The Albion

A story of one man and his unwilling buddy who form a football team and strive to bring colour and self-esteem into the lives of a rag bag bunch of thirteen year old scallies.

Fast approaching forty, life's experiences haven't mellowed Terry Gallagher any; angry and disillusioned; sickened by the mindless violence all around him and trying to come to terms with his own thuggish past, a legacy of life on the Broughton estates, he decides to make good. Here is a story of one man and his unwilling buddy who form a football team and strive to bring colour and self-esteem into the lives of a rag bag bunch of thirteen year old scallies. On a forgotten piece of waste ground the lads shape their adopted home. With stolen scaffolding for goalposts and a twenty-four hour pitch surveillance protection programme patrolled through the telescopic sight of a .22 air rifle, this bunch of dead end kids begin their footballing adventure. From an inauspicious start in the local Junior District Football League to potential glory in the prestigious County Cup, for Terry Gallagher and West Broughton Albion, the season unfolds amidst a backdrop of manic depression, squalor, depravity, heroin addiction, yardies, guns and death; where a web of bizarre and tragic circumstances transpire to push the mental state of this reluctant philanthropist to the limit and ultimately tip him over the edge.

Reviews

"Gritty and dark, but with a powerful seam of hope."

"Compelling story. Truly enjoyed it."

"… grabbed me from the very start."

About the author

Derryl Flynn

Derryl Flynn grew up in a northern coal mining town in England during the fifties and sixties. He studied Film, Theatre & TV at Bradford College of Art in the early seventies where he developed a passion for writing drama for screenplay and radio. His two previous novels, The Albion and Scrapyard Blues were both published by Grinning Bandit Books. Derryl lives with his wife, on the edge of the moors and just a spit away from Bronte country (not a good idea if the wind’s in the wrong direction). He is currently working on a screenplay version of Scrapyard Blues. Precession - Pisces: Finalist in the 2014 Exeter Novel Prize for unpublished work.

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Pages

461

Available in

eBook

ISBN

B00MSS1DYO

Date published

8/16/2014

The Albion

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