Bob says: “I was obsessed with this album at the time and reading the story of Jimmy having his adventures in Brighton, I just thought to myself, ‘Yeah, you know it’s time I had a little adventure. The album tells the story of Jimmy, a disillusioned young mod who heads for Brighton. One of Bob’s chosen tracks is The Punk and the Godfather from The Who’s 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia. I played football when I got to school, football every break and football as soon as I got home.” 7. At the age of 16, I went into a shed at the training ground and was told that they weren’t signing me on, so that was the end of that dream. 'I played for Middlesbrough’s youth team.

“I captained my school team three years earlier than I should have,' he explains.

His dream was to be a professional footballerīob is a lifelong fan of Middlesbrough FC and growing up he thought he was heading for a career with the team. I walked round to the two old ladies that lived next door and I said, ‘My house is on fire!’ And they said, ‘You know, we thought it was.’” 6. I walked back into the living room and it was fully ablaze. I then spent about an hour trying to get rid of all the marks out of the lino and off cabinets. The sparklers lit the box of fireworks and I ran the box through to the kitchen and let them go off. It said on the packet ‘not suitable for indoor use’ – to me that meant that they’re OK for indoor use. He explains: “I was counting my fireworks up and I lit some sparklers.

He set fire to the family home when he was littleīob describes himself as his mum’s 'little helper' as a child, regularly taking on household chores – but he was also responsible for a big blaze in the family home. But then, later in my life it was probably the defining moment of my life, it’s defined my personality.” 5. Bob says of that time: “I just remember coming back home, being ushered away by policemen, not knowing what was happening and then a couple of weeks later being told that my dad had died… and then crying and being very sad about it, then kind of forgetting about it really and thinking that it hadn’t affected me at all. When Bob was just seven years old his father was killed in a car crash. His father’s early death shaped his whole life

The Fan by Bob Randall