Dunne It the Hard Way

The Remarkable Story of a Millwall Legend

Alan Dunne, Chris Davies

• Publisher: Pitch Publishing
• eBook ISBN:
  9781785311734
• Year: 2016

Born in Dublin but raised in London, Alan Dunne spent nearly a quarter of a century with what became his hometown club of Millwall—and after almost 400 senior games left as a legend. Joining the youth set-up at the age of eight, he rose through the ranks to eventually become a player who epitomized the club, as his wholehearted approach resonated with the fans at the Den. Dunne It the Hard Way is a frank and honest insight into his life with the Lions, from making the worst of first impressions on a manager, to the heartbreak of being told he was no longer wanted in 2015, and plenty of highs and lows in between—including a broken promise ahead of Millwall's only ever appearance in the FA Cup Final. He also explains why his dad told him to leave home to save his career; why he was left to pay a teammate's dental bills; how he was caught posing with a naked model holding a plate of toast; how the penny finally dropped, before it was too late; how he turned around a career which almost hit the skids to become such a firm favorite of the crowd that he was nearly immortalized in statue form; and he tells the story behind each of his record number of red cards!

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword by Kenny Jackett
• 1 Told I was no longer wanted at Millwall over a beer
• 2 I should have asked Millwall for a transfer
• 3 Confident Ollie wanted to change the bonus system
• 4 Fights, bites and kicking team-mates
• 5 I had to pay a player’s dental bill after head-butt
• 6 My dodgy ‘Arsenal’ muffins business at school
• 7 Booted out of home by my dad
• 8 To Greece with no passport
• 9 I was not living the lifestyle of a professional
• 10 Blood, sweat and no fears
• 11 Millwall’s most sent-off player
• 12 My favourite five goals
• 13 The brave soldiers made defeat by Brentford so memorable
• 14 25 different Millwall managers
• 15 I had to beg Jackett so I could propose to Aimee
• 16 Joker Ollie was famous for his one- liners
• 17 Beaten by an ‘Olympic’ sprinter
• 18 Snorers, plate-lickers and the Beckham from Peckham’s unusual night ritual
• 19 Football’s mind games can work
• 20 Beware of smooth-talking agents
• 21 Wise’s broken FA Cup Final promise
• 22 Skinhead stewards and wild supporters
• 23 Drunken West Ham fans in my face
• 24 Day trippers spoil FA Cup semi-final
• 25 Captain Dunne
• 26 I would have loved to have been a boy in green
• 27 The naked truth about toast
• 28 My best-ever Millwall XI
• 29 Football banter can be fun
• 30 Coaching and management beckons
• 31 I can tell if a player is good enough in five minutes
• 32 A creep from Crawley made me see red
• 33 I miss my mum every single day
• The men in charge during the Alan Dunne years at Millwall
• Millwall’s all-time record appearances
• Index
• Photographs