Minor league, but still knockabout fun

The Bromley Boys (PG) Verdict: Likeable footie comedy

THE Bromley Boys is an engagingly silly football comedy which found a small place in my heart when I realised it told the story of the 1969-70 season.

That’s when, aged eight, I became a devoted fan of the First Division champions, Everton FC.

It was also when 15-year-old Dave Roberts, at the other end of football’s long ladder, formed a passionate attachment to humble Bromley, languishing that year at the foot of the Isthmian League. Steve Kelly’s film, with a screenplay by Warren Dudley, is based on Roberts’ memoir. It stars Alan Davies and Martine McCutcheon as his grumpy father and indulgent mum.

Davies also provides the voiceover as young Dave (Brenock O’Connor) tries to reconcile his passion for rubbish Bromley with a growing affection for the chairman’s daughter (Savannah Baker), while simultaneously working out how he might save his beloved club from the twin ogres of bankruptcy and relegation.

It’s relentlessly daft, and some of the acting is more Isthmian than Premier League. But if you do feel you need a football fix in what for some of us is a brief, blessed respite before the World Cup, I recommend it for its warmth and knockabout energy — and a great soundtrack.