Bomber: The Whole Story by Mark Thompson

Now in paperback, the bestselling memoir of one of football's most intriguing characters. Mark Thompson sets the record straight on a career that has had more than a few challenges and dramas in this candid, entertaining, opinionated story of the enigmatic coach who changed the game of AFL.

After 34 years in the game at a thousand kilometres an hour, Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson stepped away from AFL footy following the Essendon drugs scandal. In this candid and uncompromising autobiography, he sets the record straight on his often controversial career.

We ride the bumps of the playing field, the coaches’ box the boardroom and the press conferences as Thompson handles things his own way. He talks about his mentors, his protégés and his contemporaries with insight and candour, and reveals what he considers to be the trademarks of a successful coach.

This is as good a book about football as you’ll get, by a purist who understands and loves the game, and who refuses to put up with politics. Mark Thompson’s legacy is some of the greatest footy to be played in the modern era.

Mark Thompson

Formats & editions

Trade Paperback

9780143785231

August 14, 2017

Michael Joseph (AU Adult)

352 pages

RRP $35.00
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Hardback

9780143797142

July 25, 2016

Michael Joseph (AU Adult)

352 pages

RRP $45.00
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EBook

9781760142001

July 25, 2016

Penguin eBooks (AU Adult)

352 pages
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Extract

It’s time to reflect.
In professional sport, you go at a thousand kilometres an hour, and scarcely stop for an instant to think about the bigger picture. It is the nature of the business; slow down and you get run over. I played footy from the time I was a kid growing up in Airport West in the suburbs of Melbourne until I broke my arm when I was 32 years old, in my sixteenth season and worn out. Beyond that, I coached 18 straight years at Essendon, North Melbourne, Geelong, and then back at Essendon. That makes 34 years in the game. It did not end the way that I envisaged, because I was finished with coaching when I completed my 11 years at Geelong, only to be lured back to Essendon when James Hird was suspended and the club was in need.