Seless, they lost but I love them

to a match because he was determined to see every fixture in the calendar.

Afterwards Bromley’s star striker Alan Stonebridge, Dave’s hero, gave him a lift home. “I never wanted that journey to end,” said Dave, a dad-of-three. “My bedroom was covered in pictures of him.”

At 16, Dave spent £50 on a red threewheeled car so he could offer other fans lifts to and from matches.

But he recalled: “Within minutes I did a triple somersault after taking a corner too fast and had to go back to cadging lifts.”

These are some of the tales from his 2006 book. Dave calls it a niche publication and has seen it described as “wilfully uncommercial” – which he said made the idea of turning The Bromley Boys into a film “even stranger”. He added: “But the story has heart and soul. It’s about flawed relatable people who have found their place in life.

“There are lots of books on sale about supporting popular sides. But what about all the rubbish non-glory teams, and the people who go to watch them year in, year out with absolutely no reward.” To this day, Dave, who lives in Menston, near Leeds, makes ten-hour round trips to most of Bromley’s home games. He said: “It’s about someone finding their place. I was an awkward child and I didn’t really fit in anywhere and there was this ramshackle team that wasn’t very good. And I fell in love with them. “Nowadays I feel extreme emotion, even hearing their name makes me swell with pride.”

The Bromley Boys film is out now. For more info see thebromleyboys.com.