 | This article consists almost entirely of a plot summary . It should be expanded to provide more balanced coverage that includes real-world context.(December 2011) |
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| Author | Michael Hardcastle |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Methuen |
Publication date | 1980 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 110 pp (paperback) |
| ISBN | 978-0-7497-0126-0 |
Half a Team is a 1980 children's novel by prolific British author Michael Hardcastle.
The book is the sixth in Hardcastle's series about a Junior football League and features recurring characters Nick Abel- Smith (United! 1973, Away from Home (1974) and Lester Rowan (Away from Home). The book follows the story of Abel-Smith and fellow young footballer Steve Sewell as they attempt to overcome the humiliation of being dropped from their respective teams ahead of a five-a-side tournament. Joining forces they create a new team, The Swifts, and, after overcoming a series of obstacles, including getting Steve from Manchester back to their home town without his parents' knowledge, enter the tournament and finally get the opportunity to take on their former teammates and prove their worth. [1]
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Michael Hardcastle was a British author of sports fiction for children. He has written more than one hundred and forty books on a range of sporting subjects but is probably best known for his books about Association Football. In 1988 he was appointed an MBE in recognition of his services to children's literature. He died in January 2019 at the age of 85.
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