A former primary school teacher, Alan Gibbons has sold over 1.3 million books and won many prestigious awards including the Blue Peter Award for ‘The Book I Couldn’t Put Down’. Alan is a high-profile library campaigner and education consultant and is a very popular speaker at schools, libraries, colleges and conferences – he visits over 150 schools a year.

"Barrington Stoke have scored a winner … Perfect for topping up even the most knowledgable football fan's trivia" – Primary Teacher Bookshelf"As with all of Alan Gibbon's stories, this feels completely authentic … real-life stories add to the sense of football as an alternative family" – Andrea Reece, LoveReading4Kids"This story had such an authentic voice. It really celebrates the boys’ love of football and how being part of a team or a group of supporters can be like having an alternate family" – Library Girl and Book Boy"Gibbons handles the issue of domestic violence and abuse with sensitivity and without dodging the issues and shows just how important something like football can be to a child caught up in these adult situations" – The Letterpress Project