This book was first recommended to me by a work mate about a year ago. At that time I had read dozens of football biographies and was bored hearing the same old rags to riches to wags story. Even when I was told that this one was different I still wasn't convinced. Since then McLaren has joined Meadow of course so last week I finally got round to reading the book and yes, it certainly is different from every other footballer's story I've read. Of course we get the early days playing for local football teams and standing out against the older boys, through to signing his first contract with Dundee United, playing his one and only game for Scotland and then the inevitable decline finally ending up at Ayr United in 1997 which is where this book concludes. However, it's the bits inbetween that make for shocking reading. From the sexual abuse he suffered as a six year old growing up in Castlemilk to failing a drugs test while playing for Reading in 2000 and his subsequent spell in Glasgow's Priory clinic, McLaren's life couldn't have been any different from what we come to expect from a top class footballer. I won't go any further into it but I recommend you beg, borrow or steal this book.
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From back cover of 'Tormented'.
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Andy McLaren is a professional footballer with an extraordinary story to tell. While playing for Reading in 2000, he failed a random drugs test and was immediately banned from football. He was forced to admit to being an alcoholic and a cocaine user, and checked in to the Priory clinic in Glasgow. After working hard to overcome his addictions, he resurrected his career with Kilmarnock later the same year and gained a national cap when Scotland played Poland in 2001. But what had made him resort to drink and drugs?
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In Tormented, McLaren reveals how psychoanalysis helped him come to terms with the fact that he had been a victim of abuse as a child, and how this had led him down the path of alcohol and drug addiction. He documents his difficult journey to sobriety, during which he contemplated suicide, and explains how he coped with the shocking truth from his past.
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Tormented is a powerful, honest tale of a man whose career never hit the heights that his talents merited. It is the most revealing book written by any footballer, and his remarkable story, laced with hope and humour, will be an inspiration to men and women in every walk of life.
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