I AM SAM
by James Durose-Rayner
PRESS RELEASE
Arsenal legend inspires uplifting novel charting the life, love
and football fanaticism of a modern-day sports producer,
whose shallow life is given new meaning by one man’s
beautiful game.
High-flying sports-media mogul and David Beckham doppelgänger, Mr.
Arsenal is living every football fan’s dream: he’s loaded, has his pick of the
ladies and drives a flashy sports car. And to make his life even sweeter,
he’s been chosen to work on coverage for the 2014 World Cup. Tasked
with producing a short documentary, Mr. Arsenal, stumbles upon footage
from Mexico 1970 and a high-profile spat between television pundit and
Manchester City coach, Malcolm Allison, and Tottenham Hotspur player
and captain, Alan Mullery. On further investigation, he unearths a
reference, by a retired journalist, to a half-forgotten player named only as ‘Sammy’ and referred to as the one who was
‘left behind’. Determined to discover the man behind the name, Mr. Arsenal quickly becomes obsessed with the tragic
story of this once top-flight footballer whose brilliance has been all but lost in the annals of sporting history; a player
who was once one of the highest paid and most successful players in Britain: Jon Sammels. As Mr Arsenal revisits
Sammels' professional heyday in the late 1960s and early 70s, the impact on his own life is extraordinary.
I Am Sam tells the story of retired professional footballer, Jon Sammels, who played 270 matches for Arsenal before
signing for Leicester City. A diehard Gunners fan, author Durose-Rayner artfully explores Sammels’ roller-coaster career
and sometimes rocky relationship with the fans, revealing his own and Sammels’ frustration at the politics of the game
which contributed to the latter’s premature departure from what was at the time, the top cub in England. Durose-Rayner
contrasts the player’s professional highlights — including scoring Arsenal’s winning goal in the 1970 European Fairs Cup
against R.S.C Anderlecht — against his subsequent string of bad luck; from serious injury to falling out of favour as
younger talents rose through the ranks, to being left out of the 1970 World Cup squad. After finishing the first draft of I
Am Sam Durose-Rayner contacted Sammels to share the story that he wanted to tell and Sammels gave his heartfelt
assurances of approval and support.
I am Sam has much in common with Nick Hornby’s celebrated novel about unconditional football fandom, Fever Pitch
and will similarly captivate readers, from the devoted to the uninitiated. Ultimately a story about life, survival and
redemption — all of which exist within just ninety minutes of football — it’s a fitting tribute to one of Highbury’s
greatest heroes.
About the author: Dividing his time between the UK and Cyprus, James Durose-Rayner has over twenty years
experience in journalism; a member of the Writer’s Guild, he is the editor of NATM, the UK’s leading specialist civil
engineering journal. His writing has been featured in over 200 magazines and his debut indie-novel, S63: Made in
Thurnscoe, published in 2001, received positive reviews. The first in a trilogy, I Am Sam by James Durose-Rayner
(published 10th February by Clink Street Publishing RRP £11.99 paperback RRP £6.99 ebook) is available to purchase
from online from retailers including amazon.co.uk and to be ordered from all good bookstores. For more information
please visit james-durose-rayner.co.uk and follow him on Twitter at @natm_mag
For a review copy or interview request please contact:
Kate Appleton, Marketing & Publicity Executive at Authoright / 020 7993 4438/ [email protected]