Female footballer Nicky Cook from Ryde on the Isle of Wight has decided to hang up her boots and looks back at the last couple of decades in a new book.  She’s had a lifetime’s experience of playing women’s football and her love for the game comes through in her book  ‘‘Should Have Gone To Blackgang Chine’.

Nicky tells the story of her experiences from her perspective and gives an honest account of events and her opinion of the many team mates, opponents, officials and friends that she has made over the years.

When asked about the women’s side of football in comparison to men’s Nicky thinks that the sport has made progress.  But it’s still a minority sport and not one she’s made money from – unlike her male counterparts:

‘‘Should Have Gone To Blackgang Chine’ tells the story of playing football simply for the love of the game, a quality too easily lost in the modern day professional game.  It talks of friendships forged through football that have stood the test of time over a number of years, and the dedication required when the added complication of a ferry journey every other week is taken into account.

There are high points with League Championships and Cup Finals won, League Representative football, and one appearance at the top table that is the National League. There are also the low points of playing for teams that have simply not been good enough and suffered some humiliating defeats week after week, hard work if you are the goalkeeper.

However, through it all the love of football has always won through and provided nearly 20 years of enjoyment, and some wonderful memories along the way.  This book recounts those memories, and many other incidents over the years, to provide as complete a picture as possible of the life of an amateur woman footballer and hopefully portray all the emotions experienced.

Search online for ‘‘Should Have Gone To Blackgang Chine’ or buy the book from Tesco HERE: