Life at the Top takes the reader into the tea rooms, board room and dressing rooms during an historic season in the life of a small town football club.

After 110 years in football’s backwater, Barnsley were promoted to the FA Carling Premiership in 1997 with a squad that cost – in total – less than many individual players signed to big-name clubs.

With the full co-operation of Barnsley, the author was allowed to mingle with players, directors, fans, and conduct numerous interviews with the people that form this passionate football community.

Arsenal and Manchester United might have contested the league title, but the limelight rarely strayed from Oakwell. The country’s hopes and dreams were projected onto Barnsley and during their battle against relegation they became the second favourite team of every football fan outside Barnsley.

Throughout a long, stirring season, and through to Danny Wilson’s resignation as manager, Mark Hodkinson was at every turn, with an eye open for the unusual, the offbeat, the hopeful and the heartbreak.