Gordon Strachan came up and was screaming at the ref that I was faking it, that I wasn't hurt and was just a ... pansy, a Southern softie. And me a Rotherham lad too. The physio was treating it when he spotted all this blood. He looked closer and found the studs had ripped into my balls as well and I needed a couple of stitches in them.

It's a tough game, and calling your autobiography Safe Hands is asking for trouble, but that's just what David Seaman is doing every time he puts on the No.1 shirt. As he says: "Goalkeeping can be a lonely business."

Thankfully he doesn't overdo the existential angst, and offers instead an affable account of his career between the sticks--from formative years as an apprentice with Leeds, through Peterborough, Birmingham, QPR and of course, Arsenal and England.

Seaman reveals his thoughts on some of the controversial characters he has worked with--Ian Wright, Paul Gascoigne, Nicolas Anelka, and four England managers, among them--and the key events on and off the pitch--Euro96, France98, the backstage story of George Graham's reign, the impact of Arsene Wenger--from what has been an immensely successful career.

The book is lavishly illustrated with colour snaps of important personal and career moments--with plenty of photographic proof that England's number 1 has been having dodgy haircuts for years.

With confessions of his peculiar gloves fetish, his passion for carp fishing and a few pointers on keeping doves, as well as his thoughts on the future for football and himself, this is an entertaining, light-hearted read that succeeds in spilling a few beans along the way--but always keeps a clean sheet.Alex Hankin