Martin Peters has a rare and much-envied talent. Few players, if any, have been able to match his versatility at world-class level. He is a footballer in the purest sense of the word… before he was 24 he had played in every position, including goalkeeper, not only at junior and reserve level but in the Football League. World famous managers like Hellenio Herrera have praised the extraordinary range of this football phenomenon who packs every facet of a football team into his tall slim body. All the same, because Martin Peters didn’t play in one position only, he was a nobody. Even after he had played for England in their World Cup winning side he felt people looked straight through him… that when they saw him on the field they couldn’t easily identify him with a set job or position and so ignored him. Just when he was resigned to playing football at its highest level without a flicker of glory or recognition, he spotted in the sports columns of a newspaper that Sir Alf Ramsey had said of him: ‘Martin Peters is ten years ahead of his time.’ That sentence alone didn’t make Martin Peters any better known – but it did give him an identity he badly needed. He hasn’t looked back since. The footballer of the future has added to his bewildering array of talents by becoming an ace goalscorer for West Ham United and England.
The Martin Peters story is not one of sensational controversy – he doesn’t get sent off… he doesn’t get into trouble off the field – he doesn’t have blazing rows with authority. But there has never been another footballer like him.
Martin Peters not only discusses the highlights of his international career, but takes you behind the scenes of a club match, describes the emotions of facing a crowd like Anfield and farelessly lists the crowds and grounds he doesn’t like to visit. There have been many books written by footballers but as Martin Peters is unlike any other footballer it follows that this story is special.