City Centre

In his candid and lucidly written autobiography, City Centre, former England rugby international Simon Halliday takes the reader on a roller-coaster trip along Twickenham’s corridors of power and lifts the lid on the departure of, not one, but two chief executives, as the game’s rulers fought among themselves for control of the RFU. He is scathing about England’s descent from World Cup heroes to under performers after proving they were the best in 2003. He slams the game’s rulers for driving Sir Clive Woodward out of the game and for eschewing the opportunity to welcome him back to Twickenham a few years later. Halliday also talks about some of the greatest players he has played with and against, and provides a shrewd analysis of the genius coach Jack Rowell, who transformed the fortunes of Bath, turning them from a minor West Country club into one of the best outfits in Europe. There are also assessments of Will Carling and Jerry Guscott. The book has a foreword from Sir Clive Woodward.

Halliday straddled the world of amateur and professional and he delivers a crushing analysis of the twin pressures of existing at the top of both business and international sport. As well as playing for England and Bath, he also worked in the City – and he not only lays bare the inside story of the turmoil within the RFU; he also shows what really happened at Lehman Brothers during the financial crisis.

He describes the fateful morning in September 2008 when Lehman Brothers collapsed, triggering a global financial crisis – except that he tells it from the inside, on the trading floor where he worked with thousands of others. Halliday also details the truth behind the ruthless mid-90s merger of the Swiss banking giants UBS and SBC, and the appalling behaviour of Crédit Suisse in their ill-fated acquisition of his beloved DLJ at the end of the tech boom. ‘I’d enjoyed a club career with Bath and Quins and had nine years as an international player and I’d been involved in the 2003 Rugby World Cup triumph.’ observes Halliday. ‘In my business life I’d experienced three of the biggest financial takeovers in the history of the City. I felt that it was time to reflect on all of this.”