The Long, Long Road to Wembley

by Dave Roberts

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 ploughing a lonely furrow in the depths 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...

Genres: Sports, Football, Nonfiction

198 pages, Paperback

Published August 22, 2019

Reviews

[Alan M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up because a mate of mine hovered around the edges of Bromley’s first team many years ago (as a player that is. Not a stalker). I wasn’t aware that Dave Roberts had already documented his love affair with one of south London’s less finer clubs in “Bromley Boys”, which also became a film. As books go, it’s very much a read of two halves.

The premise is simple enough – starting in 1968, would the 14 year old Roberts ever see his team make it to Wembley? What would the next 50 years reveal? Well, at the risk of being a little unkind, it suggests that whilst the barrel wasn’t being scraped, it had certainly been heavily plumbed for “Bromley Boys” and “Home and Away” which charts his travels to non league grounds around the country.

Here and there it’s quite funny, and it’s always very self aware and depreciating- in fact at times too much so. The quirks of the hardcore fans, the dismal rivalries and the idiosyncrasies of non-league grounds, the mug collecting are bought to life and will raise a smile with anyone whose watched a sport away from the glamour of the spotlight.

However, the central problem for me is that for a significant proportion of the story, Roberts is living thousands of miles away from Bromley and relies upon Twitter and YouTube to follow his team, having told his early years as a supporter already. This made me curious about the life events that had caused Roberts to live so far afield, but parents, wives and children are only mentioned in passing as and when the story needs it. I found myself unengaged by the long distance supporting stories, and denied the personal story that sounded more interesting.

“Bromley Boy” seems a well regarded book (less so as a film), so that may be a better place to start.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was just great. I'm missing football and all the characters during the lockdown at the moment and although I've never watched football at Bromley or won a non league mug collecting competition I loved the nostalgia. Lots of laugh out loud moments such as his attempts to get a girlfriend and the football club's sandwich theif.

Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Stephen Roe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lived every minute

I read this book and felt compassion and understanding with Dave Roberts,so many emotions I as a football fan in general and non league follower ( Warrington Town) have felt at some time or another.
Even got a bit tearful myself reading the bit as Bromley got to Wembley as I got what it meant to him.
I now feel the need to watch Bromley at some point.
A must read for football fans regardless of who they support.

[Kemill · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always really good. Although having read 3 of his books now, there is quite a lot of overlap. But that's fine. He has a very nice style of writing and it's been nice to follow him on his football journey.

[Warren Dudley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Dave's work and this did not disappoint. The best football writer around.

[George1st · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember during the late 1960's when the highlight of the week was going to watch Romford football club hearing older supporters reminiscing about the day in 1949 when the team played at Wembley Stadium in front of 95,000 people in the televised F A Amateur Cup final. Surely I thought that day would be repeated but this time I would be there in person. Fast forward 10 years and the team would be defunct and the magical (to me anyway) town centre ground would be a housing estate. But what fate would await the victors of that final, Bromley? Also at the same time that I was having those dreams of a glorious day out at Wembley, Dave Roberts was staring misty eyed at black and white photographs of his team's triumph hanging on the wall of the tea hut at Hayes Lane wondering too if his local team will ever it make it back there. They would but it would take a long long time.

In this wonderfully authentic and honest account Dave charts the highs and lows (mainly lows) of following his team as well as narrating his own mainly youthful autobiography. All the obsession, quirkiness, disappointment and blind faith associated with supporting a non league football team is here. In experiences that will immediately be recognisable to all such fans we read of after travelling several hours and turning up to a ground only to see the game has been postponed, queuing for that all important half time cup of tea and (for us older fans) standing under the alas departed old oak tree at St Albans.

A whole host of wonderful eccentric characters that seem to be drawn to the non league scene are encountered here. At the heart of it all is I suppose a sense of community and belonging that is often overlooked in the multi billion pound industry that modern football has become. I have not previously read Dave's books or indeed seen the film adaption based on his writing but this book gets to the essence of what it is to be a fan of a less fashionable team and also can be viewed as a coming of age story. This book in my opinion can take its place along side the likes of Fever Pitch as one of the best of the fan genre. Well worth a read.

[Giuliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've now read three of Dave Roberts' books and I can't wait to read the rest. He just has a way with words... He can conjure up old feelings and impressions from his youth so easily and remind you of what it felt like to be a kid at a football game, with your hopes and dreams, fears and anxieties.
The theme of this book is, of course, once again the Mighty Bromley, only this book is set in between The Bromley Boys (set when he was a teenager) and Home and Away, when the author had moved back to the UK after 35 years abroad.

I felt this book was a bit more introspective, in that it was less about each individual game and more about what it meant for Dave to watch his beloved team play at Wembley, something he'd been waiting to see for 50 years. Also, I enjoyed reading about how he kept up with his team's results while living in New Zealand and the USA (including how to avoid spoilers before watching a replay of the game online) which really struck a chord as I've been in a similar predicament for 15 years now..

A lovely book about passion, friendship, and the unrelenting love of a man for his football club, something many of us can relate to and will enjoy reading about.

[Paul Richer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartwarming and funny read, a book that will appeal to sports and non-sports fans alike.