On Days Like These: The Lost Memoir of a Goalkeeper

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That meant Sealey’s last four games in a Man United shirt were a League Cup Final, a Cup Winners’ Cup Final, an FA Cup quarter final and another League Cup Final – show me another player with that record! Even when he’s played badly, the manager never says anything to him, hardly ever gives him instructions. I suspect I was already quite verbal with my defence in my first season – I do remember making a conscious decision at some point early that rather than sitting around making mud-pies in a game we were dominating and I’d probably not touch the ball that often, that I could start to watch what was happening and why and make sure my defence was always alert.

Concerning the footballing parts of this book, they are powerful narratives of a game and league that is passed on to history. George, 30, also had shoulder and back injuries, left West Ham, had a trial at Crystal Palace and played briefly for non-League Thurrock. He made such a success of his business One to One Management he swiftly made his first million - before eventually selling the business three years ago after getting an “offer he couldn’t refuse”. On last night's The Real Housewives of Cheshire, Joe revealed his late father's autobiography had been found and would be on sale in 2021. Bryan could have come on for the last 15 minutes, taken his bow, lifted the FA Cup for the fourth time and headed back to the North East.

It was the first time he had opened the tub since it landed in his possession by chance, along with the draft of a book titled Definitely Mental. When I was injured, I remember thinking my life was over – I had no education, no idea how to do anything else,’ he explained.

Joe says: “I was too slow on the field, so I liked playing in goal, it happened naturally, dad never pushed me into it ever. I try to live by that, if I'm in the wrong, I say sorry, and move forward and try to pass that to the kids. He never went to film premieres, wouldn't do magazines, wouldn’t do newspaper interviews, hardly did anything like that.Sometimes at the end of the day, mum would pick me up, and he’d drive past us on his way home and give us a wave. Unfortunately, he missed out on the club’s finest moment – the 1988 Littlewoods Cup Final win over Arsenal. The most successful part of Les’s career was his two stints at Manchester United, where, like cousin Alan had been at West Ham, he was a winner of the FA Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup, so for Joe and younger brother George to both follow in his footsteps by wanting to be goalkeepers at West Ham was a daunting step to take.

For half a second, we stared at each other with a mutual recognition of how ridiculous this was, before our security guards swept me and my team-mates towards the exits. Rio Ferdinand urges Sir Jim Ratcliffe to be more 'transparent' to win over 'unsettled' Man united fans who wanted the Glazers to sell the club. Although he kept a famously low profile off the pitch, on it Sealey Sr was known as Mr Angry, famously almost coming to blows with Manchester United’s physio when he sustained what later emerged to be a serious knee injury in the 1991 League Cup final, and Joe says he inherited his dad’s character, and but for injury, could have followed him to play at a decent standard. It’s a nice thing that people remember him because you're going back 30 years ago or more to remember the games he played, but people still remember them like they were yesterday. He signed for his beloved West Ham in 1994 and spent seven years there, split by brief spells at Leyton Orient and Bury.

Sealey died in 2001, a few months after leaving West Ham, where both Joe and George were goalkeepers in the youth ranks. Coventry’s assistant manager Ron Wylie once asked Elaine how she could be married to such a lunatic. He used to drive to training, which was about seven miles, but let me go by train, which took about 90 minutes.