Friday 27 November 2020

New Book: Manchester Storm - The Complete History by Stuart Latham


Manchester Storm - The Complete History by Stuart Latham

ISBN No: 978-1-8381165-3-8

235 pages B5 Size - Published 02/11//2020

Selling Price: £15.99

Featuring Stats, photos and articles by the players

OK – it’s time for another “Trilogy Analogy” now as we look at Stuart Latham’s third book in this series of three about ice hockey in Manchester.  I’m actually really looking forward to see if he’s going to do a “Rambo” with this and retrospectively rename them all at some point in the future and call the fourth one the same as the second – but that’s just me, I suppose…. 

Today we are looking at “Manchester Storm - The Complete History” which, with a title like that, probably doesn’t need much more of an introduction.

Like most keen hockey fans of the time, I closely followed the fortunes of the Storm when they first started up – John Lawless, Hilton Ruggles etc - not least because they were playing in the same division as my beloved Peterborough Pirates. To my eternal regret I never went to see the Pirates play them at the impressive Manchester Arena and, in fact, to this day, have never seen the Manchester Storm in action.   

All of that makes this a really interesting book for me to get my teeth into – and Stuart has done a really good job of this because there have been, in fact, two separate eras of the Manchester Storm.

As well as all the stats and photos that you’d expect there are also contributions from:

Daryl Lipsey

Hilton Ruggles

Martin Smith

Brad Rubachuk

Frank Pietrangelo

Kurt Kleinendorst

Jon Hammond

John Lawless

Dave Biggar

Andy McKinney

Mike Morin

Neil Russell

Jared Aulin

Richard Evans

& Margaret Pullen

- which is great as it brings together memories from players, coaches ,fans – and even the match announcer – a rare breed with a unique view of the game who - in my opinion - always have plenty to say! 

Just like Stuart’s other books, as a stand-alone club history, this will be of interest to general ice hockey fans from the UK and abroad – particularly with this one covering the Superleague and Elite League teams, ie “top tier” British hockey.   

Plus, of course, it fits very nicely with the other volumes of Stuart’s “Manchester Trilogy”, ie: “60 Years of the Altrincham Aces” and “The Rise And Fall Of The Manchester Phoenix”. 

Stuart has also recently produced similar books about the Deeside Dragons and Bristol Pitbulls teams and previous projects have included Bracknell, Peterborough and Swindon ice hockey clubs.

All of these are available by mail order but, because of production lead-times etc, I am told they HAVE to be ordered by 7th December at the latest if you want them delivered in time for Christmas.

To find out more about Stuart’s books on a wide range of topics – not just ice hockey, check out his sales website at: https://www.sandtsales.co.uk/online-shop 


New Book: The Rise And Fall Of The Manchester Phoenix by Stuart Latham


New Book: The Rise And Fall Of The Manchester Phoenix by Stuart Latham

ISBN No: 978-1-838116-56-9

214 pages B5 Size - Published 21/10/2020

Selling Price: £15.99

Featuring Stats, photos and articles by the players

They say that good things come in threes and, unlike the Porky’s Trilogy, which I have previously alluded to and of which - in my opinion - number 2 isn’t as good as 1 and 3 …, I am pleased to report that this is definitely NOT the case with Stuart Latham’s new book about the Manchester Phoenix ice hockey team.

It is called “The Rise and Fall of the Manchester Phoenix” so I guess you can imagine that it doesn’t have an overly happy ending – but there are lots of good bits to remember and celebrate in between the actual “Rise” and “Fall” parts.
I never, in fact, saw the Phoenix team play - although I did watch them warm up once, prior to the first game they played at Widnes – and, having never really followed the English Premier League per se as a dedicated fan, I can safely say that much of what Stuart has collected together in this book is new ground for me.
There are huge rafts of player stats, league tables and other bits and pieces - which all ice hockey fans love – and lots of fascinating photos as well.
There are articles and reminiscences from Margaret Pullen, Tony Hand, Carl Graham Steve Fone, Richard Amor Allan, Terry & Julia Sobutta, Peter Hagan, James Hadfield, Dave Clancy, Mark Lovell, Thomas Revesz, Aran Fox, Gary Lee, Paule Mayoh and Lisa Howard who all had involvement of some sort or other with the club over the 12 seasons of its existence. This is always nice to see as you get different points of view rather than just a mere list of what happened when – of which there is also plenty.
There are also sections about the ENL teams from that period, ie Phoenix ENL, Trafford Metros and Manchester Minotaurs.
You’ll probably know that there was a bit of falling out surrounding the Phoenix team which eventually led to their demise prior to the end of the 2016/17 season - but what went on behind the scenes is a matter for another occasion. As Stuart says in his introduction: “this book will focus on what happened on the ice!”
If you are keen a fan of the Manchester Phoenix, you’ll probably already have a copy of this – and if not, you’ll probably be getting one for Christmas.
As a stand-alone club history, it will be of interest to general ice hockey fans from the UK and abroad - and it fits very nicely between the other volumes of Stuart’s “Manchester Trilogy” between “60 Years of the Altrincham Aces” and “Manchester Storm - The Complete History”. (don’t ask me about this Manchester / Altrincham business, it’ll take too long to explain…)
Stuart has also recently produced similar books about the Deeside Dragons and Bristol Pitbulls teams and previous projects have included Bracknell, Peterborough and Swindon ice hockey clubs.
All of these are available by mail order but, because of production lead-times etc, I am told they HAVE to be ordered by 7th December at the latest if you want them delivered in time for Christmas.
To find out more about Stuart’s books on a wide range of topics – not just ice hockey, check out his sales website at: https://www.sandtsales.co.uk/online-shop