WHENEVER I HEAR THAT SONG

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Cheltenham to Chelsea (nearly) via Liverpool this book is a fascinating look behind the scenes of the corporate world, the politics of business and the footballing world with a bit of horse racing thrown in. Totopoly started a lifetime of interest in racing, but I never imagined I would get to be so involved in the world of horseracing. Both Newcastle and Chelsea have been taken over by ambitious, wealthy owners inside the last 18 months and Liverpool are on the market at a time when Manchester United are also available after the Glazer family detailed their aims of a sale in November.

All through this very readable memoir run additional themes - his love of music, hence the book's title and the chapter headings, the importance of family and finally, in partnership with his wife - Jocelyn, an abiding passion for horse racing. Such was the ultimate respect of the Liverpool supporters for him that the Kop sang with gusto " There's only one Martin Broughton . My wife, Jocelyn, had always lamented the fact that she didn’t ask her parents enough questions before they died. The Redmen TV is very very special and one of the most exciting expressions of the complex and wondrous city of Liverpool since the early Beatles, early Biennial or early Bunnymen.

Few can have had as interesting or varied a career as Sir Martin Broughton – a very British businessman. Since his retirement in 2004, he has been much in demand and continued to be one of the most prominent and influential businessmen of his generation. The tobacco industry is amazingly resilient although a lot of people think the business has disappeared.

Today it is a very fashionable bor­ough which it was not until some smart estate agent started referring to it as ‘West Chelsea’. As Chairman of the British Horseracing Board he came close to securing a new funding mechanism for the sport, while his brief tenure in the same role at Liverpool FC saw an intense court battle over the sale of the club. He was a hero and was injured by the runaway horse but died of tuber-­ culosis four years later when Dad was seven.My leaving school report shows I came 13th out of 40 pupils in the class and the teacher’s remarks were ‘Both he and Stephen appear models of brotherly behaviour and are popular with their classmates although they seem content just to have each other’s company. Now it’s people [players] saying ‘I want to play in the Premier League’ - because that’s now the target base to play. Soon an older lady saw I was distressed and took me off to a ‘Lost Children’ meeting point where I sat for what seemed an eternity. Beaming on the steps of the high court, Liverpool's chairman, Martin Broughton, declaring himself "delighted", said: "Justice has been done.