Roy McDonough knew exactly what was at stake when he was appointed as Colchester United’s player-manager, back in the summer of 1991.

The U’s had already spent a season languishing in the Conference by the time Big Roy took charge at Layer Road – and they could ill-afford to spend much more time out of the Football League.

“I knew that had we not won promotion when we did, the club would have gone out of business,” said the charismatic former U’s forward, who led the club to a historic non-league double in 1992.

“Everyone doubted me when I get the job and I got to lead the team out at Wembley and won the double with Colchester – it doesn’t get much better than that.

“The spirit that we had in that squad was fantastic.

“I was the father figure and the main reason for that was because I took them all out drinking.

“I told them when I first got the job that we’d go on a big beano – we were p****d all the time.

“A lot of the pub landlords in Colchester were devastated when I left.

“But the big thing from that was that the players knew they would be looked after.

“On Saturday nights, we would take the players into Colchester town centre and we’d chat to the fans.

“They were there and a part of it with us.”

McDonough, who turns 60 next month, certainly experienced a few ups and downs during his colourful career – both on and off the pitch.

They are portrayed in vivid detail in his successful no-holds barred autobiography “Red Card Roy”, a raw, compelling and sometimes heart-rending account of McDonough’s eventful football career.

The book is also a throwback to when the game had genuine hard men, with his eye-watering recollections of run-ins with the likes of Terry Hurlock, Pat Van Den Hauwe and John Fashanu a case in point.

Suffice to say, McDonough is not too impressed by some of the antics of the modern-day Premier League footballers.

“The game’s shot to pieces now,” said McDonough, who had two eventful spells at the U’s.

“It saddens me – the fans don’t get to see any physical battles any more like Keane and Vieira.

“They’re mega millionaires now and honesty is gone.

“I don’t think the fans get the entertainment they did when we were playing.

“We could go to Rochdale and draw 0-0 but there would still be something for the fans to talk about.

“The fans get cheated now - I saw something the other day suggesting that some Premier League clubs can now play in empty stadiums and still made a profit.

“The modern-day players aren’t as honest as they used to be, because they don’t have to fight for their lives for results anymore.

“There’s no contact now whereas when I was playing, we were fighting centre-backs and they’re kicking lumps out of you.

“Now they can walk off the pitch at Old Trafford after a game and then go and stand at the front of Burton’s shop window, without a hair out of place – their barnet would be the same.”

McDonough had his fair share of run-ins with referees during his playing career – he was sent off a record 22 times – and he still has typically strong opinions on the standard of refereeing.

“The officials are still bad and the fans still get it,” said McDonough, who is now a business development manager in Spain.

“The VAR in the World Cup was ridiculous and they need to get the ex-pros involved in it.

“It’s like the World Cup Final – the referee awarded a penalty and changed the course of the game, having watched it 11 times.

“An ex-pro would have seen that it wasn’t a penalty.”

McDonough’s colourful autobiography “Red Card Roy”, written with Bernie Friend, has now been published in paperback.

“I spent 44 hours with Bernie – we sat around a pool where I was in the Algarve and chatted over a few cans of beer,” added McDonough, who is hoping to return to the JobServe Community Stadium for another talk in the near future.

“He’d done his homework on me beforehand which helped and it also helped that my memory was pretty good for things – if I’d scored an 88th-minute goal in a game, I’d tell him how it came about.”

‘Red Card Roy – Sex, Booze and Early Baths: The Life of Britain’s Wildest Footballer’, published by Vision Sports Publishing, is now available in paperback, priced £9.99.