Ashley Drake Publishing Ltd

Welsh in Identity, International in Outlook

'Spikey' - 2 Hard to Handle - The Autobiography of Mike 'Spikey' Watkins

978 1902719 405

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Description

'...a great friend...also a great inspiration...he led from the front and his team mates could always rely on him when things got a bit rough...even though he'd probably started it!!
Paul Turner, from the Foreword

'No one trained harder, no one played harder...heart of a lion, small in stature with a giant's presence'
Terry Holmes

'Spikey Watkins is the most Rock & Roll Welsh Sportsman ever. The establishment hated him but the people loved him. This is the best sports autobiography I've ever read. Buy or steal a copy now'
Jonny Owen, Actor

Contents

Foreword by Paul Turner

1. Hookers Night Out
2. 50 Shades of Spikey!
3. Blood, Sweat and Stud Marks
4. Come in Cardiff…we have Parity,
5. One Stray Boot and a Bottle of Beer
6. Charlie Faulkner RFC
7. The Cat with the Ten and Half Inch Tail
8. The Irish Generation Game
9. A Bunch of Amateurs
10. Dirty Tricks and Cocktail Sticks
11. High Tailing it through the Dark Clouds
12. Hello, I’m Oliver Reed
13. Hooker goes to Bangkok
14. Rugby Reflections

One of the most colourful and controversial characters in Welsh rugby, Mike 'Spikey' Watkins remains the only player to captain Wales on his debut, and win.

Discarded by Cardiff RFC and banned by the WRU after the infamous 'Hookers Night Out' incident in November 1978, 'Spikey', who had regularly played for the Wales B team and was understudy to Bobby Windsor, thought his chance of a prized Welsh cap has disappeared.

In this brutally frank and hard-hitting autobiography, 'Spikey' Watkins, the loveable rogue of Welsh rugby, lifts the lid on his roller-coaster playing career and explains how he fought back against the 'blazer-brigade' he despised, returned as captain of a hugely successful Newport team and finally got the call from the WRU, due to public pressure from the supporters who adored him, to captain his country to victory against Ireland in 1985.

What happened on that Hookers Night Out in 1978?
Why will Clive Rowlands never again ask Spikey for a G&T?
Why is Spikey's photo not featured in Newport Rugby Club's 'Captains of Wales' hall of fame?
Read Spikey - 2 Hard to Handle to find out!

Mike 'Spikey' Watkins was born in Abercarn and played for Crumlin, Cardiff, Newport, Barbarians and Wales. He currently lives in Thailand.
Anthony Bunko is a Merthyr-based writer. This is his fifth book.