Injury Time; Rivals United; Soccer Secret; Striker's Boots

This new series of soccer stories is suitable for the lower junior football fan, although they may also appeal to slightly older reluctant / weak readers with an interest in the game.

The plots, characterisation and language are intentionally basic and relatively undemanding. The stories have only loose links between them, in terms of minor characters and school names but basically each book stands alone. The series serves up traditional football fayre – a striker has to borrow someone else’s boots for a big match ( Striker’s Boots ), an ace goalie is overshadowed by his boastful cousin’s goal scoring prowess ( Soccer Secret ), a star striker defects to the second village team ( Rivals United ) and there is an interesting tale of a seemingly accident prone player whose real problem is the low self-esteem brought about through the excessively high standards expected by his football mad father ( Injury Time ).

There are simple Roy of the Rovers style illustrations throughout the books.