Give my football hero his play day

By ecleland emily cleland

WHEN Bill Cronshaw played in goal as a schoolboy in 1950s Manchester he modelled every save on his hero Bert Trautmann.

Half-a-century on Bill, a professional actor and director from Bishop's Cleeve, has written a play about the German goalkeeper, who famously played with a broken neck in the 1956 FA Cup Final.

The production, I'll Be Bert, has attracted attention from one of Britain's leading theatrical producers, Bill Kenwright.

Mr Cronshaw sent a flyer about the play to the Everton football club chairman and he was shocked to get a handwritten letter in reply.

Mr Cronshaw, 60, said: "He said his hero was Bert Trautmann as well and he remembers watching the cup final when he broke his neck."

The script for I'll Be Bert, which was first performed at Cheltenham's Everyman theatre last year, has now been sent to the producer – who is behind hit productions such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

Mr Cronshaw said: "It's staggering. When it was suggested I contact him I thought I would. But you contact these people and think it will go into the organisation somewhere and you will never hear back. It's just amazing to get a personal letter in reply."

He hopes Mr Kenwright will go along to see the play when it is next performed in London, at the Old Red Lion Theatre, on January 19.

The possibility of Mr Trautmann himself seeing the production is also on the cards as it is hoped it will go to Berlin this year.

"It would be a dream come true if he saw it. He was first signed for Manchester City in 1949 so it's also the 60th anniversary," Mr Cronshaw said.

It is not the first real-life play by Mr Cronshaw, who wrote Miss Fit, a production based on the diaries of Cheltenham teenager Tammy Reynolds, who has dwarfism.

I'll Be Bert also attracted interest from Channel M when it was in Manchester and will feature in a documentary.

Mr Cronshaw said: "They want to film it and the idea is that the live show will be interspersed with images of Manchester as well as images of ex-players. It's a bit of a social history as well as the story of sport."

The documentary would be broadcast in the North West with hopes it could be passed to Sky.