David Brooks walks into a lecture theatre at St Fagans National Museum of History on the outskirts of Cardiff and, back in Wales kit and immersed on camp for the first time since being diagnosed with cancer, it quickly becomes clear he feels there are plenty of chapters still to write and one he is particularly glad to have consigned to the past.
For Brooks, it is just nice to feel like a footballer again. His outlook on the game and life, he says, have probably flipped and these days the simple things bring more pleasure. “It’s nice to be in a team environment,” he says. “When you’re sat at home by yourself – and I did it for six months – it gets depressing and lonely.”
When his name is read aloud at the Cardiff City Stadium on Friday, when Wales entertain Armenia in a Euro 2024 qualifier, he will feel the support of tens of thousands of supporters. It promises to be a poignant moment but Brooks, who signed a new contract with Bournemouth last August, is not interested in the sympathy vote. Far from it. “Even before talks had kicked in I wanted to make it clear I wasn’t there for sympathy,” he says.
“It’s the same with Wales. I don’t just want to be called up to be a spare part. I’m working hard to get back in the Bournemouth XI and to be starting for Wales as well. I don’t want anyone thinking we’ll give him a game here, or a game there, because he’s been through a lot and it will mean a lot to him. I want it to be on merit and I believe that’s why I got two starts at the end of the year. I also believe that’s why I am here now.”
Rob Page, the Wales manager, believes Brooks is one of the country’s biggest talents. The winger is still only 25 but determined to make up for lost time. He received the all-clear last year, on the day Bournemouth sealed a top-flight return, but his first-team return was delayed by niggling injuries. Brooks received a warm ovation from all sides after entering as a substitute at Aston Villa in March and last month he made his first competitive start in 598 days, playing 55 minutes at home to Manchester United. “Until I got cramp,” he laughs. “It was nice to get my first home game back with Bournemouth and it will be nice to be in front of the Red Wall again.”
There has been plenty to catch up on with teammates and coaching staff, some new faces. It is approaching two years since Brooks was told he had stage-two Hodgkin lymphoma. Brooks sought paracetamols from the Wales medical staff after reporting unwell upon turning up for duty but 20 minutes later the knock at the door of his hotel room was Jonathan Houghton, the team doctor, informing him that his symptoms were synonymous with a cancer diagnosis. Within 24 hours Brooks was having a biopsy and facing up to six months of draining chemotherapy.
“I do owe him [Houghton] a lot,” Brooks says. “Whenever my mum and dad see him they burst out crying and give him a big hug. I’d been plodding on thinking there was nothing really wrong with me and that I’d get back to how I usually feel. He made me go and get extra tests and the rest is history.”
Brooks is adamant he can return to his best but accepts his perspective has shifted. “For the 23 years before the diagnosis, my whole life just revolved solely around football and then it comes crashing down and means absolutely nothing within a matter of hours,” he says. “As soon as I had the diagnosis, I wanted to just still be on Earth. It does mean a lot to me and my ambitions haven’t changed, I still want to try and get to the very top. But it has put things into perspective, that football is not live or die.”
Those months, during which his girlfriend, Flora, moonlighted as a 24-hour nurse, proved testing. Richard Hughes, Bournemouth’s technical director, and Neill Blake, the chief executive, arranged for local accommodation for his parents and for food to be delivered to him. Eddie Howe and Chris Wilder, his former managers at Bournemouth and Sheffield United respectively, were among those to reach out. “I went for a walk on the beach and I got literally 100 yards and had to sit down,” Brooks recalls. “My missus walked off with the dog and picked me up on the way back. I couldn’t really go out and do anything because I was out of breath or feeling too sickly.”
He spent time with the Wales squad at the World Cup in Qatar and more recently during March’s qualifiers against Croatia and Latvia, but is delighted to now be back in the thick of things. Brooks hopes his comeback story gives others hope. “A lot of people have reached out, more scenarios where people have been through where I found myself, or are going through it, or have just been diagnosed.
“[Hopefully] it does give a little bit of hope that I’ve returned to elite sport and that their lives can go back to normal and be OK after getting that awful news that drops and crushes your world, that it will get better and it will go back to normal at some point.”
By his own admission Brooks is a reserved character but he recognises he may be able to help others, be it teammates or fans, owing to his experience. He does not want it to be a taboo subject. “My door is always open if people have any questions, even if it’s about the cancer,” he says. “I’m not embarrassed about talking about the side-effects during or after or anything like that. My door is always open to talk about anything, but it’s up to the individual.”
