Jake loves football and dreams of becoming a professional footballer. He's worried about his height though - what if he's too small for football? But on the day of his trial Jake is quick on the ball and scores - he's made it! Jake can't wait to pull on his shirt and join the team. But someone at the club wants to make his life difficult. Can Jake face up to the bullies and become man of the match again? Stay on the ball this season with the first four stories following the boys in United's under-twelves.

An exciting football series, following the adventures of United's under-twelves side. Since Ryan Flynn got into trouble for bullying, he's been determined to pull his socks up and be the best captain United's ever had. So when team-mate Craig causes problems on - and off - the pitch, Ryan knows he must get to the bottom of it or he'll lose a talented player. But Craig's worries are much bigger than Ryan realized - can he help Craig and stop him from being shown the red card?

Shay and Frankie are best friends and football crazy! They eat, sleep and breathe football (even when they're at school!). They dream about playing football, love a kick-about in the park, watch all the big games on TV... all that's missing in their lives is the chance to play for a real football team. All Cultures United is the best club around for miles and all the footie fans want to on their team... including Shay and Frankie. Are they good enough to impress Coach Reece at the AC United trials? Can their friendship survive the competitiveness of football? Will they ultimately fulfil their goal to become Baller Boys?

The fifth book in the fast-paced Football Academy series. James has been a junior player at United for a long time. Everyone expects him to follow in his dad's footsteps and play for England one day. But James isn't so sure. He has something he wants to do even more than football. Something that means he would have to give up football. The problem is he doesn't want to disappoint his dad. At a tournament in London, where he is pitched against Arsenal and Chelsea players, James finally makes his mind up.

The bestselling inspirational book in which the author reunites with a childhood football hero, now a minister and coach, and witnesses a revelatory demonstration of the true meaning of manhood—Season of Life is a book that “should be required reading for every high school student in America and every parent as well” (Carl Lewis, Olympic champion). Joe Ehrmann, a former NFL football star and volunteer coach for the Gilman high school football team, teaches his players the keys to successful defense: penetrate, pursue, punish, love. Love? A former captain of the Baltimore Colts and now an ordained minister, Ehrmann is serious about the game of football but even more serious about the purpose of life. Season of Life is his inspirational story as told by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Jeffrey Marx, who was a ballboy for the Colts when he first met Ehrmann. Ehrmann now devotes his life to teaching young men a whole new meaning of masculinity. He teaches the boys at Gilman the precepts of his Building Men for Others program: Being a man means emphasizing relationships and having a cause bigger than yourself. It means accepting responsibility and leading courageously. It means that empathy, integrity, and living a life of service to others are more important than points on a scoreboard. Decades after he first met Ehrmann, Jeffrey Marx renewed their friendship and watched his childhood hero putting his principles into action. While chronicling a season with the Gilman Greyhounds, Marx witnessed the most extraordinary sports program he’d ever seen, where players say “I love you” to each other and coaches profess their love for their players. Off the field Marx sat with Ehrmann and absorbed life lessons that led him to reexamine his own unresolved relationship with his father. Season of Life is a book about what it means to be a man of substance and impact. It is a moving story that will resonate with athletes, coaches, parents—anyone struggling to make the right choices in life.

“An exhilarating, at times heartbreaking, and ultimately unforgettable journey that lays bare the true human stakes of the world’s most popular game.”—Warren St. John, best-selling author of Outcasts United Searching for soccer’s next superstars, an audacious program called Football Dreams held tryouts for millions of 13-year-old boys across Africa. In The Away Game, Sebastian Abbot follows several of the boys as they chase their dreams in a dizzying world of rich Arab sheikhs, money-hungry agents, and soccer-mad European fans.

United's under-twelves are in Poland for a tournament. Goal-keeper Tomasz is very excited to be playing in his home country, but team captain Ryan thinks Poland are rubbish - in fact, he thinks everything Polish is rubbish. Ryan's behaviour causes trouble both on and off the pitch. Can Ryan and Tomasz tackle their differences - or will Ryan's bullying foul United's chance of success?