I’ve been waiting for this film to come out for ages. When I first read the book (half  the front cover of which is shown on the left. I need to work out why I can  only upload  50% of my portrait shots) I was blown away by it. I’d never read such a gripping, original account of the football world. Better still, despite being about Brian Clough’s time at  Leeds United and Derby County, it was written by a Huddersfield Town supporter.  Three cheers for David Peace. Get in there,  clever lad!

The film’s had a mixed reception. Half the Leeds players have been upset by it and Brian Clough’s family haVE boycotted it and I guess if you detest football you’re not going to get much out of it either but I thought it was spot-on.  First of all, Timothy Spall’s one of the cast. Any film starring Timothy Spall is bound to be watchable as he is simply the best British actor going.  End of.  Michael Sheen, playing Clough, is amazing at getting under the skin of whichever character he takes on (Kenneth Williams, Tony Blair etc) but that makes me feel a bit queazy for some reason. He was Clough to a ‘t’ but I felt he overdid the sneering a little. Now Spall; what a guy.  He played Peter Taylor, Clough’s assistant and was responsibly for some of the most poignant moments in the film. The Damned United is as much about the deep bond that existed between the maverick coach and his loyal sidekick as it is football and Spall portrayed this brilliantly. In non-football terms, Clough is Frodo and Taylor is Samwise.  Discuss.

The 1970s, when the film was set, is seen by some as a golden era of football but Damned United gives a stark reminder of how grim things were. The shabby changing rooms, the dire, almost grass-free swamps of pitches, the generally squalid conditions in some of the lower league clubs - all brought home how much better things are now. As for the football itself. Ouch!  The film is at its most riveting when it uses original footage of some of the games, especially the shots homing in on the dirty tackles for which Leeds were infamous. It’s a wonder they didn’t cripple half the opposition for life.

Football is notoriously difficult to put into a film setting (When Saturday Comes springs to mind) as football played by actors is usually unconvincing but The Damned United has to be up there as one of the best.

Well done to Huddersfield Town yesterday for their three points against Hereford, too.  All in all I had a good Saturday!

1. When are you going to write proper books? (i.e. for adults)

2. What other hobbies do you have?

3. Please will you sign my copy of Harry Potter? (Unless the writer is JK Rowling, then

fair dos)

4. You look much younger on your poster

It’s all my fault. I only wrote to Cindy Jefferies, a Cheltenham supporter, on the morning of the match and told her our lot were going to thrash her lot. Whatever possessed me?  Just because the Robins were bottom of the league? Fatal. Sixteen minutes in we were 2-0 down and looking as if we were in for a thrashing.

It all began so well.  We drove to Huddersfield in bright spring sunshine, my Town scarf flapping against the  outside of the passenger window.  Yes, I am one of those saddos who does this. I wave to any supporters of any teams we pass on their way to a game too. They don’t wave back but hey…

We walked through town and down Leeds Road among our fellow supporters, bought the programme, took our places right at the back of the Antich Stand, full of hope and optimism. The sun was still shining. Life was grand. Ten minutes before kick-off World Freestyle Football Champion John Farnsworth, dressed in our new away kit (red and blue, very smart) performed his seal-like tricks, including bouncing the ball on his head while skipping.  Impressive. So far so good.

Then the match started. Town began slugglishly but then they always do. This time they were punished for it. Cheltenham, spurred on from the dug-out by their manager Martin ‘Mad Dog’ Allen, took over. We were woeful. We were dire.  Substituting the lacklustre Jutkiewicz for the more energetic Cadamarteri helped. Cadamarteri scored just before the end of the first half. Hopes were raised.  Would the amazing Town team who had done the double over Leeds come out for the second half all guns blazing?  Er… no. We were still woeful. We were still dire. We could not string two passes together. They were down to ten men. We missed a penalty. Dearie, dearie me…

The one hundred and nine Cheltenham fans looked as if they’d be going home singing. But no; five minutes extra time was given. Butler, for Town, scored on the 93rd minute. Robins, I share your pain just as Town shared your points.  Our play-off hopes are gone and buried and Lee Clark’s honeymoon period is over.   Never mind.  At least we’ll look good next season at the away matches.

Last week I visited Djanogly City Academy on Thursday and Friday morning. I have been to Djanogly a few times now. It is a huge state-of-the art school in Nottingham.  Despite specializing in IT the first thing you see as you walk through the imposing glass doors is the library.  There it is, straight ahead, open plan and exposed for all to see, telling you that books are at the heart of this school.

Another way they show this is by deploying their retired librarian; the one, the only, the brilliant Helen Pallett, to all their feeder schools to support Y5 classes in their reading development.  Lucky kids having such an expert on hand!  And the icing on the cake?  Only a trip to BIG SCHOOL to meet a real live author (little old me) and to be given a goodie bag at the end that included one of my books. Generous or what?  I’m sure those two days have helped keep There’s Only One Danny Ogle in print… and I’m not even kidding.  Better still, all that input from their own teachers and Helen, pays off. I stupidly challenged the Y5s to ask me a question about my writing that I’d never been asked before. ‘I’ll give a signed copy of one of my books,’ I told them, ‘but I have been doing visits for ten years so I’m pretty confident I’ll be keeping it.’  Three questions in and three books down I surrendered. I won’t be doing that one again;  those kids were  bright!

The Friday session coincided with Comic Relief Day so the pupils and staff trooped in ‘wearing something funny for money.’ I wasn’t sure about the ‘funny’ part. It can be quite disturbing performing in front of dozens of fairies and clowns! Once again though, the kids were great. i was especially impressed with the group who volunteered to demonstrate the Maori ‘haka’ (don’t ask) in front of everyone.

Below are some of the pupils having their books signed.  Schools involved over the two days included Carrington, Claremont, Berridge, Forest Fields, Bentinck, Scotholme and Northgate.

I ended Book Week with a signing at Waterstone’s in the Ridings Centre, Wakefield. As I had arrived early I had a quick coffee first at Cafe Lavazza. While waiting to be served, I noticed the man in front of me had a fabulous tattoo snaking up and round the back of his neck.  Being the nosy mare that I am I couldn’t resist asking him (politely - he was a big bloke) about his artwork. ‘I love your tattoo,’ I said, ‘what does it mean?’  With disarming honesty he replied: ‘It means I’m an idiot.’  Turned out it was his ‘midlife crisis’ tattoo. Bless.

On then, to Waterstone’s. Book signings can be humbling events for authors. Unless you’re DEAD FAMOUS the notion of people actually queuing to have a book signed is optimistic, some might say deluded, so I took my duster and can of Sheen along in case the staff needed any shelves dusting. Happily, thanks to Roz, in charge of the children’s section and Wendy, the children’s librarian for Wakefield Schools’ Library Services, word had spread and I had a steady stream of customers to keep me cheerful. Also, thanks to my quick thinking earlier that morning, I netted a few extra sales of ‘There’s only one Danny Ogle’ by displaying my Huddersfield Town scarf on the table.  Sadly, it didn’t prevent Town from losing to Millwall, defeated by yet another goal in extra time. Come on you guys, this isn’t funny any more.  We’re going for the play-offs, remember!!

Anyway, here are some shots of some of my customers. If any of you would like an original copy of the shot, write to me via my publishers at OUP, Little Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP.

Frankie

Imaan, Kanzah, Aamnah and Hannah

Martha (left) and Saskia (right)

Angus en route to the match

Emma, Olivia and Lottie

Ellen and Emily (left) and Katie (right)

Elizabeth and Hillary

Thursday saw another trip north to God’s own county. Harrogate this time - the posh bit of Yorkshire. It’s such a beautiful town with open green spaces in between its Regency buildings; beautiful once you’ve navigated the near gridlocked roundabout over the open green spaces that is…

At the school I was greeted by someone I thought must be either Pocahontas or Hiawatha but turned out to be Mrs Brady, the librarian.  Once in the library she produced the rest of her outfit - a sturdy bit of cardboard with oak effect paneling (or as near to an oak effect a felt pen can achieve) - to reveal that she was, in fact, The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid-Banks.  Clever, huh? They take World Book Day seriously at Harrogate Ladies’ College; so seriously I was asked to help to judge their truly wide, weird and wonderful creations.  I wasn’t happy! How can you choose only one winner per year group when so much effort had gone into them all?  Not fair, Mrs B. Here’s an example so you can see what I mean:

Year 7 set the standard...

The front row alone contained classics such as Alice in Wonderland, Pippi Longstocking, the White Witch (Narnia) and Toad of Toad Hall. Can you also spot ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ ‘Jane Eyre’ and Hermione Grainger?  I thought the Y7 were impressive then along came the Y8s….

Y8s turn up the heat

The Phantom of the Opera competes with the Wicked Witch of the West (there were several Wizard of Oz combos) At the front, Jamie Oliver’s Cook Book chats to Alexander McCall Smith’s wonderful Precious Ramotswe  from the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Two of the three blind mice get in on the act (I left the pink eyes in for authenticity - nothing to do with my rubbish photography skills, honest).  I didn’t take photographs of everyone but I was so impressed.  Throughout the school Rainbow Fairies abounded; The Mighty Boosh confounded and Count Dracula stalked the corridors….

Zelda (The Great Gatsby) has a chat in the staff room to the Indian without the cupboard

I bet drama productions at HLC are amazing!  I drove home with such a smile on my face.

It’s been a busy week.  Monday kicked off with a visit to the junior department of Wakefield Girls’ High School. This is the school one of my characters, Brody Miller (After School Club series) ‘attends’ so it was particularly interesting for me to see inside! The classes and staff I met were fabulous; thank you all for making me feel so welcome.  I loved the electric blue duffel coats the girls wore.

Some of the pupils from Wakefield Girls' High School

Sophie not only made me a card but came to Waterstone's on Saturday too!

In the afternoon I met nearly all the juniors at St John’s Primary School. I’m sorry I don’t have photographs to show what a great bunch of kids they were. Thank you all for listening so well and screaming so loudly!

I am delighted to announce that Accidental Friends has been shortlisted for the Catalyst Book Award. The award is chosen by teens in North Lanarkshire, Scotland.  The other shortlisted books are:

The Nostradamus Prophecy by Theresa Breslin

The Hundred Towered City by Garry Kilworth

Lost Art by Simon Morden

The winner will be announced on October 8th.