What's the big idea?

BEGINNER'S GUIDE

WHY AM I HERE?

Your teacher could have sent you! You could have seen the TV programme and got interested! You could just like football! Whatever the reason, sit back and enjoy the ride. The stadium is full, the crowd is chanting, the noise is deafening and here comes your favourite team. The linesmen signal, the referee blows his whistle and here we go ...

WHAT'S SPECIAL ABOUT FOOTBALL?

Everyone knows something about it. In almost every country of the world kids like it, adults like it, and everyone has tried playing it. If you're good, you could be rich, famous and successful and if you're bad it can still be just as much fun. People talk about it, argue about it - they even write about it ...

WHAT'S FOOTBALL GOT TO DO WITH WRITING?

In graffiti scrawled on walls, in newspaper sports pages, in celebrity magazines, in your favourite comics, in books and annuals and on websites you'll find writing about football in every possible form. You'll find match reports, articles, profiles, statistics, letters, poems and writing that informs, argues, persuades and excites. All these different bits of writing have one thing in common - eleven men, working together and desperate to win for themselves, their team, their manager, their town and their country.

WHAT'S FOOTBALL GOT TO DO WITH HENRY V?

Guts, passion and inspiration. A good manager takes a bunch of individuals and shapes their talents so that they become an effective team. King Henry took a bunch of no-hopers and turned them into an effective killing machine that wiped out the French army on French soil in 1415 and took revenge for a home defeat in the first round at Hastings in 1066. He was a strong leader and a tough manager. Find out how tough!