The Little Fella: How Middlesbrough Fell in Love with Juninho
Cast you mind back to the mid-1990s. The Premiership was shiny and new, England weren't terrible at football, and exciting foreign players like Gianfranco Zola, Eric Cantona and Georgi Kinkladze were lighting up our game. In an industrial town in the north-east of England, a little Brazilian magic was the catalyst to thrust a previously provincial, middle-of-the-road club into the full glare of the global footballing spotlight. The Little Fella: How Middlesbrough Fell in Love with Juninho is the story of Juninho Paulista and his three-act association with Middlesbrough, culminating in the League Cup win of 2004, which today still remains Boro's only major trophy. It examines the World Cup winner's part in a rollercoaster 1996/97 season, which saw Boro lose two cup finals and end up being relegated; to the redemptive, triumphant 2003/04 season. With contributions from some of Boro's other star names of a golden period, such as Fabrizio Ravanelli, Emerson, Gaizka Mendieta and Gareth Southgate, The Little Fella attempts to translate into words the magic football fans witnessed on the pitch during those heady days.
"1139210946"
The Little Fella: How Middlesbrough Fell in Love with Juninho
Cast you mind back to the mid-1990s. The Premiership was shiny and new, England weren't terrible at football, and exciting foreign players like Gianfranco Zola, Eric Cantona and Georgi Kinkladze were lighting up our game. In an industrial town in the north-east of England, a little Brazilian magic was the catalyst to thrust a previously provincial, middle-of-the-road club into the full glare of the global footballing spotlight. The Little Fella: How Middlesbrough Fell in Love with Juninho is the story of Juninho Paulista and his three-act association with Middlesbrough, culminating in the League Cup win of 2004, which today still remains Boro's only major trophy. It examines the World Cup winner's part in a rollercoaster 1996/97 season, which saw Boro lose two cup finals and end up being relegated; to the redemptive, triumphant 2003/04 season. With contributions from some of Boro's other star names of a golden period, such as Fabrizio Ravanelli, Emerson, Gaizka Mendieta and Gareth Southgate, The Little Fella attempts to translate into words the magic football fans witnessed on the pitch during those heady days.
27.95 In Stock
The Little Fella: How Middlesbrough Fell in Love with Juninho

The Little Fella: How Middlesbrough Fell in Love with Juninho

by David Broome
The Little Fella: How Middlesbrough Fell in Love with Juninho

The Little Fella: How Middlesbrough Fell in Love with Juninho

by David Broome

Hardcover

$27.95 
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Overview

Cast you mind back to the mid-1990s. The Premiership was shiny and new, England weren't terrible at football, and exciting foreign players like Gianfranco Zola, Eric Cantona and Georgi Kinkladze were lighting up our game. In an industrial town in the north-east of England, a little Brazilian magic was the catalyst to thrust a previously provincial, middle-of-the-road club into the full glare of the global footballing spotlight. The Little Fella: How Middlesbrough Fell in Love with Juninho is the story of Juninho Paulista and his three-act association with Middlesbrough, culminating in the League Cup win of 2004, which today still remains Boro's only major trophy. It examines the World Cup winner's part in a rollercoaster 1996/97 season, which saw Boro lose two cup finals and end up being relegated; to the redemptive, triumphant 2003/04 season. With contributions from some of Boro's other star names of a golden period, such as Fabrizio Ravanelli, Emerson, Gaizka Mendieta and Gareth Southgate, The Little Fella attempts to translate into words the magic football fans witnessed on the pitch during those heady days.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781785317675
Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd
Publication date: 07/01/2021
Pages: 256
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

David Broome is a journalist of nearly 15 years, most of them spent as a sports reporter and later sports editor. He grew up a Midlesbrough fan in the north-east and is now editor of two weekly newspapers in the Midlands. In the past he has covered football teams such as Derby County, Notts County and Burton Albion for local papers, and for the Press Association, where he worked for three years.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 6

The Red Army 7

Act I 1995-1996

1 Welcome to Teesside (International Airport) 13

2 'Wow, how good is he?' 25

3 The million-pound man 36

4 Transcendental 43

5 The Pied Piper of Sao Paulo 49

Act II 1996-1997

6 Penna Bianca 57

7 An amazing day 68

8 Slump 75

9 The Boys from Brazil 82

10 Trois points (-) 95

11 Party games and a meeting of minds 101

12 Uncle Festa and the big Aussie 106

13 Living his best life 113

13a A handy guide 120

14 Spoiler alert 121

15 Same city, different day 128

16 'Clatter the little sod' 133

17 Dancing pixies 137

18 Throw it all away 145

19 One hour as a tiger 153

20 43 seconds 160

21 Au revoir 170

Act III 1999-2000

22 Mo Mowlam, no problems 177

23 The pain in Spain 182

24 Hamilton rap 188

25 Industrial language 193

26 Ups and downs 197

27 Comings and goings 208

Act IV

28 A brave new world 217

29 Knee bother 221

30 Happy again 226

Act V 2003-2004

31 Continental triers 235

32 Proving his worth 239

33 Martin Keown's arse 246

34 An offal they couldn't refuse 253

35 The World (Cup) is not enough 260

36 Choccy-Woccy-Hoo-Hars all around 265

Epilogue: Tears of joy 274

Encore: Audience participation 278

In numbers: Juninho's time at Middlesbrough 285

Bibliography 286

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