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Turf love for Chorley Tony
A former journalist from Chorley has taken the plunge into publishing with a bizarre book about football's most extreme supporter.
Tony Dawber, who worked as a sports reporter at the Chorley Guardian in the 1990s, has met some obsessed sports fans throughout his 15-year career in newspapers – but nothing like Dave Burnley.
The Euxton dad-of-two knew he had hit the jackpot when he met Dave, who has legally changed his name and has travelled an estimated 500,000 miles to watch his beloved Burnley FC.
Despite living 75 miles away in Stoke and not being able to drive, the fanatic has incredibly not missed a game since 1974 and is so obsessed, he even named his daughter Clarette – which is the nickname of his beloved team.
Now, to coincide with Burnley's promotion to the Premier League, former reporter Tony has published a hilarious account of the fan's wacky dedication to the Clarets.
Tony, who is also a diehard Burnley fan, said: "Dave's story really is a bizarre one – everyone is always amazed by his dedication and I knew we had to put it down in print.
"I have always wanted to publish a book and this was the perfect opportunity really.
"When I got on board, Dave's memoirs were about half written and although he'd attracted some interest from other publishers, he kept getting let down.
"I got involved and helped edit the book and made a few changes. Then we took up the challenge of publishing it.
"It's been a big learning curve because we didn't know the first thing about it, but it is going really well."
The book – 'Got To Be There'– was published last month and all 350 copies have already sold. Another batch is now being printed.
The book details the great lengths Dave has gone to to follow his team over the years.
Because he doesn't drive, he has had to rely on lifts, public transport, hitch-hiking and he has even been known to cycle the 150-mile round trip to see his club.
He changed his name by Deed Poll in 1976 and has attended the last 2,000 games in a row.
Tony, who left the Guardian in 1996, has worked for various newspapers across the country and most recently he was the deputy sports editor at the Halifax Evening Courier.
He is now working on a book about the long-running rivalry between Lancashire and Yorkshire.
'Got to Be There' is 10 in paperback (15 hardback) and is available from.daveburnley.co.uk.
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