Something for the Weekend: 32 Programmes by Dave Roberts

When Dave Roberts relocates to the USA, his wife informs him that they can only take what is ‘absolutely essential’. Packing his collection of football programmes (1,134 of them - football fans are sticklers for statistics), Dave is aghast to be informed that the programmes do not fall into that category. He must whittle down his treasured archive to only what will fit inside a Tupperware container the size of a Dan Brown hardback.

32 Programmes tells the story of how Dave made the selection of his most important programmes, and how the process brought back a flood of nostalgia for simpler times. As the sights, sounds and smells of those 1,134 football matches return, the choices Dave makes reflect the twists and turns that life takes. Finally, with just hours to go before the flight, the container is full to the brim. One more programme will be added to the collection - one that Dave never thought he would see and which means more to him than any other…

Yesterday saw The Football League 2011/2012 season starting. This heralds a fresh start, full of hope, for the tens of thousands of supporters. This is their time to return to their tribal roots, as the match-ritual returns and reimposes itself on domestic life. Personally, I love it. I don’t think I could ever love a man who wasn’t passionate about football.

I come from a football obsessed family, I was conceived after Sunderland’s semi-final cup win and my only sibling was recently promoted to be a Premiership referee. If I’m totally honest, I was always jealous of the bond that football gave my dad and my brother. Although I was taken along weekly to watch Jon play and although I knew the offside rule from an early age, football was the thing that connected them. I’ve never had that connection and I wish that I had, because it’s lasted a lifetime.

’32 Programmes’ by Dave Roberts is a story of growth, of love, of obsession and of key moments in one man’s journey through life. The premise, the selection of his most important programmes being ‘allowed’ to travel with them to their new life is a moving one. The idea of stripping a life down to its bare minimum (and, yes, I do think his wife is a cruel, cruel, cruel lady!) is poignant. The reader is allowed to see the fragments of a life that jigsawed together to make a man. This book made me want to be Dave Roberts’ friend (see note at end of this review).

I cried. I was touched by the story of Roberts’ father taking him to his first match, the love and the gratitude jumped from the pages. Just as I had tears at the very end, with the final programme selection (no spoilers included!). And I think this is the thing that will make people both love and hate this book. It is not just a story of collecting and of football, this is tale of a football supporter’s life told by someone who can truly write.

In simple terms - if you’ve only ever watched ‘Match of the Day’ and never seen live football, then you might not get this book. People who truly understand football will. Because going along to watch a match is never only about the football. It’s a tribal thing, it’s about belonging, it’s about raw emotion, it’s about shared memories and defining moments. It’s about everything that surrounds that single match. ’32 Programmes’ captures all of this with ease.

Dave Roberts’ writing is full of heart and this lies next to the sense of thrill and excitement that those who’ve experienced live football will understand. Reading ’32 Programmes’, you see the growth and learning of a child alongside the defining moments that moulded his adulthood, as a relationship with football threads through the narrative and the fan-based anecdotes that emerge. Turning up at Denis Law’s house was a particular favourite.

Maybe I’m not the expected ideal audience for ’32 Programmes’, but my love of football is deep rooted. The emotion and the anecdotes that surround the selection of just 32 programmes from the 1134 available kept me engaged and prompted my own stories surrounding matches to emerge (fainting at a Tranmere match during a summer heatwave, being 7 months pregnant…). I’d quite like to meet Mr Roberts and have a flick through his remaining programmes. I’m sure there are more stories to be told.

I highly and absolutely recommend ’32 Programmes’ to you all.

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Note: I have never met Dave Roberts but I’d VERY much like to. I bought his first novel exactly 5 years ago and, as a result, he mentioned my blog on his. It was from that mention that Clare Christian hopped onto my blog and saw that I had an extract from ‘In Search of Adam’ on my site. I was offered a publishing deal a few days later. Dave Roberts, therefore, has wings and and a wand but this is largely irrelevant, as he’s also a super talented man. One day he’ll be my best friend forever…