Toppsta - Childrens Books – Reviews

Football School is the ultimate book series for anyone whose world revolves around football. Authors (or coaches, as they would rather be known) Alex Bellos and Ben Lyttleton believe that there is no better way to learn about the world than through the beautiful game and have created a series of hilarious and fun books to do just that.

The Football School books have been described as Horrible Histories for football and are broken down into subjects like Science, Maths and Geography, illustrated with hilarious cartoons and packed with fascinating facts about the beautiful game. 

Despite the school subjects, the true stories, fun quizzes and interesting and silly facts mean these are far from school books. Discover when footballers poo, whether you can play football on Mars and the origins of the coin toss. Learn about Business Studies through footballers’ salaries, Psychology through the art of penalties, hear from the man who taught Ronaldo how to sleep and discover the most awesome stadiums in the world.

Written by football aficionados and award-winning sports and science journalists Ben Lyttleton and Alex Bellos, and illustrated by the talented Spike Gerrell, the books are perfect for non-fiction lovers, but reluctant readers will also love the interactive quizzes, funny cartoons and sections broken down into manageable chunks. There are four books in the series so far, as well as several other spin-off books including the Football School Terrific Teams: 50 True Stories of Football's Greatest Sides (July 2021). Check out the authors’ You Tube channel for more, including their excellent Football Facts.

The Football School (or Soccer School depending on where you are!) series is perfect for curious children with a silly sense of humour. It will suit football fans from 10 upwards but confident readers from 7 will also love the fun content. These are football books that will make you laugh out loud whilst arming you with enough geeky facts to outsmart almost anyone. 

All the Football School books in order:

Book 1: Football School Season 1: Where Football Explains the World (2016)
Book 2: Football School Season 2: Where Football Explains the World (2017)
Book 3: Football School Season 3: Where Football Explains the World (2018)
Book 4: Football School Season 4: Where Football Explains the World (Sept 2019)

Other books in the series:

Football School: The Amazing Quiz Book (2018)
Football School Star Players: 50 Inspiring Stories of True Football Heroes (2019)
Football School: The Incredible Joke Book (2019)
Football School: 20 Fantastic Football Stories for World Book Day (2021)
Football School Terrific Teams: 50 True Stories of Football's Greatest Sides (July 2021)
Football School: The Greatest Ever Quiz Book (June 2022)