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Friendly Matches
A collection of football poems covering many aspects of the game. It is written in a variety of verse forms - sonnets, rhyming couplets, and more.
- GenresPoetry
96 pages, Paperback
First published June 28, 2001
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About the author
Allan Ahlberg
311 books174 followersAllan Ahlberg was one of the UK's most acclaimed and successful authors of children's books - including the best-selling Jolly Postman series. Born in Croydon in 1938, he was educated at Sunderland Technical College. Although he dreamed of becoming a writer since the age of twelve, his route to that goal was somewhat circuitous. Other jobs along the way included postman (not an especially jolly one, he recalls), gravedigger, plumber, and teacher.
Ahlberg wrote his first book when he was thirty-seven, after a decade of teaching - a profession that he maintains is "much harder" than being a writer. He says that if he hadn't become a writer, he would have loved to be a soccer player. He was married for many years to fellow children's author Janet Ahlberg, with whom he often worked. Their daughter, Jessica Ahlberg, is also a children's author.
Ahlberg wrote his first book when he was thirty-seven, after a decade of teaching - a profession that he maintains is "much harder" than being a writer. He says that if he hadn't become a writer, he would have loved to be a soccer player. He was married for many years to fellow children's author Janet Ahlberg, with whom he often worked. Their daughter, Jessica Ahlberg, is also a children's author.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 3, 2013
Friendly Matches is a collection of poems all based around the sport of football. These range from missing football due to illness to various creative ways to score a goal. The first poem Polite Children I particularly enjoyed as it was funny whilst encouraging children to remember their manners. Friendly Matches was also a good poem, teaching good sportsmanship and how to have a good match, reminding us that football matches don’t have to involve arguments. I found Soccer Sonnet to be an impressive poem, a tool that can be used to remind children to have fun with the game, it’s not all about winning and school isn’t all about grades and class work. The Match (c.1950) is by far my most favourite poem in the book, running through 9 pages accompanied by fantastic illustrations. The simple aabb rhyming pattern makes it easy to read and the message behind the poem that anyone can play football, no-one needs to be left out and the game can just be for fun, an escape, is something worth paying attention to.
The Lovely Ball of Leather sends a nice message to never give up, to remain positive and to continue to encourage. The Goals of Bingo Boot is the final poem and one of my favourites. It tells the story of a footballer from birth to the afterlife. He starts life in a poor family and managed to turn it around with a football career and this teaches children never to give up on their dreams. It then continued into a football match between heaven and hell. This section included famous people from history, inspiring curiosity and perhaps they will want to learn more about these individuals. One verse I like in particular was about WW2. The subtle references to moments in history remind us how multicultural and timeless the sport is. The final match emphasises the need to have good morals and do things for the right reasons, to occasionally be selfless.
As a whole I enjoyed the poetry book. It helps see all sides to the sport and the various different types of poems (including a sonnet) keep the minds of children open to other ways to express themselves through writing, not needing to stick to the easy abab pattern. This book is suitable for key stage 2 and 3. Though some poems can be used as educational tools, I would leave this book in the book corner for independent reading.
The Lovely Ball of Leather sends a nice message to never give up, to remain positive and to continue to encourage. The Goals of Bingo Boot is the final poem and one of my favourites. It tells the story of a footballer from birth to the afterlife. He starts life in a poor family and managed to turn it around with a football career and this teaches children never to give up on their dreams. It then continued into a football match between heaven and hell. This section included famous people from history, inspiring curiosity and perhaps they will want to learn more about these individuals. One verse I like in particular was about WW2. The subtle references to moments in history remind us how multicultural and timeless the sport is. The final match emphasises the need to have good morals and do things for the right reasons, to occasionally be selfless.
As a whole I enjoyed the poetry book. It helps see all sides to the sport and the various different types of poems (including a sonnet) keep the minds of children open to other ways to express themselves through writing, not needing to stick to the easy abab pattern. This book is suitable for key stage 2 and 3. Though some poems can be used as educational tools, I would leave this book in the book corner for independent reading.
February 26, 2017
I love football so much so this was my favourite poem book
May 23, 2013
Allan and Janet Ahlberg are probably one of the children’s literature’s best known double acts responsible for classics like “Each Peach Pear Plum” and “Peepo”. Allan has also written several collections of poetry including “Please Mrs Butler” and “Friendly Matches”. “Friendly Matches” is a collection of poems about football that should strike a chord with anyone boy or girl who has ever kicked a football in the playground, in the park or in competitive match.
Most of the poems are funny, clever and above all very real. They capture the essence of childhood football from playing till it’s so dark you can’t see and your mum calls you in for tea to loneliness of the substitute desperately waiting to get on.
Stand out poems include the hilarious “How To Score Goals” with its inventive verses on the best way to score goals and “Talk Us Through It Charlotte” one girl’s account of how after being roped in to make up the numbers and an hour stood on the wing she manages to dribble round half the opposition and score the winner. As she describes it “I dipped me shoulder like they do/And the goalie moved one way, y’know/And I slammed it in the net.”
Fun poems that KS2 children will get the most out of.
Most of the poems are funny, clever and above all very real. They capture the essence of childhood football from playing till it’s so dark you can’t see and your mum calls you in for tea to loneliness of the substitute desperately waiting to get on.
Stand out poems include the hilarious “How To Score Goals” with its inventive verses on the best way to score goals and “Talk Us Through It Charlotte” one girl’s account of how after being roped in to make up the numbers and an hour stood on the wing she manages to dribble round half the opposition and score the winner. As she describes it “I dipped me shoulder like they do/And the goalie moved one way, y’know/And I slammed it in the net.”
Fun poems that KS2 children will get the most out of.
January 24, 2016
I want to write a piece of prose with a common theme and so I was intrigued by this one aimed at younger readers. There are some positives -the sonnet is solid enough, the 1950 match reads well and 1966 -were you there? is another nice little piece, but the others are quite pretentious and overly complex for any reader. It reads like a channel 4 cutting edge poetry night live from Shoreditch.
It's a shame as this does have potential with a bit of narrative and logic to the order of poems. It could follow one central character or a narrative and this will lift it into something special. Incidentally, if a similar idea does appear in my titles...sue me ;)
It's a shame as this does have potential with a bit of narrative and logic to the order of poems. It could follow one central character or a narrative and this will lift it into something special. Incidentally, if a similar idea does appear in my titles...sue me ;)
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews