The Struggle for Success: Bridgewood High FC (extract)
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Transcript of The Struggle for Success: Bridgewood High FC (extract)
the strugglefor successBridgewood High FC
Follow the team online at www.bridgewoodhighfc.com
the strugglefor success
Bridgewood High FC
Written by Dave Spurdens
This edition published in Great Britain in 2008 by Quest, an imprint of Top That! Publishing plc,
Marine House, Tide Mill Way, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1AP, UK
www.quest-books.co.uk
0 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
Editorial Director – Daniel Graham
Creative Director – Simon Couchman
Art Editor – Matt Denny
Written by Dave Spurdens
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or
otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Neither this book nor any part or any of the illustrations, photographs or reproductions contained
in it shall be sold or disposed of otherwise than as a complete book, and any unauthorised sale of
such part illustration, photograph or reproduction shall be deemed to be a breach of the
publisher’s copyright.
ISBN 978-1-84666-697-1
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Printed and bound in China
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead,
events or locales is entirely coincidental.
the strugglefor success
Bridgewood High FC
Written by Dave Spurdens
Published by Quest.Quest is an imprint of Top That! Publishing plc,
Tide Mill Way, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1AP, UKwww.quest-books.co.uk
Copyright © 2008 Top That! Publishing plc. All rights reserved
Follow the team online atwww.bridgewoodhighfc.com
Follow the team online and keep up to date
with the latest Bridgewood High FC action.
The fan site includes player profiles,
photographs, a player blog, league tables and
fixtures, free downloads, match reports, polls,
competitions, Bridgewood
High FC merchandise
& much more!
the struggle for success
Foreword by Timothy Houghton-Smith
I can’t believe what a fantastic first term I’ve had
at Bridgewood High. I’ve made loads of great
friends and am already overloading my timetable
with all sorts of extras.
My parents are amazed I am so happy. I
wouldn’t say they’re snobs exactly, but they do
have a rigid view of life. They expect you to
pronounce your ‘t’s and ‘h’s and say every bit of
a word properly. Their dread, when I came to
Bridgewood, was that I would start speaking
with a cockney accent.
I had to laugh. I mean, what would actually be
so awful about their son Timothy speaking like
that? ‘Yor ’avin’ a giraffe!’ I can imagine the
look on their faces!
My dad was also struggling to understand why
I love football so much. ‘Don’t you miss playing
Follow the team online at www.bridgewoodhighfc.com i
Bridgewood High FC
rugby, Timothy?’ he asks. ‘Like a hole in the
head,’ would be the true answer, but I’ve never
actually said it yet.
‘Don’t you miss all your old school friends?’ he
asked the other day. The same reply would fit:
like a hole in the head. But because I didn’t want
to hurt his feelings I just told him I’m too busy
to miss anybody from my old school.
My parents have never seen me so keen to get
back to school after a holiday. I’m going back
early, too, because the football team are going to
Amsterdam. We’re only playing in an
international tournament, in the Dutch capital!
How cool is that?
Some of the team have never been on an
aeroplane, let alone travelled abroad to play
against teams from Germany, Switzerland,
Denmark, Belgium, France, Spain and Holland.
Everyone’s really excited.
Twenty-four of us are going. We’re staying at
Amsterdam University, which is supposed to be
Follow the team online at www.bridgewoodhighfc.com ii
the struggle for success
fabulous. Think of any facility you like and
chances are they’ve got it – even an ice-rink and
an Olympic size swimming and diving pool.
Actually, there are twenty-five players going
now because George Lucas is fit enough to join
up with the squad. He was out of action last
term after having part of his liver removed to be
grafted onto his brother’s. His brother, Harry,
had been the victim of a callous hit and run
accident. Fortunately, the life-saving operation
was a great success and his brother’s quality of
life has improved dramatically.
I’ve been on a sort of Internet scouting mission,
scouring the Web to find out about the schools
playing in the tournament. Everything I’ve read
has been about them being the top teams in their
areas. Every single one has either won their
regional league or cup.
The funny thing is, Bridgewood High FC has
never played in a league or a cup competition.
We ought to be nervous, yet we’re all strangely
Follow the team online at www.bridgewoodhighfc.com iii
Bridgewood High FC
confident that we’re going to do well.
