Balleyard Wanderers
The Worst Football Team in the World
by
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Players from Fleetville Athletic and Tradewell Colts had turned up on the sidelines for a cheap laugh. Whenever the ball went near Balleyard’s right -back they would shout, “Quick – runaway ball, catch it”. The twelve characters were a laughable sight as they meandered aimlessly around the muddy practice pitch. Under a nearby tree stood a lone, hooded figure. Slowly and deliberately it marched past the mockers who immediately stopped their jeering and began to return to their homes. The figure moved slowly and silently until it was right in the middle of the twelve individuals collectively known as Balleyard Wanderers. “What do you think you’re doing, hog-wash breath?” demanded Darius Keene. The figure did not speak. Instead it sat by the penalty-spot and with its right index finger wrote in the mud ‘4-4-2’. Then the figure looked up and, in quiet but sure tones, said – “Hi, my name’s James Cooper and I would like to make you into a successful team.”
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About the Book
The purpose of this book is to introduce youngsters who like football to the story of Jesus and some of the basic elements of the Christian faith. It can be read as a straight story, but there is the option of discussion in the form of questions at the end of each chapter. The questions relate to what they have just read but also give the group the opportunity to reflect on their own lives and their experiences. There are also leaders’ notes at the end of each chapter. It is the story of twelve characters who play for a truly dreadful football team. Their manager quits, and they are left wondering whether they might never find a new leader. Then a new manager, James Cooper, comes into their lives and teaches them about the true nature of success. Eleven of them accept his message and begin to change. However, Jude Lucas refuses to accept the message and wants to win football matches at all costs. The story follows the eleven youngsters as they try to put into practice the new way of life they have learned about and compares their story with Jude’s, who continues to live the same way. It is a story about the everyday problems which youngsters face, temptations to cheat, and the battle to be accepted and be popular among peers. It includes the battle against irrational fears and dealing with loss. By the end of the story, Jude has left to join a better football team, but he does not find the happiness that the other eleven do. Right at the end, James Cooper announces that he must also leave. He leaves with the message that he is proud of the team who are winners in the true sense of the word.
About the Author
Christopher John Pearson was unleashed on an unsuspecting world on August 30th 1964. His father, a true Yorkshireman, instilled in him a love for cricket, Yorkshire pudding and Bradford City Football Club. One of his earliest memories is being chased out of a graveyard by an irate vicar who obviously took exception to an off-drive which rebounded off the headstone of ‘dearly beloved wife and mother.’ His own sporting history has been littered with failure which provided much of the inspiration for this book He is a local preacher in the Methodist Church who loves to tell people something which he has learned for himself the hard way. That is that Jesus has a different idea about success and failure and that he has an overwhelming love for those who consider themselves to be failures. He has a quirky sense of humour which reveals itself in this book in which he includes some of the wonderful characters he has encounterd in his journey. Chris is also a family man who is utterly devoted to his wife, Suzanne, and three beautiful daughters, Naomi, Lydia and Abigail.