STORY AND PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
What: Only days before St Mirren take on Rangers, at Hampden in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup, the last Saints captain to lift the trophy launches his autobiography and gets his hands on the Cup once more.
When: Wednesday, April 22, 11am.
Where: The Boardroom, St Mirren Park, Greenhill Road, Paisley.
You are invited to send a reporter/photographer/film crew to cover the book launch and interview and photograph Billy Abercromby with the Scottish Cup. Press release below. For further info contact Norman Macdonald on (o) 01505 816980 or (m) 07958 648814.
PRESS RELEASE
Aber’s Gonnae Get Ye! The Billy Abercromby Story
THE last St Mirren captain to lift the Scottish Cup has launched his autobiography – only days before his former club takes to the Hampden pitch bidding for glory once more.
And yesterday (Wednesday, April 22), in the boardroom of St Mirren Park, Billy Abercrombie cradled the Scottish Cup in his arms once more and said: “It’s great to get my hands on the Cup again after our victory in 1987. I’m sure this wonderful old trophy will be back in the St Mirren boardroom before too long – the end of next month to be exact.
“I’ve every confidence the team of today can repeat the feat of that great team we had in ’87 and it’ll be party time in Paisley once again.”
But first, St Mirren will have to beat Rangers, at Hampden, on Saturday in the semi-final.
In his warts-and-all, but often humorous autobiography, the man known to Saints fans as ‘Aber’ reveals how he has been to Hell and back – from Scottish Cup winner to alcoholic and battling back again to sobriety and a new life.
The book – Aber’s Gonnae Get Ye! – tells how in his prime, he took on the cream of European football playing against the likes of Platini, Cruyff, Gullitt, Dalglish and Souness.
And with the St Mirren fans’ chant of ‘Aber’s Gonnae Get Ye’ ringing in his ears, the football hard man – who was infamously sent off three times in one game – experienced the ultimate joy of leading the Saints to Scottish Cup glory. But within months, he found himself on a downward spiral into the dark, dark pit of alcoholism.
He fell as far as you could go. Spending his days drinking bottles of sherry with his booze buddies by a canal, Billy was given one final stark message from doctors as he lay in a hospital bed – you’re one more bevvy session from the grave.
From that moment, Billy made himself a promise he would beat the booze and with the same fighting spirit, courage and determination that made him the scourge of opponents on the football field, he is winning that fight. The wicked grin, the laugh-a-minute patter and the mischievous look in his eyes have returned.
The book’s publisher, Norman Macdonald – of Macdonald Media Publishing – said: “This is an amazing and heart-warming story that reveals the secrets of what goes on behind the door of a football dressing room, a brutally honest insight into one man’s battle with the demon drink and an uplifting conclusion that tells us Billy Abercromby has made the biggest comeback of his life.
“You don’t have to be a St Mirren fan to enjoy reading Aber’s Gonnae Get Ye! It’s one of the best football autobiographies I’ve ever read, giving fans a fantastic insight into life as a professional footballer and also the way Billy Abercromby is overcoming alcoholism to build a new life for himself.
“Aber’s Gonnae Get Ye? You better believe it!”
Aber’s Gonnae Get Ye! by Billy Abercromby and Fraser Kirkwood is published by Macdonald Media Publishing on April 21 2009. ISBN: 978-0-9553126-6-3
MEDIA RELEASE posted by Macdonald Media. You too can post media releases (aka press releases) on allmediascotland.com. For more information, email here.
Contact: Norman macdonald
Phone: 01505 816980 or 07958 648814
Email: info@macdonald-media.co.uk
