Michael Hardcastle (6 February 1933 – 17 January 2019) 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 Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. In 1988 he was appointed an

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

in recognition of his services to children's literature. He died in January 2019 at the age of 85.

Education and early career

Hardcastle was born in Huddersfield and was educated at the nearby

King James's Grammar School, Almondbury King James's School is a coeducational secondary school located in Almondbury in the English county of West Yorkshire. History King James's Grammar School was founded as chantry school in 1547 and received its name and a royal charter in 1608 ...

. Due to ill health he was unable to take part in much sporting activity and instead spent time in the school library where he developed a passion for English literature particularly the works of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

and

W.E. Johns William Earl Johns (5 February 189321 June 1968) was an English First World War pilot, and writer of adventure stories, usually written under the pen name Capt. W. E. Johns: best known for creating the fictional air-adventurer ''Biggles''. Ear ...

. He later became editor of the school newspaper ''The Almondburian''. When he left school he joined the

Royal Army Educational Corps The Royal Army Educational Corps (RAEC) was a corps of the British Army tasked with educating and instructing personnel in a diverse range of skills. On 6 April 1992 it became the Educational and Training Services Branch (ETS) of the Adjutant Gene ...

and served for five years, travelling to Kenya and Mauritius. In 1956 he joined the

Huddersfield Examiner The ''Huddersfield Daily Examiner'' is an English local daily evening newspaper covering news and sport from Huddersfield and its surrounding areas. History The first edition was published as a weekly, starting on 6 September 1851, as the ''H ...

as a reporter. Later he worked for the

Bristol Evening Post The ''Bristol Post'' is a city/regional five-day-a-week (formerly appearing six days per week) newspaper covering news in the city of Bristol, including stories from the whole of Greater Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. It was ...

as a

diarist A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...

and

literary editor A literary editor is an editor in a newspaper, magazine or similar publication who deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews.

, and then for the

Liverpool Daily Post The ''Liverpool Post'' was a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. The newspaper and its website ceased publication on 19 December 2013. Until 13 January 2012 it was a daily morning newspaper, with the tit ...

as chief feature writer in 1965.The Old Almondburians' Society : Michael Hardcastle MBE (3 May 2007)http://www.oas.org.uk/Michael%20Hardcastle%20audio%20page.phpPonymad book lovers website http://michaelhardcastle.ponymadbooklovers.co.uk/

Writing

It was while working Liverpool Daily Post that he published his first book '' Soccer Is Also a Game'' later published as '' Soccer Comes First'' in 1966 to coincide with the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. This book, along with others written early in his career deal with Professional Football notably the fortunes of the fictitious Scorton Rovers and their star player Andy Blair. Others, including the Mark Fox series written in the 1970s and 1980s, focus on amateur football and tell of the trials and tribulations of youth football teams. Hardcastle has also written about many other sports including

Showjumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ...

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and

Speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

Selected bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardcastle, Michael 1933 births 2019 deaths English children's writers Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at King James's School, Almondbury