Home Ground

A timely and thought-provoking football story packed with facts, from reluctant-reader favourite Alan Gibbons.

Sam's team are edging closer to the bottom of the league this season and team captain Jordan's bad attitude isn't helping anyone. When Sam spots Hasan playing on the refugee team, he can see that Hasan's got talent and invites him along to practice. Hasan and his friend Faisal prove to be exactly what the team need – but Jordan's not going to accept his new teammates so easily. Can Sam get the boys to pull together and win?

Another winning combo of fact and fiction from reluctant reader favourite and footie king Alan Gibbons.

Reviews

"Packed with plenty of detailed football match action … a well told story that encourages empathy for refugees" – The Letterpress Project

"A great book to introduce the importance of being tolerant and accepting others, irrespective of where they’re from" – Books for Topics

"A short, but necessary, story … It’s got football at its heart, and would appeal to all football fans out there. And the other thing that matters is friendship. Fairness. Understanding that not everyone is the same, but that we are equal in our own way, and that we all matter … I hope this book will both entertain and inform, and change" – Book Witch

"An important message about sport and the way it can bring together people from different communities, helping them to integrate" – Parents in Touch

About the author

A former primary school teacher, Alan Gibbons has sold over 1.3 million books and won many prestigious awards including the Blue Peter Award for ‘The Book I Couldn’t Put Down’. Alan is a high-profile library campaigner and education consultant and is a very popular speaker at schools, libraries, colleges and conferences – he visits over 150 schools a year.