Carlisle’s Cult Heroes

Shane Warne is arguably the greatest leg spin bowler cricket has ever seen. He enjoyed a record-breaking Test career with Australia, leading them to a 5-0 whitewash of England in 2007; a hugely successful period as captain of Hampshire; and before he officially retired he led a team of young hopefuls – the Rajasthan Royals – to win the newly created Indian Premier League in 2008. He is a born winner, whose opinion on cricket matters – not only to the general public but to his fellow players as well. His 2006 Times column about the top 50 Test players of all time broke records for the number of hits on the paper’s website – the public wanted to know his opinion of the players of his era. Now he has retired, he feels the time is right to put his extended thoughts down on paper.

Shaun Goater was signed by Alex Ferguson almost as a political pawn after a Manchester United tour of Bermuda went disastrously wrong. He never made it with United and instead moved on to Rotherham. Undeterred by homesickness and the Yorkshire weather, he became a huge favourite at Millmoor before moving to Bristol City, where his goalscoring exploits endeared him to the fans and caught the eye of Man City manager Joe Royle. He won over the skeptical City following, who had seen him only as a journeyman striker bought to plug a gap. Within a year, he’d become a cult figure and his knack of poaching goals soon gave rise to one of the best modern-day terrace chants ‘Feed the Goat and he will score’. Season after season, the bond between player and supporters grew and his name was etched into City folklore. He was captain for their last match at Maine Road before joining Reading. His career stalled with the Royals when manager Alan Pardew left a few weeks after Goater’s arrival and Steve Coppell took over. He went out on loan to Coventry before Southend United rescued him at the start of their highly successful 2005/06 season. Feed the Goat is the inspirational tale of a universally respected player who refused to give up on his dream.