We got together with Paul John Dykes to talk about his new book about former Celtic captain Andy Lynch. ‘Hoops, Stars & Stripes: The Andy Lynch Story’ is available now from CQNBooks. The book will be officially launched at Celtic Park on 1st December 2016. For enquiries, contact pauljohndykes@gmail.com.
How did you become involved in writing Andy Lynch’s life story?
During the writing of Celtic’s Smiler, I spoke to Andy about his memories of Neilly Mochan. We were on the phone for around 45 minutes and our discussion flowed effortlessly.
About five minutes after the call ended, Andy called me back and explained that he wanted to pitch an idea to me. He then went on to explain that he had been working on his memoirs for a few years, and wondered if I’d take the time to read through his manuscript.
I agreed, and he sent me a 30,000-word draft, which gave me a flavour of his story. A throwaway line at the end of the manuscript read, “Speak about the Liverpool takeover in 2010.”
It was clear to me that Andy’s story was in a classic three parts. The first turning point was his departure from Celtic, which lead to him moving to Philadelphia. The middle section was Andy’s ‘American Dream’, and his life as a coach. As they make their way into the final section of the book, the reader should have an expectancy that Andy had proven himself in a faraway land with a view to returning to his native Scotland to continue a successful career in coaching back home. The climax, however, includes Andy’s realisation that all doors were closed for him in the Scottish game. However, his contacts and experiences resulted in one final unexpected twist in the tale that almost eclipsed everything he had ever achieved in the game.
The three acts also gave rise to the book’s title – Hoops, Stars & Stripes.
It was a natural progression as a writer for me to work on an autobiography, and the different layers to Andy’s story (it isn’t solely a Celtic tale) really sparked my interest. There was also the feeling within myself that I couldn’t possibly say “no” to a former Celtic captain.
How did you approach the task of writing Hoops, Stars & Stripes?
A few years ago, I read a Robert De Niro biography, where the author studied the actor’s early dedication to his craft. Some of his methods were intensely obsessive, and the one that stood out for me was the character research he did around his portrayal of Jake LaMotta. This book described how De Niro moved in with LaMotta and his wife for three months. He wanted to get under the floorboards of LaMotta’s inner workings and really replicate his ways, tones and mannerisms for his part in Raging Bull; down to the direction in which the boxer stirred his morning tea. That attention to detail is a trait I can really relate to.
The young De Niro’s approach inspired me when I was given the opportunity to work on my first autobiography. After a few months, I moved in with Andy for a ten-day period. I genuinely felt it was necessary in order to authenticate the story. I wanted to understand Andy’s makeup, what made him tick, his regrets, the qualities that made him a winner. It worked really well and we became firm friends as a result of that particular writing session.
I quickly realised that Andy is a deep-thinker, and we would discuss his life and career for four or five hours every day. At night we’d relax, go for a bite to eat and switch off the dictaphone. We never switched off in terms of devising his story, however, and much of what we discussed in the evenings became the blueprint for the following day’s work.
We watched a couple of Celtic games together during that time, and I realised how some ex-players and coaches view the game on a completely different level to the normal supporter. Andy was pointing out tactical observations that I would never have identified. It was a real eye-opener to get 90 minutes of insightful analysis while watching the game live.
I wanted to have Andy’s portrait painted for the front cover. A magician of an artist called Duncan Mattocks painted Neilly Mochan for the front cover of Celtic’s Smiler, and I wanted him to do likewise for Andy’s book.
My plan was to have all my covers painted by Duncan, so that my books would have their own distinctive style on the shelf, like the great Stone Roses or Factory Records’ LP sleeves of the 1980s.
Andy didn’t like the idea, and the publishers eventually designed an excellent cover in a different style.
I’m looking forward to eventually releasing The Quality Street Gang on paperback because I’ll definitely get Duncan to do that one for me.
How did the writing of this book differ from your previous two?
I read incessantly in any case and, when writing about football, I avoid reading books about the game. I’ve never used the typical football story template, and try to draw influences from other genres, which are as far removed from my subject as possible.
The Quality Street Gang was written as a tragic tale of what might have been. Some people have asked me why I didn’t focus more on the superstars of that team, but I figured that we know as much as we are ever going to possibly know about them. I wanted to find out how it felt when the floodlights faded for the lesser-known players, and how damaging the game can be for the nearly men.
