The Life of Riley - Unbreakable

By Tom Allen

Riley Adams has three passions in life: family, friends and football. Despite often finding school difficult, Riley finds happiness in friendships with his ‘band of brothers and sisters’, who play for his beloved Highfield Flyers FC.

Riley and the Flyers learn to play together and focus, bringing them great moments and taking them close to glory. Rivalries form and the desire to win grows until…

Riley’s world is turned upside down when his Mum receives life-changing news.

Can he really care about football again? What will happen to Mum? How will he cope with life now?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
• Release date: Feb 28, 2024
• ISBN: 9781805147473

Tom Allen

Tom Allen worked as a Primary School Teacher, mostly teaching 9–11-year-olds and has over 20 years voluntary sports coaching experience. He loves the power of sports and books and how they can inspire young people. His friend Rich passed away recently, leaving his incredible wife and three amazing children. Parts of the story are inspired by his friend’s tragic passing, and he hopes the themes explored in his story will give strength and guide younger children who have also lost a loved one. He resides in Bristol.

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Copyright © 2024 Tom Allen

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Troubador Publishing Ltd

Unit E2 Airfield Business Park,

Harrison Road, Market Harborough,

Leicestershire LE16 7UL

Tel: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Web: www.troubador.co.uk

ISBN 9781805147473

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

For Katie, Finlay and Imogen – I love you all so much

Contents

1.Penalty

2.School Bully

3.A Perfect Place

4.Band of Brothers and Sisters

5.Doubters to Believers

6.Devastation

7.Hang in There

8.Training?

9.Breaking Point

10.Earning Respect

11.Future Plans

12.A New Season

13.Believe

14.Seeing Red

15.Football Freedom

16.Decider

17.Final Chance

Chapter 1

Penalty

Sunday 15th April 11:39am

Sharborough Rangers 1 – 0 Highfield Flyers (Under 10s Maccleshire District League)

Heart pumping like a piston, blood pulsing in his ears, Riley’s world turned into slow motion. The image burned in his mind again: Mum’s gaunt, exhausted and loving face smiling at him from her hospital bed. As he struggled to contain his emotions, the referee’s shrill whistle burst him back to reality, to the present.

Behind the goal, the crowd had grown silent, apart from a smattering of complaints about the penalty decision. On the pitch, James Creevey was complaining loudly. Riley supressed a mirthful laugh; James Creevey, who had been given anything and everything on a plate since the day he was born, was complaining about fairness!

After carefully placing the ball on the spot, Riley noticed the faces of his teammates. He was surprised to find them looking terrified. Why would they be scared now? A penalty to draw the match but to win the league and he had no doubt he would score; he was absolutely certain of it. Confidently, he returned their nervous gazes with a determined stare and slowly turned to face the goal.

Instinctively, Riley knew what to do: he’d practised this situation countless times. Eyes focused on the ball. Head down. Breathe. A blanket of silence had been thrown over the pitch; Riley could only perceive a strange, soft, whooshing sound, a bit like distant waves. Even the sound of the latest whistle from the referee appeared almost muffled, but this was the signal for him to do what he had prepared for. To score.

Methodically, his run-up started. One step, two, three. Approaching the ball his focus was intense; he knew the exact pin-spot that he would strike to send it into the bottom left corner. With total precision, his left foot landed snugly beside the ball as his right foot began its pendulum-like swing.

As Riley had known, his open body shape had convinced the keeper into diving to the left and now the rest of the goal would be at his mercy. Not that he could change the direction of the kick now, even if he wanted to. The chain reaction had been set in motion, everything else seemingly frozen in time. His hips swivelled slightly, closing his body and bringing his right foot round perfectly onto the ball, sending it firmly towards the unguarded corner, with the keeper at this point in mid-air but with a despairing look on his face; he knew he’d been fooled. Riley had the fleeting thought that this moment was so beautiful, like a snapshot in time dedicated to all that he’d been through and his bloody-minded resilience.

Still shrouded in silence, the ball seemed to glide now towards its intended destination, just inside the post. Suddenly, self-doubt grasped at Riley’s mind, telling him the ball was drifting towards the post. Please no… not now.

Instantly, the silence evaporated and full volume was restored. There was the dull thud of leather on metal, bodies now moving past Riley, swarming around him, some screaming in joy, others in despair. The ball was hammered emphatically out of play by Ryan Samson, and that’s when Creevey appeared.

Like a feral dog, he bared his teeth and roared in Riley’s face, close enough that Riley could smell his breath and feel specks of spittle landing on his skin. But he didn’t react. He couldn’t react. It was like he wasn’t living in reality, like perhaps he had left his body for a moment.

He had been sure he would score. Absolutely certain. Again, he thought of Mum, feeling like he had let her down. Riley’s face burned with emotion: anger, shame, sadness. To his horror, tears began to well up in his eyes. As the referee signalled the end of the match, the end of the season and the end, Riley thought, of his dreams, he ran for the exit, leaving his kit bag and teammates behind. He couldn’t face any of this now; what was the point?

Chapter 2

School Bully

Three years previously, Riley had begun to reveal his passion for the beautiful game. Riley’s mum – Becky – always said he’d been kicking a ball around from the moment he could walk. She wasn’t sure where his love of football came from; there were no great players in the family, although his Uncle Tymal had been a decent amateur player. Maybe it was something that you are born with. Maybe it was a gift from God. Riley wasn’t sure about that, but even at seven years old, he knew he was good. Not in an arrogant way, but he had a confidence when playing football unmatched in any other part of his life.

Riley understood that it was important to try hard at school so that he could get a good job when he was older, although his ambition had always been to make it as a footballer. Maybe if he worked hard and played well for his club – Highfield Flyers – a professional club would sign him?

School was okay, but sometimes maths was hard and he didn’t really enjoy having to write. He loved coming up with ideas for stories, but he needed to ‘concentrate on your handwriting and spelling’ according to his teachers. The trouble was, he was concentrating on his handwriting and spelling, but it was still terrible.

PE lessons were great when their usual class teacher – Mrs Hunter – taught them. She could see that Riley was talented and encouraged him to shine. She let him lead warm-ups and demonstrate skills and this made him feel ten-feet tall. She was a great teacher. However, once a week, a ‘specialist’ sports coach – Mr Baines – would take them for PE.

Six foot four inches tall, Mr Baines towered over the Year 2 children. His hair was slicked back in an abysmal attempt to cover a bald patch and he wore an ancient-looking tracksuit that the children secretly mocked him for. To Riley’s great frustration, Baines’ son, Nathan, was in his class. Everything Nathan did was perfect in Mr Baines’ eyes and Nathan took great pleasure in the special treatment he received. To make matters worse, Mr Baines seemed to enjoy criticising and finding fault with everything the rest of the children did. Once during a football lesson, Leroy Fitton, a confident boy who was as fast as lightning, dared to question Mr Baines.

Surely we should be shooting more, sir, so we can score goals? Leroy had ventured during a five-a-side match where Mr Baines had taken away the goals in order for the children to ‘keep the ball’. Mr Baines, not accustomed to being questioned, blew his whistle loudly and stopped the game.

Sorry, everyone, he began sarcastically, "Mr Fitton here thinks he knows so much more about teaching football than me! As you know, children, I’d have made it as a professional footballer if I hadn’t injured my knee, but I’m sure Fitton can illuminate me on