The Little Fella...
POST & TIMES JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR DAVID BROOME HAS FULFILLED A A LIFELONG DREAM - WITH THE RELEASE OF A BOOK ABOUT HIS HERO
In simple terms, I wrote the book because he’s my favourite player of all time...
DAVID Broome’s story about how a Brazilian footballer captured the heart of a club and a town is the subject of The Little Fella: How Middlesbrough fell in love with Juninho, which is released this week.
In October 1995, newlypromoted Boro shocked the footballing world by luring the up-and-coming samba star to the Riverside.
It was the beginning of a wonderful love affair between club and player - a unique relationship which is at the heart of David’s book.
Juninho and Middlesbrough loved each other so much that once was not enough and neither was twice. The Brazilian star had three spells at the club and made a combined total of 152 appearances for the Boro, culminating in helping the club win its first piece of silverware in 2004 when they lifted the Carling Cup.
“In simple terms, I wrote the book about Juninho because he’s my favourite player of all time,” said David, who first started planning the book 10 years ago after meeting Juninho at his testimonial.
“But for me, what was most interesting was his relationship with Middlesbrough Football Club.
“Even now, he’s still held in such high regard by the fans.”
Juninho’s first spell at the club came to an end after the controversial 1996-97 season that saw Boro reach - and lose - both domestic cup finals, and also suffer relegation.
He would return to the club in 1999-2000 on loan from Atletico Madrid before ultimately rejoining for two more seasons under Steve Mcclaren between 2002 and 2004, when he helped the club win its first, and to date only, major trophy.
The book - which features contributions from numerous Boro stars of the time including Fabrizio Ravanelli, Emerson, Bryan Robson and Steve Mclaren - has been a project David has considered for some time now.
David admitted it was an amazing feeling to hold the book for the first time - this being his first published work.
Usually a fiction writer, he added writing non-fiction was very different and at times challenging, but worth the reward at the end.
“Writing and researching the book was an enjoyable experience in many ways because it brought back a lot of great memories. “I’ve got a terrible memory so I needed to check and doublecheck every fact that went into it which was
obviously timeconsuming. Had it been something I was less interested in I might not have enjoyed it so much.
“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 now, or contact David directly to order a copy at david. broome@ reachplc. com or on Twitter, @ Davidbroomesn.