It was terrific to see everybody as we met at the
school gates to catch the coach to Stansted
airport. Everybody was congratulating George,
not just for fighting his way to fitness in time for
the tournament, but because the people who
were responsible for his brother Harry’s accident
had been caught. Three members of the
notorious Chapman family would soon be facing
trial for their crime.
George Lucas wasn’t the only person who was
happy that the criminals would be brought to
justice. The same set of villains had made Jack
Mayhew’s life a misery, and he was praying
that they would be going to prison for a very
long time.
Both boys were on too much of a high about
going to Amsterdam to let the thought of the
trial get them down, and they weren’t alone.
Dermott Riley and Dicky Woodward couldn’t
stop slapping each other on the back and singing
Follow the team online at www.bridgewoodhighfc.com iv
the struggle for success
‘Here we go, here we go,’ over and over again.
Albinus Gardiner was asking, ‘Are we there
yet?’ before he’d even boarded the coach. He
wasn’t happy about wearing school uniform for
the trip, but the headmaster, Mr Hyde, reminded
him that he was representing Bridgewood High
School on an important international venture.
Albinus still didn’t look happy, but it stopped
him going on about it. He just waited until Mr
Hyde turned away and then pulled his tie down
a bit more as he climbed up the coach steps.
Everyone raced towards the back of the coach
to get the best seats, and the engine chugged into
action. Amsterdam here we come!
Follow the team online at www.bridgewoodhighfc.com v
Bridgewood High FC
1
Thrills and spills
Bridgewood got off to a flying start in
Amsterdam with a comprehensive victory over
the Karl Benz Academy.
The squad had a day off following the first day
of matches and there was a very happy
atmosphere in the Bridgewood camp. Breakfast
that morning was full of snap, crackle and pop.
Timothy Houghton-Smith had a special
spring in his step because they were going to visit
the Van Gogh Museum. Angelo Paggio and
Salam Chalabi were also looking forward to
seeing some of the world’s greatest paintings,
but they were equally excited about visiting the
Anne Frank House. They had read The Diary of
Anne Frank at their last school and knew all
about the brave girl who hid from Hitler’s
soldiers during World War Two.
Follow the team online at www.bridgewoodhighfc.com 1
the struggle for success
Albinus looked glum at the thought of being
dragged round art galleries, but the news that
they were visiting a famous Amsterdam shopping
centre brought a smile to his face.
‘There you are, Albinus: music shops, cafés,
souvenirs, designer clobber – and you can wear
jeans!’ Dicky teased him.
Meanwhile, the PE teacher, Mr Cauldwell,
and Football Development Officer, Mr Mansell,
had thought long and hard about which players
they would play in the second match. They
both agreed it would be unfair to come on a
trip like this and not give everyone a run-out.
They wanted to try to win the tournament if
they could, but they didn’t want to make a
group of great kids, who they knew would give
their all, miserable.
Straight after breakfast, they announced the
team for the game, which was against the Servet
Institute from Madrid.
Follow the team online at www.bridgewoodhighfc.com 2
Bridgewood High FC
Ryan Hartley
Luan Charlie Justin Peter Havolli Oakley Cornard Schirtzer
Aaron Jack Albinus Jacobs Mayhew Gardiner
Dermott Dougie Christopher Riley Butt Coggins
The day off was marvellous. Timothy, Angelo
and Salam were awestruck at being so close to
paintings by Van Gogh. Mr Cauldwell noticed
that the boys he thought would be bored
actually seemed mesmerised by the paintings.
A muffled ‘whoa!’ from Albinus and a ‘cool!’
from Dermott suggested they were both
really impressed.
The trip to the Anne Frank House gripped all
the boys with an intense sense of suffering and
bravery. As they filed out, a mood of
thoughtfulness hung over them all.
Follow the team online at www.bridgewoodhighfc.com 3
the struggle for success
The mood soon changed when it was
announced that everybody was on trust for the
visit to the shops. ‘Groups no bigger than four,
and meet back here in two hours,’ announced
the Head of PE, Mr Grant. The boys scuttled
together into foursomes and took off to buy
presents and souvenirs to take home.
