ARILD BACK IN TOWN

Ex striker turned author will be in the AFC Club Shop at Pittodrie on Thursday.

Former striker Arild Stavrum is back in the Granite City this weekend to promote his new crime thriller ‘Exposed at the Back’ and catch up with some of the many friends he made during his two season stint with the Dons. Arild will be in the club shop on Thursday evening and at the game on Saturday.

t’s not particularly common for footballers to try their hand at writing fiction, but then again, the 42 year old Norwegian, was never ever your typical footballer! This is his first bash at combining football and crime to be translated into English and, as he explains, the plot sounds like a ‘must read’ for the millions of followers of crime fiction who are also football fans.

“I wanted to write a book that combined the football environment with a criminal plot and includes players, agents and others in the game as personalities. The story starts with the murder of a well-known football agent (so no shortage of suspects then!) and then the search to find out why he was killed and, of course, who did it! It’s basically a classic murder story but set in the world of football.”

The Norwegian internationalist, who the Dons signed from Helsingborg and subsequently played for Besiktas and Molde, unsurprisingly drew on his experiences as a player for the characters in his new novel, including some that he met when in the north east. “There are a lot of characters in the book and many are based on people I played or worked with during my playing days including absolutely some from Aberdeen. I will never say who they are but hopefully some of the readers will try and work out for themselves who they are based on!”

Prior to his latest offering, Arild has had five books published in Norway, including two aimed at the children’s market and is currently working on his third book for youngsters. Always a fans’ favourite, he is relishing returning to Aberdeen.

“I had such a fantastic time at the club. It was the time for me personally where I didn’t have too many injury problems, was playing every week and enjoying my football. It was a great experience both on and off the field and I met so many good people during what was a very enjoyable period of my life. I’m not saying this because I’m coming back but I truly only have fond memories.”

Having played on the losing side in two cup finals under Ebbe Skovdahl, Arild was delighted when his former club lifted the League Cup back in March. “It’s great to see the progress that’s been made over the past couple of seasons culminating in the cup final. The two finals we lost in 2000 still bug me to this day but the experience of playing for Aberdeen at Hampden was something I’ll cherish.

“I still keep in touch with some of my former team-mates and was speaking to Eoin Jess just last week and I’m really looking forward to renewing old acquaintances this weekend.”

‘Exposed at the Back’ is published by Freight Book and costs £14.99.

Arild will be in the AFC Club Shop at Pittodrie from 5pm to 7pm on Thursday for a book signing session(25th September 2014)