ONE might have thought that after the Joan Collins victory over the publishers Random House in New York last week, celebrity writers would be avoided like the plague. Not so. Only this week it emerged that Transworld Publishers will be paying former Ireland soccer team manager Jack Charlton a reported £500,000 for his autobiography.
Due out this autumn, it is to be ghost-written by Irish Times sports correspondent Peter Byrne who has already written two World Cup diaries, Italy `90 and USA `94 with Charlton.
It will, says Byrne, be the biggest sports book ever published in the UK in money terms and the figure mentioned is twice the sum, reportedly £250,000, given to cricketer Ian Botham for his story. Byrne says that beyond this he has no knowledge of the actual figure agreed with Charlton but knows its size is in keeping with the fascination the British have for him. The real money for the publishers, who have popular authors Frederick Forsythe, Danielle Steele and Catherine Cooks on their books, will come, he says, not from sales but from serialisation in the tabloids.
The autobiography will detail Charlton's life from his early years in the north of England, where he went down the pit at Ashington colliery at 15, played for Leeds United, got 35 caps for England and then had 10 years managing Ireland. Byrne spent last weekend in Newcastle and Charlton will be coming over here frequently during the next few months. The style, Byrne says, will be Charlton's and there is a lot of meaty stuff.
Is it possible the ongoing grief in the FAI is not only not over but will reach a crescendo come the autumn?