Footballing fairytale’s ghostly links

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THE TALE of how Leicester’s fantastic Foxes won the Premier league was recounted in spellbinding style in Leicester Cathedral when author Michael Morpurgo read aloud his own dramatic version of last season’s bet-busting events.

Best-known for his novel War Horse, which spurred a stage show and blockbuster film, Mr Morpurgo penned The Fox and the Ghost King at the request of the BBC who thought the footballing fairytale would make good listening on Radio 4.

The story proved such a hit that it has been turned into a Harper Collins children’s book and it was this version, illustrated by veteran artist Michael Foreman, that was read aloud within the hallowed walls of the ancient city church.

Sitting just metres from the tomb protecting the mortal remains of Richard III, a packed audience of all ages heard how the ghost of the last Plantagenet king called on a couple of city foxes to help release him from his centuries-old burial plot in return for granting their greatest wish - seeing their team crowned champions

With references to that “crowing cockerel of a Mourinho” and the seemingly miraculous scorelines that ensued during the 2015-16 season, the book will prove a hit with Leicester City fans of all ages, as well as appealing to younger readers as a ghost story and an animal adventure all rolled into one.

The evening with Michael Morpurgo was hosted as part of Leicester’s Everybody’s Reading Festival and ended with a question and answer session for the novelist and his illustrator.

Festival co-ordinator Juliet Martin said: “There was only one place where Michael could tell this tale - in Leicester Cathedral next to the tomb of King Richard lll.

“Michael is a master story teller and The Fox and the Ghost King has all the hallmarks of his inimitable storytelling.

“It’s a ghost story, a fairy tale and a classic animal adventure, all rolled into one timeless magic spell.”

The Fox and the Ghost King costs £9.99 hardback and £5.99 paperback and is available through Amazon and other booksellers.

Novelist Michael Morpurgo with a copy of The Fox and the Ghost King which he read aloud to a packed audience at Leicester Cathedral during the city’s Everybody’s Reading festival Emmie Deer, 14, Sophia Michiko, 21, and Amelia Hayashida, 17, from TKT Cheerleading in Hinckley have been chosen to represent England at an international competition