David Brooks: ‘I wanted to make it clear I wasn’t there for sympathy’

D avid 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