Manchester United fanatic Brian Hughes is the man behind these fascinating books on Manchester United's history. Brian, also a world renowned boxing coach, has a unique style - his books are like a trip back in time to the faces, places and smells of a never-to-be-forgotten era in Manchester United's history. The fact that Brian was also a part of the era as a friend to many of the United legends described in his books, gives his work the smack of authenticity often missing from other books on the clubs history.

"People are fascinated by the characters involved in Busby's United," Brian explained recently, "older supporters can remember these fantastic sides with fondness but want to know more about what made these characters tick".

Brian has completed four books on Manchester United: The Tommy Taylor Story, Viollet - life of a Legendary Goalscorer, Starmaker - the untold story of Jimmy Murphy and his latest epic 'The King' about that most colourful of personalities Denis Law.

"The supporters don't just want to know what these particular personalities have to say about the major controversies and achievements in their careers, they want the fuller picture. To dwell on just one person as divorced from the whole club is to miss the point: the era is what interests people and the story of one man's career cannot be seperated from the comings and goings of the lesser lights, if you like."

Brian, a regular on Jimmy Wagg's GMR sport show, has often regailed evening listeners with tales of United's past, "people love anecdotes, like the one about Denis and the pools panel. In 1963, the pools panel came into being following a spell of inclement weather that lasted for six weeks, wiping out football throughout the country, meaning that players were forced into training for matches that were more than likely to be abandoned.

"During this period the pools panel, in their wisdom, had forecast that United would have had five victories. On one very frosty and snowy Monday morning, as the players were limbering up, Matt and Jimmy came in to talk to the players about a possible friendly game in Ireland. Denis Law, full of mischief, turned to the pair and said 'the pools panel have had us down as winning the last five games' and with a cheeky smile he enquired, 'will we be getting the win bonuses, boss?'

"Busby smiled and coughed quietly but sharp as a tack Jimmy Murphy replied, “good idea Denis. Unfortunately you would have qualified for them but weren’t selected,” and with that the rest of the players fell about laughing.

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