"I hope I've done him justice": New book tells the Jimmy Armfield story

A new biography documenting the life of Blackpool icon Jimmy Armfield has been released.

- by Amos Wynn

'Jimmy Armfield: The Official Biography' is written by a former radio colleague - and lifelong Pool fan - Roy Calley, who believes Armfield's story deserves sharing.

All of his playing career, which saw him captain England, was spent with the Seasiders before moving into management with Bolton Wanderers and Leeds United.

He spent nine years at the Gazette on a part-time basis, as well as roles with the Daily Express, the BBC and the FA.

Calley said: "A few years ago I was in a shop in Paris, looking at sports biographies, and there were quite a few English footballers.

"I remember thinking no one knows about Blackpool outside of England, nobody knows we exist, so I started thinking about some of the players.

"I thought, 'well Jimmy is a name from the recent past' and realised there wasn't a biography written about him.

"I know he'd written his own autobiography about 20 years ago, but that seemed to have disappeared off the radar.

"I worked with Jimmy at the BBC and I'm actually old enough to have seen him play. I've gone through the whole range of emotions.