Born To Play Football

From the age of five Benny Gardner was destined to play football. His father once played Premier League football for three different clubs. This determined the path Benny would take on a journey from the time he once played football in his backyard until joining a professional football club in his late teens. The journey sees him and his girlfriend Susie taking a plane to Italy where he plays football for a professional Italian team. The story revolves around his love of football and his love of living in England. Benny and Susie marry and a boy is born. Will he be Born to Play football? The answer is in the book.

The inspirational story of Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia—a giant talent in a small package—who defied his critics to become one of the greatest players in the game today. Dustin Pedroia, at five feet seven inches and 170 pounds, is not the biggest, the strongest, or the fastest player in the game of baseball, but in just two years of major-league play he was named Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, and helped the Boston Red Sox win a World Championship. At a time when steroid scandals dominate media coverage of America’s beloved pastime, Pedroia has proven to the world that a good baseball player is more than size and statistics. His success comes from the heart. In Born to Play, Pedroia shares the story of his difficult and uplifting journey to prove himself at every turn. More than anything, his love of the game and desire to win, not just for himself but for his teammates, defines Pedroia as an athlete—but his dedication, his perseverance, and of course, his monster swing have made him a beloved new symbol of baseball and offer hope for the future of America’s favorite game.

Tackle football has been primarily viewed as a male sport, but at a time when men’s participation rates are decreasing, an increasing number of women are entering the gridiron—and they have a long history of doing so. Women’s American Football is a narrative history of girls and women participating in American football in the United States since the 1920s, when a women’s team played at halftime during an early NFL game. The women’s game became more organized in 1974, when the National Women’s Football League was established, with notable teams such as the Dallas Bluebonnets, Toledo Troopers, Oklahoma City Dolls, and Detroit Demons. Today there are two main professional leagues in the United States: the Women’s Football Alliance, with nearly seventy teams, and the Women’s National Football Conference, with eighteen, in addition to a number of smaller leagues. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and the NFL have recently begun sponsoring flag football teams at the college level, and the game is growing for high school girls as well. In 2021 more than two thousand girls played on mostly boys’ teams, and there are currently four all-girls leagues in the United States and Canada, in Manitoba, Utah, Indiana, and New Brunswick. In addition to the rapid growth of women playing football, there have been advancements in other areas of the game. Beginning with Jennifer Welter in 2015, several women have earned positions coaching the professional game. In 2020 ESPN aired Born to Play, a documentary on the Boston Renegades, the 2019 champion of the Women’s Football Alliance. Based on extensive interviews with women players and focusing closely on leagues, teams, and athletes since the passage of Title IX in 1972, Russ Crawford illuminates the rich history of the women who have played football, breaking barriers on and off the field.

Born to Play is the first installment of The Jamie Johnson Series, the UK #1 best-selling children's series of soccer novels, which is now available in the United States. A one-of-a-kind series of fictional soccer books that follow an American kid, Jamie Johnson, through life's struggles as he strives to become to a world-class soccer player.

From the age of five Benny Gardner was destined to play football. His father once played Premier League football for three different clubs. This determined the path Benny would take on a journey from the time he once played football in his backyard until joining a professional football club in his late teens. The journey sees him and his girlfriend Susie taking a plane to Italy where he plays football for a professional Italian team. The story revolves around his love of football and his love of living in England. Benny and Susie marry and a boy is born. Will he be Born to Play football? The answer is in the book.

After a playing career that spanned more than 15 years, and took in golden spells in the sixties with Chelsea and Spurs, it was almost inevitable that Terry Venables would move into management. Following early success with Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers, he was appointed to the plum job of managing Barcelona, one of the biggest clubs in Europe. The Spanish giants had been struggling, but he soon turned them around and brought them trophy success, which inevitably earned him the nickname 'El Tel'. He returned to England to take charge of Spurs, where he helped save the club from financial troubles, and formed an ill-fated partnership with Alan Sugar. Again there was trophy success, as Venables worked with top England stars such as Paul Gascoigne, Gary Lineker and Chris Waddle, and when the England job fell vacant, he was the obvious choice for the role, leading the nation to the semi-finals of Euro 96 where they lost out on a place in the final after a penalty shoot-out. After leaving the England job, he has subsequently worked in numerous different roles. A charismatic and gregarious personality, Venables is widely viewed as one of football's great tacticians and is the most successful English manager of recent years. His story is sure to fascinate and entertain all followers of the game, providing a unique insight based on more than 50 years at the top.

Dwight Yorke has been one of the most successful and prolific goalscorers in the Premier League's history over the past decade. He was known first at Aston Villa and then Manchester United for his permanent smile, smoothness and flair - and for making headlines both on and off the pitch. He was a key member of Manchester United's treble-winning 1999 season and formed a deadly strike parterships with Andy Cole. His subsequent clubs have been Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, Sydney FC and Sunderland. Yorke came to be seen as the epitome of a young, successful, rich lifestyle, and he makes no apology for doing what a lot of young, single men would have done with sporting prowess, adulation and money. But it was his relationship with Katie Price (Jordan) among others which propelled him onto the gossip pages. He's the father of their son Harvey, and he talks for the first time about the hurt of being branded a bad dad who didn't care. Having never spoken out before, Dwight, nearing retirement, wants to tell his side, and from the heart. It's the story of a boy who followed his football dreams from Tobago's white beaches to England's lush stadia and who, having been given a miraculous second chance to live aged two, risked losing everything he held dear. This is his fascinating story.