The Secret Football Club (Pocket Money Puffin)

by Tom Palmer

Lily couldn’t believe what had just gone on. Was this really going to happen? And the funny thing was, Mr Edwards actually sounded pleased at the idea.

  Great Expectations

  Six days later the woods were full. Full of children. Full of parents. And the TV people were there too: filming the challenge game of football that had excited the whole city.

  All week the children of Kingsfolly Primary had talked about nothing else. Could a team of Year Sixes beat teachers at football?

  They were about to find out.

  The children lined up in their strongest formation:

  Zack

  James Maddie

  Lily Batts

  Khal

  Rebecca and Finn were substitutes.

  On the teachers’ team the notable players were Mr Luxton the games teacher in goal, Mrs Baker, in defence, and – up front – Mr Edwards himself with Mr Jones.

  The TV interviewer had offered to referee the game, and, when she blew the whistle, a trio of pigeons took flight from the trees above the Secret Football Club’s home ground.

  The children started well. They knew the pitch. And they knew each other. Lily, James and Khal had the ball for the first minute, passing it in triangles, making the teachers run around in circles.

  Lily could hear people laughing because they thought it looked so easy.

  Secret FC’s first chance came after two minutes: Khal one-on-one with Mr Luxton in goal. But Khal, who was usually deadly one-on-one, scuffed the ball.

  ‘What’s up?’ James asked. ‘That was a sitter!’

  Lily walked over to her team-mates. She wanted everyone to stay positive.

  ‘It’s the cameras,’ Khal said. ‘They’re making me nervous.’

  Lily and James looked over at the TV cameras. This game was going out on the local news that night. Suddenly Lily realized how strange this whole situation had become. The Secret Football Club was meant to be that: a secret. Now it was going to be on TV.

  The next time Khal got the ball near goal, rather than shoot, he passed it to Lily. Lily was so surprised that she missed the ball, letting Mr Luxton pick it up and bowl it out to Mr Edwards.

  Mr Edwards trapped the ball, turned and chipped it towards Zack’s goal.

  But Zack was looking at the TV camera too. Not the ball. And the first he knew about it was when it had bounced past him and Mr Edwards was jumping in the air, shouting, ‘Goal!’

  The teachers were winning one–nil. And Lily realized that there was a really good chance Secret FC would lose this game.

  The Football Beast

  At half-time it was still one–nil to the teachers. And James was losing his cool.

  ‘This is rubbish. We’re losing to the teachers. We’re losing our right to play football. And it’s all going to be on TV tonight. I’m off.’

  Lily shook her head. ‘Don’t give up now.’

  ‘Why not? This is embarrassing!’

  Lily knew that if James left they had no chance. They needed six players who really cared about winning. She had to do something to make them gel as a team – so they could win this game.

  ‘James,’ Lily said. ‘I want you and Maddie to go up front. Me and Khal will drop back and defend. You can score the goals for us!’

  James looked at her, saying nothing. Lily wondered if he understood, or if he was about to disagree.

  Then they heard Mr Edwards shouting for them to come back and play. And James surprised everybody.

  ‘OK,’ he said. ‘I’ll do it.’

  The new team looked like this:

  Zack

  Lily Khal

  Batts

  James Maddie

  Suddenly the game was very different. Secret FC was on top. The teachers weren’t getting a kick. It was like the woods were on their side.

  Two minutes into the second half Maddie passed to James, who ran towards the goal. He looked to be in a good position – with the hope of scoring.

  Until Mr Edwards came lunging in to tackle him, throwing his fifteen-stone frame at James’s six-stone body.

  There was no way James could avoid the tackle. But James somehow managed to skip over their head teacher, clipping the ball over his tackle too.

  He’d done it. Done the impossible.

  And now he was one-on-one against Mr Luxton.

  James struck the ball. Hard.

  When it flew through the air it seemed to whistle, it was travelling so fast. So fast that no one saw it until it came back off a large oak tree and hit the teachers’ keeper on the back of the head.

  It was one all.

