There's Only One Danny Garvey by David F Ross- sports fiction      

 

A book for football fans in particular Scottish ones but with so much more than

just about a game of two halves. Danny was a star player (hence the title)

back in the day. He even made up a story about Alex Fergusson coming

to pick him. Now he is the manager of the struggling local team Barshaw

bridge FC who have sponsorship from the local carpet firm (Piles better

being their motto which is plastered all over the ground) and he has a few

meagre expenses for players. Bottom of the league doesn't cover it.His

brother Raymond is in prison having lived on the darker side of the tracks

to Danny however he also has his past and his secrets. We are now in the

late 1990’s and Danny's limelight was back when he was a teenager. Danny

tells his story of how to got to where he is now with a tinge of sadness and

regret. I know two things about football- nothing and Gary Linekar (as he

advertised crisps and was from a town I once lived in). I think anyone

who is more into football may get even more out of this than I did

understanding more of the tensions and organisations around it. That

said it is well written however there is a lot of Scottish wording which

for some may take a while to get your head around. It's not just about

football, it's about human life and the rollercoaster ride many of us take

along the way. At times raw and emotional, others loved and cared for

. Interactions with others from the past and of trying to put things right ,

hindsight and maturity being great reflectors of what could have, may

be should have been.

 I loved the quote at the beginning which really makes you think :

“ Mother I tried please believe me, I'm doing the best I can.

I'm ashamed of the things I've been put through,

I'm ashamed of the person I am "

(Joy Division, “Isolation” )

. A different read and one to make you think. 

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A promising young football player returns home to his tiny village, his dreams in tatters and a dark secret haunting his conscience, in a beautiful, unforgettable novel about hope and redemption, when everything seems lost…

THE BOOK

Danny Garvey was a sixteen-year old footballing prodigy. Professional clubs clamoured to sign him, and a glittering future beckoned. And yet, his early promise remained unfulfilled, and Danny is back home in the tiny village of Barshaw to manage the struggling junior team he once played for. What’s more, he’s hiding a secret about a tragic night, thirteen years earlier, that changed the course of several lives. There’s only one Danny Garvey, they once chanted … and that’s the problem. A story of irrational hopes and fevered dreams – of unstoppable passion and unflinching commitment in the face of defeat – There’s Only One Danny Garvey is, above all, an unforgettable tale about finding hope and redemption in the most unexpected of places.

THE AUTHOR David F. Ross was born in Glasgow in 1964 and has lived in Kilmarnock for over 30 years. He is a graduate of the Mackintosh School of Architecture at Glasgow School of Art, an architect by day, and a hilarious social media commentator, author and enabler by night. His debut novel The Last Days of Discowas shortlisted for the Authors Club Best First Novel Award, and received exceptional critical acclaim, as did the other two books in the Disco Days Trilogy: The Rise & Fall of the Miraculous Vespasand The Man Who Loved Islands. David lives in Ayrshire.