Neilly’s book was about the man himself, and that is why his family are a huge part of the narrative. I wanted the reader to come away with the feeling that somehow they could relate to him as a person, and not just as a Celtic player and coach. I loved the latter parts of the book when Neilly was the kitman with a European Cup winners’ medal in his boot room though; he was that last link to Lisbon at that time.
Finally, with Andy’s book I had one human source and a bundle of old scrapbooks that went back to his earliest days as a schoolboy footballer. I spent less time in the library doing research for this book because Andy was my constant flow of information. I spent around three months doing library research for each of my first two books and, as much as I enjoy that side of writing, it was liberating not to have to do it this time around.
Archive trawling and interviews are the first two elements of my process. It is then down to the actual writing, which is where I’m allowed to be creative. That is the most enjoyable part for me.
Did anything surprise you about Andy’s story?
His story was far more interesting than even I expected.
For example, I knew the Liverpool takeover chapter was going to spark some interest beyond normal Celtic autobiographies but that side of the story just exploded when the book was released.
The Liverpool connection, and the ‘revelation’ that Steven Gerrard had a love for Celtic, made global news. That level of coverage was pretty overwhelming. Fair play to Andy though, he refused to do any follow-up interviews on the story after it initially broke, and I fully respected him for that.
Another surprising thing for me was that Andy was dissatisfied with what he achieved in the game. I used to say to him, “But you captained Celtic, you scored the winner in a Scottish Cup final against Rangers, won the double, and were part of the team that won the league with ten men!”
Even with all of that in his locker, Andy felt that he could have achieved even more had it not been for his injuries. He’s still immensely proud to have worn the hoops though, and I think that this comes across loud and clear in the book.
You have been pretty prolific since your debut was released in 2013. Should Celtic fans expect more of the same?
I view my first three books as a Cult Celtic Trilogy. Instead of writing about the Lisbon Lions, I decided to focus on their underlings, The Quality Street Gang. Neilly was the less-obvious choice to Jock Stein when writing about the Celtic boot-room of the 60s and 70s. And when writing about a Celtic captain from the 70s, there were a few more obvious choices than Andy Lynch.
However, these subjects interested me due to their more leftfield status. I was drawn to them because I prefer things that are off the beaten track. I feel that their stories can be as enlightening as the superstars’ tales, sometimes more so.
I do have some works in progress, but I won’t release books as prolifically as I have done in the last few years. Documenting Celtic’s history is very important to me, and I would never do that solely for my own gain. It would need to be a subject that hasn’t been covered before, and one that excites me as a writer as well.
Celtic have a unique community of authors, historians, bloggers, podcasters, fundraisers and fanzine writers. I’ve always been blown away with the level of support I’ve had from all of these people. It would be fantastic to pull some of them together and create a book that raised funds for the Celtic Graves Society. That is an ambition of mine that I’d love to achieve some day.
What other projects have you been working on?
During the writing of Andy’s book, I developed a good understanding with the way that Tom Campbell works. Tom’s ‘Glory and the Dream’ was the first Celtic book I ever read, and it went full circle when he edited ‘Hoops, Stars & Stripes’ for me. To repay that favour, I am currently assisting him with getting four of his completed Celtic manuscripts to print. I know that the prospect of four new Tom Campbell books will be music to avid Celtic reader’s ears.
Tom also wants to co-write the biography of the late Joe McBride, and there is enough tragedy in that story for me to be very interested in working on that book. I would need to get the blessing of Joe’s family first though. I remember speaking to Joe when I was writing The Quality Street Gang, and he told me that he had been working on his autobiography. Depending on how much work was already done on the book, we might be able to structure it around Joe’s original vision, which would be pretty special.
I am also 75% of the way through a photographic Celtic kit and memorabilia book, and have around 1000 images of incredible collections. This would not be like anything I have done before, as it would take more of an arty, coffee table-style format.
Away from football, I have been working on Edgar Summertyme’s autobiography for a few years now. Edgar is a largely unknown Liverpudlian musician whose ‘Soothing Music For Stray Cats’ album is a masterpiece.
Had Thelonious Monk employed Captain Beefheart to sing on a soundtrack to Kerouac’s ‘On The Road,’ then ‘Stray Cats’ would have been the result. I’d implore everyone with an interest in music of any description to buy a copy of that LP.
‘Hoops, Stars & Stripes: The Andy Lynch Story’ is available now from CQNBooks. The book will be officially launched at Celtic Park on 1st December 2016. For enquiries, contact pauljohndykes@gmail.com.