  Lily leaped into the air. Her mind was going mad. Maybe they could win this. Maybe they would be able to play football.

  They only needed one more goal.

  She could feel herself grinning. She looked at all her team-mates. They were smiling too.

  ‘COME ON!’ Lily shouted. ‘This is it. We’re going to win.’

  Captain Fantastic

  Mr Edwards kicked off after the equalizer.

  He looked cross. Or was he excited? Lily couldn’t be sure.

  She watched him tap the ball to Mrs Baker, who played it straight back to him. Then he started one of his runs. Beating player after player. Only Batts’ firm tackle stopped him giving the teachers the lead again.

  The game was end to end.

  Mr Edwards was making attack after attack. He was the only teacher who could really play. After he nearly scored again, Batts hoofed the ball up the pitch. Just to get it out of the way of Mr Edwards.

  But James was at the end of Batts’s long kick. He controlled the ball perfectly, side-stepped one teacher and slammed the ball past Mr Luxton.

  Two–one to the children. Lily couldn’t believe it.

  She ran up to James and hugged him. Followed by everyone else.

  As they broke up, James looked at Lily. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said.

  ‘What for?’

  ‘For giving away the secret.’

  You would have thought that, after that, things would go well. That the children would go on to win. That they’d be allowed to play football again.

  But it didn’t.

  A minute later the teachers equalized. Mr Edwards again.

  Two–two.

  ‘He’s good,’ Maddie said breathlessly to Lily.

  ‘I know,’ Lily replied.

  There was a minute to go.

  James had passed a ball back to Lily. And Lily played it to Maddie. But Maddie stumbled and Secret FC lost the ball. To Mr Jones.

  Mr Jones wasted no time and played the ball to Mr Edwards, who ran at the goal, knowing there was barely any time left. He sprinted past Khal, then past James, then Batts and Lily, leaving Zack running out of his goal to reach the ball before the head teacher could shoot.

  But it was not to be. Mr Edwards reached the ball and tapped it to the right of Zack. Zack fell to the ground, but could only watch Mr Edwards go past him on the left.

  Then he heard him shout, ‘Goooooooaaaaaaal!’

  And it was. An easy tap-in. An open goal.

  Three–two.

  It was over.

  Heroes

  When the TV interviewer blew the final whistle, Lily dropped to her knees and looked into the wood, away from the TV cameras. She loved this wood.

  The thoughts in her mind were that she might never be allowed here again. That she would have to stop playing football forever.

  Then she saw a hand reaching down to her.

  Lily looked up. It was Mr Edwards.

  She took his hand. ‘Well played,’ she said, trying to be a good loser.

  ‘Well played, you,’ Mr Edwards said in a soft voice. Then he pointed to the TV camera. ‘They want you and me to do an interview. Please will you come with me?’

  Lily did not want to be interviewed for TV, but, because Mr Edwards had said please, she thought she should.

  They walked together to the TV camera. It was only when they got there that Lily realized she was still
holding Mr Edwards’ hand.

  ‘So, Lily,’ the interviewer said in a cheerful voice, ‘you lost the game fair and square. Are you going to give up your protest?’

  Lily nodded. And at the same time Mr Edwards spoke: ‘Yes, she is going to give up her protests.’

  Lily wondered what else the head teacher would say. That she was going to be punished too?

  ‘… because I am in awe of her.’

  The TV interviewer looked suddenly at Mr Edwards. ‘Really? What’s this?’

  Mr Edwards turned to address the parents and children and teachers, as well as the TV crew.

  ‘Who are you in awe of?’ the interviewer asked.

  ‘Of Lily,’ Mr Edwards said. ‘And her friends.’ He cleared his throat. ‘How long did it take them to clear this wood to make a football pitch here? Weeks, I suspect. How creative have they been to find a way of doing something they love? Very. I am in awe of them all.’

  Nobody spoke. It was like they were waiting for the punch-line in a joke.

  ‘From today, the school is going to invest in this football pitch. We are going to make it a little bit safer. And Lily and her friends are going to play on it as much as they like. As are the rest of the children at Kingsfolly Primary School.’

