From Prison to the Premiership documents Jamie Lawrence's dramatic rise from prison inmate to Premiership football. As a youth, Lawrence grew up in a rough part of south London and became involved in petty crime that landed him in a young offenders institute. In his book Lawrence discusses the numerous brawls he got caught up in with rival gangs in his youth and speaks of his frustrations of failed trials with Fulham, Crystal Palace and Millwall, who rejected him because of his size. Spending time in a young offenders institute should have focused Lawrence and drawn him away from the bad influences, but following his release, with his parents back home in Jamaica, he failed to change his ways and was soon after sent to Camp Hill Prison on the Isle of Wight for committing armed robbery.

However, spending time in jail handed him his ticket into football as it was playing for the prison side against local team Cowes Sports that got Lawrence noticed. The Cowes manager was so impressed with Lawrence's talents that he applied for day release permits to he could play for the non-league side. That brought Lawrence attention from the local media, which got his name known in football circles.

Upon his release from Camp Hill Lawrence signed for Sunderland and made his debut in a north-east derby against Middlesbrough two days later with 'Jailhouse Rock' blazing out over the tannoy as he warmed up. Spells at Doncaster and Premiership side Leicester followed as Lawrence fulfilled his boyhood ambition of becoming a top-flight player only years after he had been inside.

Playing in the Premiership had its advantages for Lawrence, a serial womaniser, and he reveals several funny stories in his book about his conquests with the opposite sex. Although he enjoyed lavish spending sprees on clothes and other designer gear Lawrence maintains he never touched drugs or smoked, and was not a big gambler like so many other professional players.

When Chris Kamara took Lawrence to Bradford he told him to control himself better, but Lawrence used constant partying to numb the feeling of homesickness. That said, Lawrence was still a committed player on the field and gave his all in training, even though on some nights, he claims, he stopped partying only hours before training. Whilst at Doncaster Lawrence was once sick on the team bus following an all-night binge and flew out to Aiya Napa whilst at Bradford when he should have been receiving physio treatment for an injured hamstring!

Lawrence was a great character during his time at Bradford and was well known for his elaborate haircuts. Playing at Anfield with a blond barnet earned him chants of "there's only one pint of guinuess" from the Kop. Lawrence looks back on his time at City fondly and nothing but appreciative of the support he received from the City fans during his time at Valley Parade. He also speaks of his respect for people like Stuart McCall and Paul Jewell and talks of the great team spirit in the Bradford camp during the First Division Promotion and Premiership survival years and reveals those players with whom he partied with the most and got on best with during his time at City.

Other chapters to his book discuss his time in the Jamaican national team. Although their was debate as to whether he should have been selected because of his criminal past, Lawrence played for his country for four years and gives an interesting insight into the Jamaican camp, which at times was split between the Premiership-based Jamaicans and those based in their home country.

After leaving City following the 2002 administration in which the contracts of nineteen players were ripped up, Lawrence moved on to Walsall and made further appearances at Brentford and Grimsby. At the time of writing his book, Lawrence was a fitness coach at non-league Fisher Athletic in south London as a fitness coach and also acted as a mentor for a young student in London. As a character both on and off of the pitch, From Prison to the Premiership makes interesting reading for any Bradford City fan.

Stuart McCall is a player respected in both England and Scotland because of his wholehearted gutsy approach to the game. In the Real McCall Stuart tells a fascinating story starting with his battle to convince people he was worthy of a apprenticeship when he was a small, underweight teen. McCall played for Farsley Juniors and thought his chance of turning professional had passed him by when the rest of his teammates were being snapped up by professional clubs. However, Bradford City came to his rescue with the offer of a 2 year apprenticeship and he impressed enough to be offered a one year professional contract at the end of it. Whilst on his apprenticeship McCall had to do the mundane tasks around the club like scrubbing floors, but he loved the dressing room banter and was determined to repay City for the faith they had shown in him.

That he did after making his full debut against Reading in 1982, as he went onto playing for City for six seasons, during which time he won the Third Division championship in 1985. However, that achievement was overshadowed by the Bradford Fire Disaster on the final day of the 1984/5 season which saw Stuart's father, Andy, badly burned in the fire. McCall jnr tells the story of his frantic rushing around local hospitals in the aftermath, hoping his dad had survived.

However, one positive did come out of the fire for McCall, as he felt it created a deep unity between the players, the club and the community. He writes, "deep down there was a desire within us all to repay those fans who had lost so much and gone through such tragedy."

It was this commitment to the cause that held him in such high esteem with the City fans and McCall's committed approach to football earned him respect wherever he played subsequently in his career, exemplified by Walter Smith's comments in the forewood, "his attitude and commitment summed up the side. We were not the most gifted team, but we never lacked heart or that will to win and Stuart had plenty of both and was a great example."

During his time at Bradford the likes of Liverpool, Newcastle and Sunderland were all interested in McCall whilst he also came close to linking up with Alex Ferguson at Aberdeen. However, he was motivated by the challenge of City taking City to promotion and repeatedly pledged his future to the club. One club he vowed never to join was Leeds United. Despite supporting them as a boy and idolizing players like Tony Currie and Billy Bremner, McCall lost all affection he had for the club following an incident at Odsal Stadium after the Bradford fire. With Leeds losing 2-0 and the game entering the closing stages, some mindless Leeds fans tipped a chip van over in the away enclosure before setting it alight. McCall describes the incident as one of the most sickening experiences of his life.

When Peter Jackson was sold on to Newcastle McCall was appointed City captain at the age of 22 but he was bitterly disappointed on missing out on promotion in the 1987-88 season as he felt City should have followed the lead of Middlesbrough and Aston Villa and strengthened before transfer deadline day. At the end of that season City chairman Jack Tordoff cashed in on McCall, who left the club on unsavory terms because of a dispute with Tordoff over payments to which he was legitimately entitled.

McCall goes on to describing his time at Everton, for whom he netted twice in an F.A. Cup final only to end up on the losing side, and Rangers, for whom he won six league titles, numerous Scottish Cups and played in Europe. He also describes the unusual story of being called up by both England and Scotland under'21 squads on the same day. After agonizing on the choice McCall chose England, but after failing to make an appearance off the bench he switched allegiances and went on to make 40 appearances for Scotland, travelling to three major finals.

However, in the closing chapters of his book McCall tells of his ambition to one day manage Bradford when he writes, "one day in the distant future I would love to manage Bradford. If I had the choice that would be where I would start. I would like to try and repay the Bradford fans for all their support and courage years ago. There is some unfinished business to be done as far as I am concerned." When a knee injury and a desire for a new challenge saw him leave Rangers, McCall returned home to Valley Parade in the summer of 1998. Although McCall's time during his second spell at the club is not mentioned - the book was published in 1998 - it still makes brilliant reading for any Bradford fan even if they don't remember him from his first spell at City. McCall's great sense of humour also shines through in the book and readers are left amused by the countless examples of pranks played both on him and by him at the various clubs he has played for.