Apex Publishing Ltd: Independent International Book Publisher for unknown and established authors

Celebrities' Favourite Football Teams
By Chris Cowlin


- - Reviews by the Famous and Well Known
An entertaining read for any football fans, it’s great to see Chris is donating all his royalties to a very worth while cause. (Photo: Jim Bowen with a copy of 'Celebrities' Favourite Football Teams').
Jim Bowen, TV Presenter

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This book proves that the Beautiful Game makes even famous people random about their choice of team and ludicrously optimistic about their chance of victory - how utterly refreshing!
Lembit Öpik, Member of Parliament (Montgomeryshire)
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A great book, a must for all football fans.
Roy Shaw, Famous Armed Robber & Author
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I was amazed to see which Celebrities' supported which teams, a book that all football fans would enjoy, nice to see that all of Chris' royalties are being donated to The Willow Foundation.
Nicholas Bateman, TV Presenter and Ex-Big Brother Star
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I found this book really interesting, it gives a different angle on famous people's upbringings and roots.
Chris Day, Footballer (Crystal Palace, QPR, Millwall)
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Many a bloody bar room brawl has started with a seemingly innocent debate over which football side a famous actor or musician supports? Finally Chris Cowlin has put an end to the bloodshed and violence with a fantastic book that delivers the final word on the subject. What instantly strikes you about Celebrities’ Favourite Football Teams is the painstaking amount research that has obviously been given over to its creation. The number of celebrities covered is astonishing and some of their recollections of their childhood football memories truly touching. With the royalties going to a great charitable cause, the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson appeared happy to contribute, rather than forced, and the enthusiasm shines through in the text. A great read.
Alasdair Gold, Author of 'Ode to Jol: A Spurs Fan's Diary'
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A good book by a good man, Chris Cowlin puts his money where his mouth is supporting the Willow Foundation helping others. TOP MAN... Respect.
Lindsay Frayne, Author of 'The Frayne Bros'
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Another great book by Chris Cowlin, well orchestrated, very well put together, not only a very interesting read on celebrities favourite teams, Chris also gives his full support to the Willow Foundation helping young adults who are seriously ill have a special day. 10 out of 10 mate you are the STAR ... One in a million.
Leighton Frayne, Author of 'The Frayne Bros'
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(Photo: Frank McLintock with a copy of 'Celebrities' Favourite Football Teams').
Frank McLintock, Ex-Football Player

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(Photo: Lee Dixon with a copy of 'Celebrities' Favourite Football Teams').
Lee Dixon, Ex-Football Player

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A great set of replies, an entertaining book for any football fan, it’s great to see all of Chris’ royalties are being donated to charity, a very worth while cause. (Photo: Brian Murphy with a copy of 'Celebrities' Favourite Football Teams').
Brian Murphy, Actor

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What an interesting insight into which football teams are favoured by many of our most beloved celebrities. It will happily grace any coffee table - as it does mine! My favourite contribution is Edwina Currie’s advice that Rooney should really learn to control his temper and her relief when the World Cup finished as then everything returned to normal!
Matt Duquenoy, Actor
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It’s great to see how many celebrities’ support the blues – a fascinating book that I could read over and over again, also great to see that the Willow Foundation is benefiting from the sales of the book.
Jason Marriner, Author of 'It's Only A Game'
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This book was obviously a labour of love for Chris Cowlin. His effort in contacting all the celebs included in the book is amazing and the result is fascinating. The varied amount of text sent back from the celebrities helped me to read a little bit into the type of people they were. Jim Bowen, for example devoted two pages to his beloved Blackburn Rovers whereas Neil Hamilton replied with two lines. But at least people did take the time to reply and did their little bit to raise money for The Willow Foundation. Continuing on from the contibuters is a section in which Chris has researched the favourite teams of a plethera of names. This is a delightful book for any football fan and will help to raise cash for a worthy cause. Well done Chris Cowlin and Apex Publishing Ltd.
Adam Pearson, Author of Various Sports Quiz Books
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(Photo: Dave Courtney with a copy of 'Celebrities' Favourite Football Teams').
Dave Courtney, Celebrity Gangster & Best Selling Author

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(Photo: Judy Cornwall with a copy of 'Celebrities' Favourite Football Teams').
Judy Cornwall, Actress

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(Photo: Stuart Drummond with a copy of 'Celebrities' Favourite Football Teams').
Stuart Drummond, Mayor of Hartlepool

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I was a little disappointed when I read Celebrities Favourite Football Teams. I wasn't in it. Joking aside there is loads of information about the rich and famous and which teams they support. Where does Chris Cowlin get his energy to research the information in his books? Oh and by the way Chris my favourite team is Greenock Morton and Scotland of course. (Photo: Andy Ritchie with a copy of 'Celebrities' Favourite Football Teams').
Andy Ritchie, Ex-footballer & Scottish Footballer of the Year

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I had picked this book up in Waterstone's in Colchester on a shopping trip, as this kind of "trivia" book always interests me. I especially find it interesting to see the professional players who actually supported a team that was far removed from the one they actually played for. It has a really good cross-section of celebrities, and even the ones who professed to not particularly having an interest in football came up with good answers to the questions. Very enjoyable, interesting and well put together.
Dave Goody, Author of 'A Century United: The Centenary History of Southend United'
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Whilst I can't call myself the greatest fan of football, I am an avid celebrity watcher - as are thousands of other like minded people - and I thoroughly enjoyed this book and reading the celebrities' views on their favourite teams. I think other celeb watchers will also be queuing to buy this book! From the football aspect, I would add that my dad used to energetically support Crystal Palace and I myself have always had a soft spot for them too as my old school playing fields virtually backed on to their ground!
Sheila Collins, Author of 'Truffles Diary'
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The whole book is a credit to Chris Cowlin, well done Chris! (Photo: Edwina Currie with a copy of 'Celebrities' Favourite Football Teams').
Edwina Currie, Writer, Broadcaster and Politician

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This book is great, I really enjoyed it, well done Chris!
Fenton Gee, Actor and Recording Artist
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One of the most unique ideas for a fact book that I have ever come across. Crammed with information on houeshold names from throughout the showbiz spectrum, this book unfortunately highlights one thing that I have suspected for years - that very few of us support Cardiff City! Great book for talking points in the pub or to make the arduous road trip for away days that little bit shorter. A must for all football fans and celeb spotters!
David Williams, Author of 'Desert England'
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This book is as good as Fulham beating Chelsea 6-0 on a Saturday afternoon! (Photo: Nigel Havers with a copy of 'Celebrities' Favourite Football Teams').
Nigel Havers, Actor

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An interesting collection, and compilation of football facts and comments from a myriad of celebrities highlighting their favourite football teams and all-time favourite players. Well presented and written, as usual, by prolific author, Chris Cowlin. And an added bonus to the purchaser, all the royalties to charity. Excellent.
Robert Auty, Author of 'Trance Warriors: The Siege of Scarn'
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I was very happy to provide a quote for Chris's book, as anyone who knows me will tell you, you don't exactly have to twist my arm for me to talk about my favourite team! (Photos: Liz McClarnon with a copy of 'Celebrities' Favourite Football Teams').
Liz McClarnon, Singer

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(Photo: Bob Wilson with a copy of 'Celebrities' Favourite Football Teams').
Bob Wilson, Ex-Football Player & TV Presenter