  Lily stared at her friends. They were all grinning. She looked at Mrs Baker, who smiled back at her too.

  ‘I was wrong to ban football.’ Mr Edwards gazed into the trees, as if he was looking for ideas among the leaves. ‘I was worried about danger and protecting the children. When I was young, a friend …’ Mr Edwards stopped himself. ‘But that’s another story. What I have learned this week is that these children are special. They are talented and clever. Here, they’ve had a real knock: their favourite pastime taken away from them. And did they suffer? No. They thrived. They learned. They grew.’

  Mr Edwards turned to Lily and Khal – and the rest of the Secret Football Club – and continued: ‘I’m sorry, children. I was wrong. I’d like to be your team’s number-one fan.’

  Lily grinned. And then she had an idea. A great idea. Mr Edwards was obviously very good at football. He could help them.

  ‘How about you become our coach too?’ she suggested.

  Mr Edwards frowned. ‘I don’t know much about coaching football. I’m not sure …’

  ‘You can play it, though, can’t you?’ said James, putting his arm around Lily. ‘We’d love it if you would be our coach.’

  And after a moment’s thought, with all the parents and teachers and pupils watching him, Mr Edwards nodded.

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Yes, please.’

  Tom is really pleased that he has been chosen to write a brand-new Pocket Money Puffin story, to celebrate Puffin’s 70th birthday. Did you spot that each chapter is named after a Puffin book? If you like the sound of a title, why not see if you can find a copy of it in your local library or bookshop.

  Thank Yous

  When I visit schools I am always asked how a book comes about. Do I write it by hand? Who helps me make it as good as it can be? I hope this list of thank yous helps to explain.

  The Secret Football Club was commissioned by Puffin, who wanted me to write a football story to help them celebrate their seventieth birthday. They asked me to write a book somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 words long. I agreed and want to say thank you to Puffin for thinking of me for one of the books.

  Before I wrote The Secret Football Club I read a book about mob football called Uppies and Downies by Hugh Hornby. It told me all I needed to know about the old forms of football – and much more. If you read a book to help you write a book, it’s important to mention it and say thanks to the author too.

  When I’m writing a book I always talk it through with my wife. She comes up with lots of good ideas and helps me make the right decisions. But The Secret Football Club was also important because it was the first book my daughter, who was five at the time, helped me to write. We talked about it on a car journey and I took lots of notes. (My wife was driving.) So I have lots to thank them both for. As well as their undying support for my wanting to be a writer.

  Once I’d written the first draft my wife read it. She is always my first reader and spots lots of ways I can improve it. Then I ask a small group of friends to read it. My neighbour Nikki. A teacher in Basildon: Diane. And my agent, David. They gave me great feedback and, because of what they said, I cut out about fifteen pages where Kingsfolly Primary School play another school. Thank you to all of you for that.

  Next, I showed it to my writing group. There were three writers in the group at the time: me; James Nash, a poet; and Sophie Hannah, a poet and crime novelist. They gave me lots of advice too. Thanks to them. I made more changes after they suggested the head teacher needed altering.

  A week before I sent the book to Puffin, finished, I read it to my daughter. It is really helpful reading it to her, because she makes great comments and helps me see which bits are a bit boring and need jazzing up.

  After all that, my publisher, Puffin, works its magic: magic it has been working for seventy years. My editor, Helen, helps make the story as good as possible. Then Wendy checks through the text for mistakes and inconsistencies. They help make this the book it is. Thank you to them too.

  And I mustn’t forget finally everyone else at Puffin who gets to work on it. The cover designers design covers. The publicity and marketing teams promote it. The sales team sell it to bookshops. Without them, no one would ever know about the book, so they are as important as any of the above people, who I’d like to thank one more time.

  Thanks too to the bookshops and libraries who support my – and other Puffin – books. Their support really helps get my books to readers. It is much appreciated.

  My final thank you goes to you, the reader. Without you, there would be no one to write for and so there’d be no books in the first place!