Dunne It the Hard Way The Remarkable Story of a Millwall Legend

Born in Dublin but raised in London, Alan Dunne spent nearly a quarter of a century with what became his hometown club of Millwall—and after almost 400 senior games left as a legend. Joining the youth set-up at the age of eight, he rose through the ranks to eventually become a player who epitomized the club, as his wholehearted approach resonated with the fans at the Den. Dunne It the Hard Way is a frank and honest insight into his life with the Lions, from making the worst of first impressions on a manager, to the heartbreak of being told he was no longer wanted in 2015, and plenty of highs and lows in between—including a broken promise ahead of Millwall's only ever appearance in the FA Cup Final. He also explains why his dad told him to leave home to save his career; why he was left to pay a teammate's dental bills; how he was caught posing with a naked model holding a plate of toast; how the penny finally dropped, before it was too late; how he turned around a career which almost hit the skids to become such a firm favorite of the crowd that he was nearly immortalized in statue form; and he tells the story behind each of his record number of red cards!

Alan Dunne spent almost 25 years at Millwall. After graduating through the club's youth ranks he made his first-team debut in 2002. He was part of the squad which reached the 2004 FA Cup Final and in 2009/10 he was the Player of the Year as he helped Millwall to promotion to the Championship via a Wembley playoff final. He left Millwall in 2015 and joined Leyton Orient. Christopher Davies is an experienced Fleet Street sports writer. He is a former chairman of the Football Writers' Association and a regular pundit on talkSPORT.