Biography

Football legend John Wark is known as Mr Ipswich after three spells with the club in which he clocked up 679 appearances and scored 179 goals.

He was part of Bobby Robson's successful side that won the FA Cup in 1978 and, three years later, the UEFA Cup, when he netted 14 goals in 12 European ties, as well as twice finishing runners-up in the English top flight.

John was also crowned the Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year in 1981, a fitting tribute to his amazing haul of 36 goals that season and all of them scored from his position as a midfielder.

Add the fact that he was voted Ipswich's Player of the Year on four occasions, was Scotland's leading goalscorer in the 1982 World Cup finals and that in 1984 he was signed by Liverpool, European Champions at the time, and we are talking about a very special football talent.

Glasgow-born, he also captained the Scotland youth and under-21 teams before graduating to the senior squad and taking his place alongside the likes of Graeme Souness and Kenny Dalglish to win 29 caps and score seven goals.

Now John, at the age of 51, is ready to reveal all in his eagerly awaited autobiography, Wark On, which he has written in association with freelance sports journalist and friend Mel Henderson.

John recalls his working class background in Glasgow, a city that has spawned many a football hero, and reflects on a successful big-time career that only ended when he was in his 40th year.

There are recollections galore of a career in which he consistently rubbed shoulders with some of football's biggest names, including a host of hilarious anecdotes and the inside story of his role in the cult movie Escape to Victory alongside Hollywood greats Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine, as well as Brazilian legend Pele.

John also tells his own poignant story of one of football's darkest hours, when the European Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus in 1985 was overshadowed completely by the terrible Heysel Stadium disaster.

Wark On is not just another sports autobiography. Nor is it just another run-of-the-mill tale of a footballer who rose to the top of his profession and won the game's leading honours. It is a gripping, no-holds-barred story in which John talks of family tragedy, his own excessive drinking and the breakdown of his first marriage, and also comes clean about how much he was paid for playing the game he loves.