If Bobby Collins was first team coach I had been released by then so I am not sure. Dave was certainly a good looking lad, on a night out I got punched in the face, when I asked what that was for the kid said his girlfriend was chatting Dave up but it was a shame to spoil his looks! He was indeed a top man and although I haven’t seen him for years, I can’t stop thinking about all the laughs we had.
Dave was a top man and part of my extended family as my wife’s cousin. To say we are devastated as are his mum and brother is an understatement. His debut was against Shrewsbury and he scored two goals. Bad knee injury curtailed his playing career. He went to Hong Kong at one point and played in the same team as Gordon McQueen. He was a well loved bloke in Carlisle which was his home from the 90’s. He went through all the ups and downs of a career with a lower league team. He sent us a photo with the League Two playoff trophy and it is desperately hard to think that is the last time we will have seen him. I was looking forward to Barnsley playing Carlisle this coming season and meeting up with him. We went up to Carlisle at Easter 2019 (blazing hot Easter) and saw Carlisle beat the league leaders Lincoln 1-0. We took our nephew and he made such a fuss of him showing him around the ground, meeting the manager etc. Thank you for all your kind words.
I remember him starting out at Oakwell and looking like a good prospect. Shame it didn’t work out there but at least he made a career in the game afterwards. But to die at only 59 is a shock and hearing that makes me grateful that I have reached 70 without any health scares. None of us know what’s around the corner though so it’s best to enjoy what we have and not get worked up over a football manager moving on