Call yourself a Manchester United fan? Then this is a must-have book. It is called "Manchester United Players' Careers". Every footballer to have appeared for the club in a competitive match since 1886 is in it. That is nearly 850 players! Rooney, Ronaldo, Cantona, Scholes, Law, Best, Charlton, Edwards, Meredith, Rowley - they are all here. Likewise, there are many that you may have never heard of. Horace Blew, for instance, who once got picked in defence in 1906, or Billy Wrigglesworth, who was as short as his name was long (5'4", if you're asking).

 What's special about this book? Unlike any other book before, it lists the entire career of each of those 850 players. Not just their seasons at United, but also with any other club they might have played for. Do you want to keep up with Ronaldo's latest with Real Madrid? Sure, it is accessible somewhere online, but what about Denis Law's time with Huddersfield, Manchester City and Torino? How did George Best do when he crossed the Atlantic to play in the NASL?

Just how incredible is Henrik Larsson's scoring record? Remember him? He was only at United for a couple of months, but his career is bulging with goals at all the clubs he played for. The same applies to other stars from past eras. John Wood, for example, broke the records at East Fife in the 30s after leaving Old Trafford. Knocker West reached double figures for scoring in 8 consecutive seasons, some with United, others at Nottingham Forest. And so it goes for the rest.

Each player's details are broken down season by season, showing league matches and goals, cup matches and goals. The total is at the bottom for your convenience. Also included: date of birth, date of United debut, and caps and goals for all United's international stars. The players are listed in chronological order by date of debut, from 1886 and onwards. But don't worry, you don't have to know a player's exact first start to locate him in the book. Just flip to the end and the index will point you in the right direction.

This book is a lot of fun. Not only if you are into stats (that's a given). But if you wish to impress your mates with your United knowledge, or if you want to settle an argument, or simply compare players to see who really was the greatest, or find out who played most matches, who had the longest career, how many played for Celtic, who has most caps, how many Welsh internationals represented United... this book will tell you all that.

Doing research? Manchester United Players' Careers will do half the job for you. Instead of spending days sifting through numeorus sites to put together one player's career, here it is already. Some of this info is available online, some you have to pay to access, some you have peel off a microfilm. But why waste your time whe someone already did then put it in this book?

The man who compiled this book is Charbel Boujaoude, who was voted Number One United fan by himself. He has been supporting the Reds since 1981 and has already written a splendid history of Newton Heath. That earlier book, called "The Story of the Green & Gold" was published in 2010 and is available from several sources, such as Empire: http://www.empire-uk.com/nh.html , or from Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Story-Green-Newton-Heath-1878-1902/dp/1901746577  

You can contact him directly to order "Manchester United Players' Careers", at superbity@yahoo.com . The book costs just 9 GBP, or $14 US. Shipping has its costs too, unfortunately, inside the US: $3 only, to the UK: 9 GBP. If you happen to be in another country, check with Charbel about the cost, but he is always willing to find the best bit for you.

You can also contact the author for any other reason. If you find a correction, missing data, or simply for a chat, please feel free to contact him. The address again is: supebrity@yahoo.com