DARTFORD football legend and former Crystal Palace boss Malcolm Allison has recently had a seminal book outlining his philosophies and coaching approaches to the game re-published.

'Soccer For Thinkers' provides a fascinating insight into one of the most colourful personalities in football.

It offers his thoughts on the beautiful game and also outlines some of the strategies which provided the springboard to his coaching successes, culminating in Manchester City's success in the late 1960s when Allison was the coach under Joe Mercer.

The book comes with two new forewords which were written by two other football legends, Colin Bell and Tony Book, who both speak in glowing terms of working with Allison.

Bell said: “The man lived and breathed football and was way ahead of his time, anyone who worked with him would end up a better player.”

Allison’s coaching career initially started as a player at Charlton before moving to West Ham United, where he developed a reputation for innovative coaching ideas.

When his own playing career ended following the contraction of tuberculosis, he moved into coaching full-time.

He coached at Bath City, Toronto City and Plymouth Argyle before arriving for the first of two spells at Manchester City in 1965.

In tandem with Mercer, he helped the club to the most successful spell in its history, winning an unprecedented four trophies - the championship, FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners Cup in a glorious three year spell.

One of the most flamboyant and charismatic figure in football history, he also had spells managing at Crystal Palace - where he famously led the then third divison side to an FA Cup semi-final while wearing his infamous fedora, as well as Middlesborough, and Bristol Rovers.

He also had spells overseas with Galatasaray and the Kuwait national team, as well as managing three Portugese sides in Sporting Lisbon, SC Farense and Vitoria Setubal.

The book is available priced 11.99 and can be bought online at cultfigurepublishing.com