New book saluting Ally Robertson's career being launched at The Hawthorns
Ally Robertson was reticent at first, he thought nobody would want to read a book about some Scotsman who never won a major trophy and never played for his country.
But now ‘Thou Shalt Not Pass: The Alistair Robertson story’ has been published, the hardback about the hard man with a genial character is destined to fill plenty of stockings in the Black Country this Christmas.
Robertson was convinced in the end by author Bill Howell that his story is one worth telling, and four years later the pair are launching the book at The Hawthorns on Thursday, December 7.
Baggies legends Cyrille Regis, John Wile, Brendon Batson, Tony Brown and Johnny Giles are all due to attend. But as Robertson revealed, the book nearly never existed.
“I never wanted to do it because I don’t think I’ve done enough to earn a book,” he said. “Bill had to convince me. I thought who was going to read a book about a young Scotsman coming down and winning nothing.
“It’s just about my life, how I was brought up in a family of 12 – five brothers, six sisters. We had nothing and then at 15 I leave a little village of 300 and come to a city like Birmingham, the change in life was incredible.
“I’ve actually put in the book that I didn’t have enough drive, I felt lucky to play for Albion. If I’d pushed myself a little bit harder I might have got the things I wanted.”
Robertson, who is an Express & Star columnist, is being humble to the extreme.
Second on Albion’s all-time appearance charts, the no-nonsense centre-back from Philipstoun spent 17 eventful years at The Hawthorns and played in some of the best Baggies teams in living memory.
In 1986 he crossed the Black Country divide and became a pivotal part in Wolves’ rise through the divisions.
It is the measure of the man’s character that he is in the almost unique position of being so fondly remembered by both sets of fans.
“It was terrific fun,” said Howell. “I remember meeting him about four or five years ago and he was very reticent about the whole idea.
"He did not believe he had a story to tell as a non-international who never won anything of note.
“I convinced him, as an Albion fan and someone who was working as a club reporter on Wolves at the time, I knew he did.
"I remember meeting him in a pub called The Dudley Arms on the edge of Wolverhampton. I was extremely nervous because he was boyhood legend.
“His poster was on my wall in between Bryan Robson and Cyrille Regis. But those nerves subsided when we had a beer, followed by another. And that’s how we did the next two years, we would meet up every two weeks, we would drink and chat like two old mates.
"He would often start a meeting with ‘I can’t remember’ or ‘what we going to talk about today’ but within a minute or two – and a few sips – an anecdote would pop into his head and it would lead on.
“It was such an enjoyable process. The book took two years to write and research and then took another two years to knock into the standard and quality that he wanted.
“He’s such a charismatic fella but never wanted to shout about his own success or qualities and doesn’t want to upset anybody in life either.
“There was a clash between a journalist saying that’s a good story and him saying do I want to upset that person?
“In the end we managed to get a book that is pretty unique in terms of covering a history of West Brom throughout the 70s and 80s, the very good and the very bad from an inside perspective.
“A lot of it will surprise people, managers who were held on pedestals who weren’t quite as good as they are, and the opposite too.
“Through it all, you can see why Alistair was a central person in the dressing room. He was a leader but not from the front. He leads from the back, and not in a positional sense.
“He’s quiet but he’s got an authority about him. He was extremely popular in the dressing room because he was one of the lads and an elder statesman.
“A funny responsible chap but also a jack the lad – it’s quite the full character.
“I think Wolves fans will enjoy his insight into his four years there, it was a laughable state when he arrived, he helped put them on the pedestal from which they had great success.”
There will be a Q&A in the Millichip Suite at The Hawthorns from 7.30pm on Thursday, December 7.
The event is limited to 100 guests so will be based on first come first served booking. E-mail Geoff Snape at geoffsnape1@btinternet.com if interested.
The book is now available on Amazon and will soon be stocked in both Albion and Wolves club shops with different club-specific covers.
