Rhythms and Rivalries

Steve Couch’s journey to writing Foul and Fair was rooted in his deep understanding of grassroots children’s football, drawn from his seven years of managing a youth team. His first-hand experience with the contrasts between well-meaning coaches and competitive, often overzealous parents provided a fertile ground for exploring the complexities of the sport.

In Foul and Fair, Steve creates a compelling narrative that pits these contrasting forces against each other, blending the excitement of kids' football with the darker, more manipulative elements of competition. Inspired by the dynamic between a well-meaning protagonist and a world of dirty tricks, his novel offers readers a tense, thought-provoking story where moral dilemmas unfold both on and off the pitch.

What inspired you to write a book centred around children’s football?

Write what you know! I managed a children’s team for seven years and I knew that the grassroots game would make a rich source of material for a novel. Kids’ football is full of good people who just want the children to enjoy themselves and grow as players and as people. It is also full of competitive dads who just want to win, who are happy to use children – their own and other people’s – as a way of achieving that. In Foul and Fair, I wanted to pit the two against one another. I was aiming for Roy of the Rovers meets House of Cards, with a well-meaning protagonist getting sucked deeper and deeper into a battle of dirty tricks, struggling to keep hold of his moral compass. Although the age group of the footballers in the book is under 12, it’s a book for grown-up readers; it’s not a children’s book.

Can you tell us about the key themes in Foul and Fair, and how do they relate to the football world?

The clash between the two different types of coaches is at the heart of the book. It raises questions about finding the balance between doing the right thing and getting the right result, both on and off the pitch. The dilemmas my characters face spill over into other areas of their lives, things that non-football fans will relate to as well, things which don’t necessarily have clear-cut answers.

How did you go about organising football events related to the book? What was the process like?

From my own days on the touchline, I knew how many people go to local football tournaments in the summer, so I asked a few organisers if I could come along to their tournaments with a bookstall. Most people were intrigued by the idea of a book set in the world of kids’ football, and it was quite easy to get into conversations about it.

What was the goal of these events, and how did they help promote your book?

Nobody goes to a football tournament expecting to buy a book! At the same time, absolutely everyone at the tournament would know the world it was set in, making them my ideal readers. With maybe 100 teams across all the age groups at each event, 8-10 children per team and at least one adult present for each of those kids, it meant a huge potential market. Besides selling books on the day, I wanted the local footballing community to know that the book was out there. I did worry that I’d end up with no sales, but I told myself that at the very worst I’d get to spend my time watching football! As it was, I was delighted with the response, and I sold more than a hundred books over the course of five tournaments.

Your other book with The Book Guild isn’t about football. How did you tie Dead Man Singing’s promotion into its subject matter?

Dead Man Singing is about a has-been rock star who fakes his death to get his records selling, then goes out on the road as his own tribute act. For the book launch, I used an award-winning local music venue – Chaplin’s in Boscombe – and collaborated with two local musicians, Olly Hopper-Pay and Andy Stock. We interspersed readings from the book (by me) with performances of songs referred to in the book (mercifully for all concerned, not by me, but by Olly and Andy). It went down brilliantly on the night, and I’ve repeated a version of that reading with Olly a few times since. If anyone would like to book a musically enhanced reading, just get in touch with me via my website www.stevecouch.co.uk 

How has your website helped with promoting the books?

It’s great to have something to direct people to, and The Book Guild's parent company Troubador Publishing was fantastic in helping me to set up an easy-to-administer website. I have a blog as part of mine, and I try to keep it updated with regular articles about my writing in general, the books themselves, and the respective subject matter of the books – music and football – which I then share on social media. Just recently my Facebook page was followed by Christine Collister, one of my favourite singers who I’ve been a fan of for more than 35 years. 

Any advice for other writers trying to draw on their own interests as the setting for a book?

It has to be authentic, something that readers who know that world will recognise as true. I was confident of doing that with Foul and Fair, but Dead Man Singing was more of a challenge: I’m steeped in the music world, but my experience is that of a fan rather than a musician. Fortunately, the feedback I’ve had from actual musicians has been hugely positive, so my imposter syndrome has faded into the background now.

Tell us a bit more about your books.

I think they stand in the sweet spot between fast-paced thriller and character-led book group fiction. I aim to write in a way that keeps the reader engaged – people have described both books as ‘page turners’ – but with plenty to reflect on as you go. A great concept will draw people to your book, but if they don’t engage with or believe in the characters, they won’t stay. I like to dig deep into the interior life of the character while keeping them on their toes with external challenges. Both of my protagonists are men of a certain age who are questioning where they’ve got to in life and how to either get back or move on to something better. To some extent, they are both books about second chances.