Twelve Tumultuous Years in Welsh Rugby

Seeing Red

Award-winning account of a turbulent decade behind the scenes of the WRU

A revealing insider's view that shows what can go wrong when strong personalities clash behind the scenes at the highest level of professional sport

[Carter] sees the playing and management sides of the same coin in a way that a player's autobiography so rarely does

Carter wields a sharp pen, and draws blood from a number of key figures he feels were flawed . . . explosive . . . revelatory

Alun Carter is an ex-Wales international who also played for Pontypool, Newport, S.O. Millau and UWIC. He later worked for the WRU for 12 years, fulfilling the role of Head Analyst from 1998 to 2007. 
 
Nick Bishop has worked as a rugby analyst and scout for Graham Henry, and for the Wales National Squad. He is the author of four other books, including Henry's Pride with Graham Henry.

Alun Carter experienced the highs and lows of the Wales national rugby squad throughout his 12 years working for the WRU. During this time, he saw a number of high-profile coaches come and go, and in Seeing Red he delivers a brutally honest account of what it was like to work with each of them. From the inspirational successes of the Graham Henry and Mike Ruddock eras to the disappointments and failures of the Steve Hansen and Gareth Jenkins regimes, the reader is given an insider's version of what really went on. 
 
Carter does not shy away from controversy, and he pulls no punches in his assessment of the rift between Graham Henry and Sir Clive Woodward, the personal and political situation that led to Mike Ruddock losing his job, and the difficulty of handling the group dynamics within the national squad. The former analyst also provides an informed appraisal of the remarkable 2005 and 2008 Grand Slam victories. 
 
Winner of best rugby book at the 2009 British Sports Book Awards, Seeing Red provides a warts-and-all account of more than a decade of Welsh rugby and is packed with revelations, exclusive contributions and untold stories that will intrigue and delight all fans of the sport.

Nicholas Bishop

Alun Carter

What makes the book so compelling and readable is the window it opens on to the rugby and the imperatives, still relevant today, behind great teams and institutions...Fascinating and affecting

The Rise and Fall of Pontypool RFC

What made Pontypool such a great seam of talent for the Welsh national team? Why were they hated and feared in equal measure by other clubs in Wales and across the Severn? What made Ray Prosser a coach ahead of his time? 
 
In this engrossing book, Alun Carter and Nick Bishop recount the dramatic story of the rise and fall of one of the great enigmas of Welsh club rugby: Pontypool RFC. They chart the glories and violence of the amateur era in the 1970s and ’80s before the club entered a period of steady decline in the age of professionalism, reaching the point of bankruptcy after a crippling legal battle with the Welsh RU. It is a symbolic tale of the disintegration of the social fabric that held a once-great club together, both on and off the playing field – often irresistibly funny, eventually tragic, but always larger than life.

Alun Carter

Praise for The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

What makes the book so compelling and readable is the window it opens on to the rugby and the imperatives, still relevant today, behind great teams and institutions...Fascinating and affecting

Books by Alun Carter

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter