Darlington fan Paul Hodgson will be launching his latest book "For The Love of Darlo" in the Dolphin Centre of Monday 5th August, beginning at 10.30am.

Subtitled "My Life and Fifty Years Supporting Darlington FC", Paul writes about his many experiences following the Quakers through thick and thin.

Paul will be accompanied by several former Darlington players for the book launch:

For the Love of Darlo is the inspirational autobiography of multi-award-winning writer and Darlington FC devotee Paul Hodgson, who overcame severe disability to achieve his ambitions.

When Paul was seven months old, he was struck down by meningitis and left severely disabled. On being sent to boarding school in 1973, he had almost no speech, had to be propped up and could neither dress nor feed himself. But by the time he left, he could sit up unaided and talk, albeit with a stammer, and also feed himself. Paul praises the staff who helped him, but sadly, there were bad experiences with other staff members, which Paul reveals in the book.

Before he started at boarding school, Paul's mum surprised him by taking him to see Darlington FC. It was a watershed moment. He became a fan for life.

As well as charting his 50 years as a Darlo fan, Paul's story offers a unique insight into what it was like to grow up in a 'special school' in the unenlightened 1970s. It's a tale of triumph over extreme adversity.

Read and find out about:

• Paul’s first Darlington match, which made him an instant fan
• How Paul and his friend Malcolm (not his real name) attempted to run away from the ‘special’ boarding school they were both in
• Paul’s reminiscences of playing in his first-ever football match when he played in goal for his school in his wheelchair! Not surprisingly, they were thrashed 26-0 by a local comprehensive-school team
• Paul’s difficult relationship with his father – told in vivid detail
• The support Paul received from his mother, whom he speaks very fondly of
• Paul’s time as a volunteer working for Darlington Supporters Club after leaving school – he shares his fond memories

Paul started his writing career in the 1990s and published his first book, Flipper's Side, in 2000. He released his second, When Push Comes To Shove, charting the highs and lows of supporting Darlington FC over two seasons, in 2003. He wrote the feature script for Give Them Wings in 2015, an adaptation of Flipper's Side that stars Toyah Willcox (as Paul's mother), Coronation Street star Bill Fellows (as Paul's dad), Daniel Watson (as Paul) and Jacob Anderton as Ian Carter, who appears throughout Paul’s last book, Give Them Wings, which was released in 2021.  In 2022, Paul released One Hundred of the Best, which details his 100 favourite Darlington games.