The Long, Long Road to Wembley

Book excerpt: “Every football fan will enjoy this” – John Cross, Daily Mirror “Beautifully written. A book to lift the spirits.” – Ian Ladyman, Daily Mail “A heart-rending, life-affirming joy” – Charlie Connelly, bestselling author of Attention All Shipping “Reminds us what the game is really all about” – Miguel Delaney, Independent "A life-affirming tale of never losing faith in your team." – Adam Hurrey, Daily Telegraph In 1968, fourteen-year-old Dave Roberts had a dream – to see the team he’d recently begun supporting, Bromley, play at Wembley. The trouble was that Bromley were rubbish, and when they spent the following decades far away from the pinnacle of non-league football, the dream seemed unreasonably ambitious. But he never gave up. After all, Bromley had been there before – the proof was in the black-and-white pictures of the club’s 1949 Amateur Cup triumph which hung on the wall of the tea hut at Hayes Lane, and which Dave stared at longingly. It was enough to keep that dream alive, as the rest – fortune, success and marrying Olivia Newton-John – fell by the wayside. But after fifty years of never losing faith despite constant disappointment, a favourable draw in the FA Trophy gave Bromley the chance to finally make Dave’s dream come true...