Not content to simply enjoy his writing, I think we're all guilty of longing to uncover the true identity of The Secret Footballer. Well in today's book extract he gives the strongest indication yet that he is actually Dave Kitson.
The extract, from his new book Tales From The Secret Footballer, deals with a chance meeting with then England manager Fabio Capello at the Champions League match between AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspur in 2011.
He speaks about how their quick chat was more than slightly awkward due to an incident at the beginning of Capello's reign, when it was rumoured that TSF could be getting a call-up to the national squad:
'Not for the first time, I celebrated too early and far, far too well. This time, it proved to be a monumental, career-defining mistake. The next morning my name was everywhere – newspapers, TV, the internet – except on the list of Capello's England squad.'
It doesn't take an amazing stretch of the imagination to speculate that this may refer to Kitson getting charged with drink driving just before Capello named his first squad. He was arrested in the early days of January 2008 and there was no sign of Kitson in the England squad Capello named at the end of that month.
Back towards the end of last year, TSF also wrote in an article 'Antonio Valencia once blocked a clearance of mine and I swear it was like being hit by a car. That's what I remember thinking as several fans helped me out of the stand and back on the pitch.'
Eagle-eyed conspirators point to this incident between Kitson and Valencia in 2009.
It may indeed turn out to be him but at the end of the day does it really matter who it is? Can we not just enjoy his work.