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I am delighted to write the foreword to this book, compiled by Chris Cowlin. It is great to see how many celebrities have replied to Chris and have given their thoughts about their favourite teams and players. I was particularly pleased to see how many celebrities support Manchester United and how many past players were mentioned, most of all the late George Best. Well, here are my memories and answers to Chris’ questions: I had quite a difficult introduction to supporting football clubs, as my Dad was a Celtic fan so when my brother and I were kids my Dad would take us to Celtic games but when we started school it started to change because, being a Protestant school only 100 yards or so from Ibrox Park, everyone supported Rangers. So like the rest of our school chums, we supported Rangers. This was in the late forties and at that time they had some great players – George Young, Willie Woodburn, Sammy Cox, Willie Waddell and Willie Thornton. My hero was Willie Woodburn who was later suspended Sine Dir for life. I always remember one memorable game at Ibrox when they played Clyde and it turned out a real Donnybrook and three players were sent off – Willie Woodburn and Billy Simpson from Rangers and Albert Murphy from Clyde. Rumour had it at the time that there was a feud between Simpson of Rangers who was from Belfast and Murphy of Clyde who was from Dublin, such was the religious feeling in the West of Scotland at that time. I always remember after that game I was waiting outside the stadium trying to get autographs from my heroes and approached Sammy Cox, who was talking to his brother I think, and he was swearing like a trooper, calling the referee for everything. I was absolutely shocked and when I got home told my father I had heard Sammy Cox swearing. You see, even then we didn’t expect our heroes to be anything but Gods, and it hasn’t changed today. When I got to be about nine or ten, I started to diversify in terms of watching football and whn Rangers were away from home I would go to watch my local junior team, which at the time was equivalent to the conference league in England. They were called Benburb FC, affectionately known as the Bens or the “Chooky Hens” in Govan Doric language. I absolutely loved them and to this day I get their match programme sent to me every week. It was great fun listening to the old pensioners stationed around the railings at the front of the terracing, giving vent to the players and referees and particularly the poor linesman. I don’t know how many times a walking stick hit the backside of one of the linesmen if he gave a bad decision or tried to trip him up as he was running up the line. Those old guys loved their football team! My heroes of that team were Nicholson, the centre half, and the two wingers Dunky Rae and Tommy Douglas. As the years wore on and I got to 16 I used to train with the Bens along with some other promising boys from the local school, Govan High Secondary. There were six of us and every one of them became senior players. The McKinnon twins Ronnie and Donnie – Ronnie signed for Rangers at 17 and played for about 12 years as their regular centre half, and also for Scotland. His brother, Donnie played for Partick Thistle and then became a physiotherapist with the Scotland under 21 eleven. My own brother, Martin, went on to play for Partick Thistle, Morton, Barnsley and Doncaster Rovers. The other two, Jim Morrison played for Clyde and Craig Watson played for Rangers for a spell and then Morton and Falkirk. The irony of this story is there had been a change in the team committee of Benburb FC and new people came in to turn round the fortunes of the Club and called all of us into an office at the Ground to tell us that we had no future at Benburb FC and he was stopping us training with them. He was going to rely on experience – well he knew his football! I’ll always remember that moment as we all came out of the ground together and we stood outside, a bit lost as one of us said “What are we going to do?” Ronnie McKinnon then flippantly joked “I’m ready to play for Rangers”. Well, it didn’t turn out a joke as Ronnie then signed for a junior team from outside Glasgow called Dunipace. He was only there four months when Rangers did sign him, which just shows you how thin the dividing line is with success and failure. These memories will always stay with me and to think I later went on to play for my boyhood heroes Rangers, where from the main stand, you could look into my mother’s window. I suppose the real message is that you should never lose hope or give in, to keep persevering in what you believe in and want to be will help you to get there. It is great that Chris Cowlin has decided to donate all his royalties to ‘The Willow Foundation’ charity which is a great cause. Bob & Megs Wilson founded the Willow Foundation in memory of their daughter, Anna who died of cancer aged 31. It is a registered charity dedicated to improving the quality of life of seriously ill young adults aged 16 to 40 throughout the UK, by organising and funding a ‘Special Day’ of their choice. I hope you like looking through the book, enjoy!
Sir Alex Ferguson CBE, Football Manager - Written the Foreword
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On behalf of all the seriously ill young adults who will benefit from the donations of Chris Cowlin and Apex Publishing Ltd, thank you both very much for your continued generous support.
David Williams, The Willow Foundation (Chief Executive)
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A good book, very unusual, should be a winner in the soccer world. I've never read a book like it - food for thought!
Charles Bronson, Famous Prisoner & Author
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Bruce Forsyth says he supports Spurs AND Arsenal - shocking! (Photo: Matthew Reynolds with a copy of 'Celebrities' Favourite Football Teams').
Matthew Reynolds, Actor

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I found the book very interesting indeed. Football plays a very big part of some people's lives and memories, and it is wonderful to see the huge response Chris has had for the book. The book is both interesting and entertaining. I'm very glad to have been a part of something that will help others, and wish Chris all the very best with the book, I'm sure it will raise lots of money for the Willow Foundation.
Ron Stirling, Actor

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This is a really entertaining read! Chris has managed to collect together an amazingly diverse and impressive range of people - I was very flattered to be approached, and am thrilled to have my contribution in print alongside such names as Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Glenda Jackson and Gary Lineker. The Willow Foundation is a wonderful charity and it's terrific that Chris has taken on such a project to help support their work.
Jack Bennett, Actor
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This book is very impressive and what a great idea! The book is well laid out and genuinely interesting. I hope Chris make's loads of money for charity.
Glenn Harold, Best Selling Author & UK Hypnotherapist
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An excellent book by respected author Chris Cowlin.
Mike Hallowell, Author
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Have you ever seen a celebrity, film star, rock star, at a football match and wondered which team they supported. It is something all of us must have done at some time or another. But Chris Cowlin has now produced a book that lists almost every VIP together with a comment about their favourite football team and players, past and present. I, for one, was amazed to see just how many stars supported my team. You'll be dazzled too, to find out which stars follow your favourites and other teams up and down the land. It also has a great foreword from Sir Alex Ferguson. Get a copy of this great book, it is sure to become a collector's item too.
Philip Solomon, Author of 'Guided by the Light' and 'The Official Wolves Quiz Book'
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I really enjoyed the chance to talk about my local and family team, my beloved QPR as we don’t get much exposure or anything to write about. I was also really interested in reading others favourite teams especially those who were famous for playing for a certain club but supported another! Telling the world about the pure genius of mavericks like Rodney Marsh, Stan Bowles and of course my Dad’s own cousin Tony Currie. Alas, the greatest player that EVER LIVED was not a QPR player - Georgie Best. A fantastic book!
Tel Currie, Author of 'Left Hooks and Dangerous Crooks' and 'Ronnie Biggs: The Inside Story'
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A unique compilation from a wonderful variety of well known faces from all aspects of life, and all for charity - superb!
Jim Dawkins, Author of 'The Loose Screw' and 'The British Crime and Prison Quiz Book'
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