Tony: What a roller coaster of emotion
Saints legend’s book lifts the lid on football – and more
To many, Tony Fitzpatrick is St Mirren.
He’s been there, seen it, done it as player, manager and chief executive at both Love Street and now Greenhill Road.
But there is more to the man than the one in the sharp suits or donning the black and white.
There’s a story of violence, religion, success and despair behind the eyes of one of Scottish football’s most recognisable smiles.
Having teamed up with former Express editor Norman MacDonald, Fitzpatrick has penned a warts and all account of a life that has endured the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
His autobiography, Fitzy – The Story of My Life, tells many humorous and heartbreaking tales of his time in and out of football.
And he revealed that the whole experience of sitting down and telling his story turned out to be a rollercoaster of emotions.
Fitzpatrick said: “When you do a book like this, other things come into your mind later on, people as well.
“You can’t mention everybody and afterwards you think ‘I’ve left him or her out’. But you can only say so much.
“Norman done an unbelievable job and he put me through all the emotions of my whole life.
“It was incredible. It was like a healing to me if I am being totally honest.”
Starting from his roots in Possil, Tony tells of being bullied at school and being seconds away from taking his own life before being saved when he found a tiny statue of the Virgin Mary he had been carrying around in his pocket.
He reveals that he defied his Celtic- daft dad and signed for St Mirren – before being named Buddies captain under the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson.
But tragedy struck at the height of Tony’s football career when his six-year-old son, Tony Jr. died from cancer.
And if burying his boy wasn’t heartbreaking enough, when Tony returned home after the funeral, he discovered callous thieves had ransacked his house, stealing anything and everything they could.
He said: “There were some harrowing times involved when sitting down thinking back – it’s been a long time in the making.
“Especially discussing the loss of my son, having to go back to the times at the hospital and his illness before it. It was a very emotional time. I was shattered when at home and was very emotional as well and I felt that a lot through the book.”
There’s even some Paisley ghost stories flung in for good measure, while Tony also reminisces about the heyday of Saints’ Scottish Cup success and his move into management.
Tony added: “Hopefully it’s more than a football story as there is a lot of stuff in there.
“There’s a lot of people who’ve had worse lives than I’ve had. “I’ve been blessed.” Now the chief executive at the club, Tony’s must- read autobiography is a heart-warming story of personal triumph over adversity.
Fitzy – The Story if My Life is published by Macdonald Media Publishing and is available from www. fitzybook. co. uk for only £11.99.
You can’t mention everybody Tony Fitzpatrick