Dave is a writer and author, and regeneration practitioner, and explores the intersection of football, place and the working class experience.

He has authored five books including 'When the Circus Leaves Town: What Happens When Football Leaves Home', and 'Work and Play: The Industrial Roots of English Football' which was nominated for the 2025 William Hill Sports Book of the Year. His next book will be 'Street Football: The Real Grassroots of the Beautiful Game'.

For more than 10 years, Dave wrote a weekly column for the North Staffordshire daily newspaper, The Sentinel, focused on urban issues across the Potteries and surrounding areas.

Dave contributes regularly to Football Heritage, and his work has also appeared in Tribune, the Birmingham Dispatch, Turnstiles, Stoke City magazine Duck, the Staffordshire Signal, and the Football Pink.