It had been the perfect day and a great cheer
rang out when it was announced that they could
choose to go ice skating or swimming that
evening. Ice skating was a unanimous winner
and led by Dicky who couldn’t wait to show his
prowess on the blades, they all streamed off the
coach at the ice rink.
Timothy was amazed at how good Dicky was,
but he wasn’t on his own. It was clearly not the
first time on ice for Albinus, Aaron or Dominic.
Mr Grant watched as the level of competition
rose between the four boys.
It all turned sour when Dicky announced his
intentions to go for an ambitious double axel –
Follow the team online at www.bridgewoodhighfc.com 4
Bridgewood High FC
with disastrous consequences. He left the ice
gracefully – and then hit it again with a bone-
shuddering thud and lay still.
Within seconds two rink attendants were at his
side with a stretcher and first aid kits. By the
time they reached the first aid room Dicky was
sitting up, but was clearly in a lot of pain. ‘They
don’t always go to plan,’ he whimpered.
‘Could be a break, might just be badly bruised.
Probably best to get it x-rayed,’ suggested the
attendant, examining Dicky’s elbow.
PE teacher Miss Cranson volunteered to take
Dicky to hospital to get it looked at. Two hours
later they both returned in a taxi, with relatively
good news. Nothing was broken – but Dicky’s
arm should be kept in a sling for the next
two days.
‘Can you Adam and Eve it? I won’t even get on
the pitch tomorrow!’ Dicky exclaimed.
‘Well, mate, you can’t be an ice skater and
Ronaldo rolled into one. I’d give that skating the
Follow the team online at www.bridgewoodhighfc.com 5
the struggle for success
elbow if I was you!’ Dermott knew the pun
wasn’t lost on his teammate, who acknowledged
the joke with a sickly smile.
Apart from Dicky’s spill, it had been a great
rest day. There was much chatter about the game
against Servet the next day, until finally the
teachers packed everyone off to get a good
night’s sleep.
Follow the team online at www.bridgewoodhighfc.com 6
Follow the team online atwww.bridgewoodhighfc.com
Follow the team online and keep up to date
with the latest Bridgewood High FC action.
The fan site includes player profiles,
photographs, a player blog, league tables &
fixtures, free downloads, match reports, polls,
competitions, Bridgewood
High FC merchandise
& much more!
146
AvailableNOW
Available from all good bookshops!
Follow the team online at www.bridgewoodhighfc.com147
148
Publishingdate:Spring2009
Follow the team online at www.bridgewoodhighfc.com
Available from all good bookshops!
Bridgewood High FC
AUTHOR PROFILE
DAVE SPURDENSDave Spurdens has worked as a sports writer
and journalist for twenty-five years. He has
written for magazines including Football Kick,
Football Monthly and Football Digest and was a
football correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph.
His published football-related books include
World Soccer Skills, Liverpool Football Club –
The Inside Story, Wolves – Our Way, Norwich
City – Our Way and the children’s novel Rowton
Road, which has a BMX theme. He has written
four additional books on BMX and was the
editor of BMX Racer & Freestyle magazine.
In his early days, Dave played football for
Crystal Palace youths and reserves and was
player-coach for Maidstone United. He held the
FA Full Badge coaching qualification and was an
adjudicator of Preliminary Badge courses for the
FA coaching department. Dave also worked for
six years as a football coach in South and East
London schools.
Follow the team online at www.bridgewoodhighfc.com 149
the strugglefor successBridgewood High FC
by Dave Spurdens
The premier Bridgewood High School football team experience the highs and lows of foot-ball as they struggle to make their mark in the competitive league. Have they got what it takes to be a successful team?
Follow the team online at www.bridgewood-highfc.com
• Match reports • Player profiles • Fan polls • Free downloads • Player blog and much more!
“An action-packed book with a fantastic website. My son and I loved reading about the exploits of the Bridgewood High FC team and are looking forward to the next instalment.”
Richard Wright, former England and West Ham goalkeeper.
Quest is an imprint of Top That! Publishing plc, Tide Mill Way, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1AP, UK www.quest-books.co.uk Copyright © 2008 Top That! Publishing plc. All rights reserved Printed and bound in China 0 2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
RR
P £5.99