be Fergie's replacement at Old Trafford was soon on his way out of Elland Road. The 55-year-old's managerial career never quite recovered as the phrase 'doing a Leeds' entered the footballing lexicon as shorthand for leading a club into financial ruin.