Local writer has book about his hero, Juninho, published
JOURNALIST David Broome has completed a decade-long project and fulfilled a dream with the release of his debut book.
Called The Little Fella, the book is about his football hero, Juninho, the Brazilian star who enchanted Middlesbrough supporters when he joined the club in 1995.
The relationship between club, player and fans is at the heart of the book. They all got on so well that Juninho had three spells with the club, making a combined total of 152 appearances, culminating in them winning their first major trophy, the Carling Cup, in 2004.
“In simple terms, I wrote the book because he’s my favourite player of all time,” said David, from Willington, who met Juninho at his testimonial.
“But for me, what was most interesting was his relationship with Middlesbrough. Even now, he’s still held in such high regard by the fans.”
Juninho’s first spell ended after the controversial 1996-97 season when they reached and lost both domestic cup finals and were relegated.
He returned in 1999-2000 on loan from Atletico Madrid, then had two more seasons, under Steve McClaren, between 2002 and 2004, when they won the Carling Cup.
The book has contributions from numerous Boro stars of the time, including Fabrizio Ravanelli, Emerson, Bryan Robson and McClaren.
David admitted it was an amazing feeling to hold the book – his first – for the first time. He has previously written fiction and found this a very different exercise.
“Writing and researching the book was an enjoyable experience in many ways because it brought back a lot of great memories,” he said.
“I’ve got a terrible memory so I needed to check and double-check every fact, which was obviously time-consuming. But because it was a subject I’m so passionate about it was motivation to get through it.”
The Little Fella: How Middlesbrough fell in love with Juninho is available online, or contact David directly: david.broome@reachplc.com, or on Twitter, @DavidBroomeSN.