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    Danny Mann Super Fan: Chadmouth Town, #1
    Danny Mann Super Fan: Chadmouth Town, #1
    Danny Mann Super Fan: Chadmouth Town, #1
    Ebook160 pages1 hour

    Danny Mann Super Fan: Chadmouth Town, #1

    By Ian Slatter

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    Read preview

    About this ebook

    "A fantastic read", "Fun and engaging with lots of laughs", "Plenty of football drama to appeal to middle grade readers", "I recommend this book to all football fans", "As someone who isn't a big soccer fan, I still found myself enjoying the book".

     

    WHAT IF YOUR LUCKY PANTS REALLY DID HELP YOUR TEAM TO WIN?

     

    Danny loves Chadmouth Town Football Club more than anything, but a run of defeats and terrible luck has left them bottom of the table and looking certain to be relegated with time running out.

     

    But then, Danny and his best friend Nelson stumble across a bizarre pre-match ritual that seems to turn their luck around, and his beloved team starts winning again. Is it too little too late though, and can he keep doing everything right before each match, even when he starts finding more and more obstacles in his way and despite the relentless teasing from his classmates? It's going to come down to the wire.

     

    Does Danny have what it takes to save Chadmouth's season?

     

    Danny Mann Super Fan is the perfect book for young football / soccer fans (including reluctant readers), and for anyone who's enjoyed the Charlie Fry or Jamie Johnson series and Tom Palmer's football books.

     

    What readers have been saying about Danny Mann Super Fan:

     

    • If you have a football-crazy child at home then Danny Man Super Fan would be a fantastic read for your little one. Recommended for children aged 9 to 12 years of age. Yeah Lifestyle
    • Does your child love football (in the US, soccer)? If they play or love watching matches, this book is going to be one of their very favorites! Danny Mann Super Fan has all the action, adventure, and drama found in a football match. Your children will want to finish the final chapters of this middle-school book and see what would happen to Danny and the Crabs. Lisa's Reading
    • A refreshing change from football stories on the field, Danny Mann celebrates life on the terraces and all the dedicated supporters that turn out week in week out to cheer on their team. Primary Teacher Bookshelf
    • Danny Mann Super Fan is fun and engaging with lots of laughs and team spirit.  I think all young football fans would enjoy this story. It's all about the love of the game and younger fans are sure to enjoy it. Four Moon Reviews
    • An engaging story that may well appeal to some who would otherwise be considered reluctant readers, especially if they are football fans. It is a fun story, with plenty of football drama to appeal to middle grade readers. Splashes Into Books
    • I recommend this book to all football fans as well as readers from about age eight and up. I'm not personally a soccer enthusiast, but I had no trouble enjoying this well-written tale. Gina Rae Mitchell
    • A great story celebrating a worldwide sport celebrated by players and fans alike. Insatiablereaders
    • I thought that this was a great book. As someone who isn't a big soccer fan, I still found myself enjoying the book. Kathryn Books

    • Perfect for the chapter book reader/ reluctant reader, and absolutely chock full of football. Lexi Rees / Mum's Book Blast

    • If you have a reluctant younger reader, which often tends to be boys, who likes football then this might just be the kind of story that creates a new reader. Cheryl M-M's Book Blog

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherIan Slatter
    Release dateMay 9, 2021
    ISBN9798201380236
    Danny Mann Super Fan: Chadmouth Town, #1
    Author

    Ian Slatter

    Ian published his debut novel, Eco Worrier, in 2020 - a middle grade adventure story with plenty of twists and turns and lots of laughs. He followed it up with Danny Mann Super Fan in 2021 and The Man With The Magic Foot the following year - two fun tales that are perfect for young football/soccer fans. He has also written two non-fiction books for adults - Premier League Legends - the top 10 greatest Premier League players of all time and Incredible Moments in Sport. Ian wrote for satirical website newsbiscuit.com for ten years, as well as writing for comedy sketch shows on ITV and BBC Radio. Find out more and get a free ebook at ianslatter.com, or follow Ian on Twitter - @slatter_ian.

