Dimensions
129 x 198 x 10mm
Illustrated by Michael Foreman.
Billy was a champion soccer star, playing for Chelsea in the 1930s. But that was before war broke out . . .
'Billy The Kid' is told through the voice of an 80-year-old man, who looks back on his life as Chelsea's champion striker until the outbreak of war in 1939 and on through his subsequent life.
Billy joins Chelsea as a football apprentice and rises through the reserves to become a real champion. His passion for football sees him through the war years - even as a prisoner of war he organises a friendly against the Italians - but having been injured by a mine he cannot play for Chelsea on his return to England.
Billy turns to vagrancy and alcohol and for years he wanders up and down the country. He re-settles in London in a derelict house and is befriended by a family who move him to a shed in their garden. He, in turn, helps their son with his football, who in his turn becomes a Chelsea player. Billy becomes a Chelsea Pensioner and his 80th birthday is celebrated when Chelsea play at home.
A novel for both children and adults which deals with some difficult issues. Michael Morpurgo's storytelling is superb and this is a welcome follow-up to the previous Morpurgo/Foreman collaboration of 'Farm Boy'.
