In a unique one to one, we met Dave at the recently refurbished Little Chef at Poppon. It was close to capacity - the place is still buzzing from the coverage it received on the Channel 4 show 'Big Chef Takes on Little Chef', where the menu was revitalised by Gastric-hero Heston Blumenthal.
We treated ourselves to a blueberry muffin and an Americano, while Dave piled into a Little Chef cooked breakfast - probably because we were paying. For the next hour and forty minutes we were enlightened this heroic, dedicated and intensely complex man.
Dave's childhood isn't something he wanted to talk about. And to be fair we were only asking out of courtesy so it suited us both.
He got into football at a late age. A twisted tale of betrayal between him and his ex-best friend, Brent Davis who is now on the Asset Management and Strategic Development committee at Nuneaton and Bedworth council. They had been on a joint family holiday in Aberdeen in the Summer of 82. They were both too old to be on such a jaunt but were dragged along anyway. They were at Codona's at Aberdeen Fun Beach. Dave had just won a make-shift GI Joe by playing 'bash the ferret'. He'd collected 14 tokens, which is no mean feat. Brent was the jealous type and had only managed to collect 6 tokens because of his "pathetic hand-eye coordination". When the eyes of the parents were diverted, Brent stole the GI Joe from David and claimed it as his own. Dave didn't tell on him though. He's always been the bigger man. They never spoke again though. And so began Dave's fanatical support of Nottingham Forest.
Dave has gone on to do many things in his life, mainly revolving around football. He has written about the game for newspapers, fanzines and magazines, but feels that at home on Sky Sports. He refers to the Sky team with warm regard, calling them, amongst other things "brothers and comrades". He lives in Newark with his partner Karen and is a loving father to two children.
His love of Forest is also something that cannot be denied. He started going to the City Ground after the unfortunate incident with Brent. He fell in love with the team and feels at home in the Main Stand. He fondly remembers going with his father, the Bovril and pie at half time. He suggests that Forest set the standard for modern football by being the first team to break the £1million mark for a player when the legendary Brian Clough brought Trevor Francis to the City Ground from Birmingham City. "Man City and the like are just following on from what we started. It was our ideal. Our vision. Paying ridiculous prices for average players - that's the Forest mentality", he said.
Dave attributes his lack of ability as a footballer to his late coming to the game. He wasn't particularly interested as a child, which is of course when the greats hone their skills. Instead his "gift of the gab" and knowledge of football has led him into a career as a journalist. A path that has lead to him earning widespread respect from his peers and footballers alike. "Les Reid once said I was the best journalist he had ever read" he quips, and without being big-headed "Adrian Chiles calls me phenom - because I'm phenomenal". As he tells this story his phone went off to the tune of Mull of Kintyre by Paul McCartney and Wings, which is of course tune to one of the Red's songs City Ground. He took the call and we took some time to reflect on what was happening.
Dave Bracegirdle. A great man. A highly intelligent and well respected football commentator. He has gone through some hard times but I think he'd agree; it has only made him stronger.
Unfortunately our time was cut short. Ian Payne had been on the phone to tell Dave his car had broken down on the way to the studio and he might get to go live on a Soccer Special. He's just bought a BMW 5series and Dave reckons "it serves him right". We couldn't blame him for leaving. We were just grateful that we had been blessed with his valuable time.
Dave Bracegirdle is the author of three fantastic books on the legends of Nottingham Forest, Notts County and Mansfield Town. All are available from www.amazon.com.
Unfortunately on this occasion Dave didn't get to go live. Ian is a member of the RAC and they were out to him in a flash. His time will come though. Just you wait and see.
Dave has gone on to do many things in his life, mainly revolving around football. He has written about the game for newspapers, fanzines and magazines, but feels that at home on Sky Sports. He refers to the Sky team with warm regard, calling them, amongst other things "brothers and comrades". He lives in Newark with his partner Karen and is a loving father to two children.
His love of Forest is also something that cannot be denied. He started going to the City Ground after the unfortunate incident with Brent. He fell in love with the team and feels at home in the Main Stand. He fondly remembers going with his father, the Bovril and pie at half time. He suggests that Forest set the standard for modern football by being the first team to break the £1million mark for a player when the legendary Brian Clough brought Trevor Francis to the City Ground from Birmingham City. "Man City and the like are just following on from what we started. It was our ideal. Our vision. Paying ridiculous prices for average players - that's the Forest mentality", he said.
Dave attributes his lack of ability as a footballer to his late coming to the game. He wasn't particularly interested as a child, which is of course when the greats hone their skills. Instead his "gift of the gab" and knowledge of football has led him into a career as a journalist. A path that has lead to him earning widespread respect from his peers and footballers alike. "Les Reid once said I was the best journalist he had ever read" he quips, and without being big-headed "Adrian Chiles calls me phenom - because I'm phenomenal". As he tells this story his phone went off to the tune of Mull of Kintyre by Paul McCartney and Wings, which is of course tune to one of the Red's songs City Ground. He took the call and we took some time to reflect on what was happening.
Dave Bracegirdle. A great man. A highly intelligent and well respected football commentator. He has gone through some hard times but I think he'd agree; it has only made him stronger.
Unfortunately our time was cut short. Ian Payne had been on the phone to tell Dave his car had broken down on the way to the studio and he might get to go live on a Soccer Special. He's just bought a BMW 5series and Dave reckons "it serves him right". We couldn't blame him for leaving. We were just grateful that we had been blessed with his valuable time.
Dave Bracegirdle is the author of three fantastic books on the legends of Nottingham Forest, Notts County and Mansfield Town. All are available from www.amazon.com.
Unfortunately on this occasion Dave didn't get to go live. Ian is a member of the RAC and they were out to him in a flash. His time will come though. Just you wait and see.
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