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      Book preview

      Danny Mann Super Fan - Ian Slatter

      Chapter 1

      'How long's left?' asked Danny.

      'Five minutes,' answered his dad, ‘plus whatever they add on for injury time.’

      'Five minutes!? We'll never hold on that long.'

      'We might Danny, we might,' said Danny’s gran.

      'Keep the faith son, keep the faith,' Dad told him.

      That was easier said than done, thought Danny, after the season Chadmouth Town had had. He'd lost count of the number of late goals they'd conceded to throw away a win or a draw. If football matches were all 80 minutes long instead of 90 they'd probably be on course for promotion instead of being bottom of the table and facing relegation.

      'How long now?'

      'Four minutes.'

      It was unbearable. Chadmouth desperately needed a win and three valuable points, but when they were only 1-0 up and the other team was throwing everything they had at them, the points were far from safe. Danny could barely watch.

      'How long...'

      'For goodness sake, Danny, stop asking me how long's left,' Dad snapped. ‘You shouldn’t have forgotten your phone, then you wouldn’t need to keep asking me.’ Danny was nervous, and he wasn’t helping anyone else’s nerves either.

      He stood up and shouted as loud as he could, ‘Come on you Crabs!’

      Chadmouth was a town that was once a small fishing village, and there was a crab on their football team’s badge in honour of that, giving them their nickname the Crabs. Danny sat back down and fought the urge to ask his dad again how much longer was left.

      Then, their opponents, Burbank Rovers, won a corner. This was it, thought Danny. Their defence was bound to leave someone completely unmarked to head it straight into the net. The corner came in, it was half-cleared, the ball was hit back in and it hit the post. A defender tried to scramble it away but it hit his teammate. The crowd oohed and aahed. There was a shot but it was blocked. The goalie tried to grab it but missed. Someone else tried to shoot, the ball struck a boot and flew up into the air, and hit someone's hand. The ref blew his whistle. What had he given? A penalty!

      'No!' shouted Danny.

      'No!' shouted Dad and Gran.

      'No!' shouted everyone in the crowd, apart from the visiting fans, who were jumping up and down and cheering wildly.

      'How is that a penalty?'

      'It just hit his hand, he didn't know anything about it.'

      'It hit one of their players, not ours.'

      The ref couldn't hear them though, not that it would have made any difference if he could.

      'They might miss the penalty,' said Gran, hopefully.

      Burbank’s striker, who Danny knew was their top scorer, placed the ball on the penalty spot. A big man who for some reason always took his shirt off to watch the game, even when it was freezing, looked like he was praying for a miracle. Chadmouth’s goalie, Mortensen, waved his arms around and jumped about on the goal-line, trying to put his opponent off. Danny was sat right on the edge of his blue, plastic seat. He wanted to look the other way, but he couldn't not watch. The penalty-taker stepped up, struck the ball... and sent it flying into the top corner of the net.

      All the crowd groaned, apart from the away fans, who somehow managed to be even more excited than when they'd won the penalty. Some of the Chadmouth fans started to leave the stadium. They'd seen enough.

      '1-1 isn't the end of the world. At least it's a point,' said Dad.

      ‘A point could make all the difference at the end of the season,' nodded Gran.

      Danny knew they were just trying to put a brave face on it though. They desperately needed to be picking up three points for a win now, not just one for a draw. Besides, it wasn't over yet. They might not even get a point.

      Right on cue, the fourth official put up his electronic board to show that there would be six minutes of injury time. Another groan went around the Springly Park ground.

      'Six minutes?! Where has he got six minutes from?'

      Chapter 2

      Danny just knew exactly what would happen, as did the rest of the Chadmouth supporters, and sure enough, four minutes later Burbank sent a long ball forward. It should have been easy for the defender, Sagar, to boot it clear, as there was nobody else anywhere near him, but disaster struck. He slipped as he tried to turn to clear it, and the Burbank striker, brimming with confidence after scoring the penalty, ran through and controlled the loose ball. He raced through on goal. Mortensen came out to challenge him, but the Burbank man neatly chipped the ball over his head. It bounced once, twice, then nestled in the back of the net.

      And that was that. Chadmouth had about a minute after the restart to equalise, but never looked like doing so, and the final whistle soon rang out to seal their defeat. Another defeat. They'd had far too many this season, and it was looking more and more likely that they were going to be relegated. The away fans were cruelly reminding them of this as the crowd started for the exits, chanting ‘Going down, going down, going down!’ A few Chadmouth fans were shouting for the manager to be sacked, but he’d only been given the job about a month ago after their last boss was given the boot, so that was unlikely to happen.

      Danny was close to tears as they slowly left their seats. It was so unfair. A dodgy penalty decision and an unfortunate slip had cost them the match, and that sort of thing had been happening over and over again all season.

      They exited the stadium and started slowly walking home. The narrow, terraced streets were crowded at first, but they quickly thinned out as they got further from the ground. Officially it was called the Doh-Ray-Me-Far Solar Panel Arena, after the club had signed a sponsorship deal with a local business, but everyone still called it Springly Park, its original name.

      They lived about a mile from the ground, but that was quite a long walk for Gran these days. She’d been going since she was younger than Danny, and he often wondered just how many times she’d walked to and from Springly Park. He also wondered today how many times she’d seen her team throw away a lead over the years. To Danny, it felt like it happened every single week, either because of their poor play or because of bad luck.

      ‘We must be the unluckiest football team in the world,’ said Gran, as if reading his mind.

      ‘You make your own luck,’ said Dad, wheeling out one of the football commentators’ favourite clichés. ‘It evens itself out over the season,’ he added, throwing in another old football saying for good measure.

      ‘I don’t think it does,’ Danny disagreed.

      ‘We’re not down yet,’ said Gran, trying to look on the bright side as always.

      ‘We pretty much are.’ Danny wasn’t as positive as his Gran was.

      ‘It’s not all over ‘til the fat lady sings,’ she told him.

      ‘Hah! I think I heard her warming up when that goal went in at the end,’ laughed Dad.

      Gran had a chuckle at that as well. How could either of them be laughing? Danny felt like he wouldn’t even be able to smile until at least the middle of next week.

      He wasn’t sure how much more he could take. It was depressing, turning up every Saturday afternoon, desperately hoping that something would change, only to have his hopes dashed and seeing his team lose once again. Did even want to go again next week? He didn’t think he could face it.

      It really was looking grim for the Crabs. That defeat had left them rooted to the bottom of the table, nine points from safety with eight games to go. Winning enough points to overtake four of the teams above them to avoid getting relegated to League Two was a tough task, and right then he had very little hope that they’d manage it.

      Danny knew though, deep inside, that by Friday he’d have somehow got his hopes back up. He’d have convinced himself that there was some reason why their form was about to pick up and that they could still pull off a great escape. He’d be there on Saturday, cheering them on, whatever happened. That’s what being a real fan was all about. You stuck with your team through thick and thin.

      They really could do with a bit of luck though.

      Results & table 1.jpg

      Chapter 3

      ‘Here he is!’ shouted Ashton, as soon as Danny walked through the school gates. ‘It’s Danny Mann, Pants Team Fan!’

      It was non-uniform day. Danny loved non-uniform day, but he hated it too. He loved the fact that (obviously) you didn’t have to wear school uniform. Instead, he could wear, and he always did, his beloved red and blue hooped Chadmouth Town shirt, but that was where the problems always started. The instant the other kids saw it, the abuse would begin, and today was no different.

      ‘What division are you in now – League Ten?’ sneered Louis.

      ‘League Twenty!’ laughed Taylor.

      ‘League One, actually,’ said Danny crossly.

      ‘League Hundred and One more like!’

      ‘You’re gonna be in League Two soon anyway - you’re getting relegated,’ Jackson told him.

      ‘We haven’t been relegated yet.’

      ‘Yeah, whatever. You keep

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