Heskey’s life story in line for an award

AFTER THE ORDEAL: Trevor Goodwin feels lucky to be alive after a crash on the A6, just outside Market Harborough, which left him with critical injuries. Medics saved his life by putting him into a coma. Below, his Mondeo and, top, another car involved in a crash on the A6

THE autobiography of former Leicester City striker Emile Heskey has been nominated for an award.

The wittily-titled Even Heskey Scored has been shortlisted in the Telegraph Sports Book Awards’ autobiography of the year category.

It was written by Dean Eldredge, based on candid interviews with the Foxes hero, who also played for Liverpool and England.

Dean said: “It’s the third book that I’ve been involved with and this was really humbling.

“He was a really unselfish footballer. I spoke to managers like Martin O’Neill and players that he played with and he was always the first name on the teamsheet.

“But someone like Emile has a great story to tell, like his parents coming from the Caribbean, originally to Birmingham and to then being brought up in Highfields and then Evington.”

Dean said one of the most powerful chapters in the book addresses the racism Heskey faced in his career.

This chapter was not originally planned, but after a conversation over lunch at the Marriott hotel, near the M1 in Leicester, both thought it would be a good idea to include it.

“I didn’t want to put pressure on him to do this for the book but he did and that chapter is really powerful,” said Dean.

City fans affectionately nicknamed Heskey Bruno, after the much-loved heavyweight boxer. But, although well-meant, the tag wasn’t welcome.

“He didn’t feel like being called ‘Bruno’ was any form of racism at the time, but it was uncomfortable, it was just because he was big, tall and black,” said Dean.

“He also talks about the voice that current black footballers have through social media, something he didn’t have. That’s something he was quite positive about.”

The book was published in September 2019 and has been nominated in its Telegraph Sports Book Awards category alongside the life stories of sporting heroes such as Ben Stokes, Michael Owen and Tyson Fury. The winner will be announced virtually on July 15.