Football author and consultant. Author of penalty book Twelve Yards, the Football School series, to get kids reading, & EDGE, to improve performance
Joined March 2007
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An old piece on Messi & penalties that still holds true today. Extraordinary player, ordinary from the spot - probably because he knows he’ll eventually score in open play… twelveyards.substack.com/p/t…
Harry Kane has scored 35/36 penalties since 2022 World Cup. Technique change, Bayern dominance & outdoing the data all explored in this excellent piece by @JamesGheerbrant. Next stop NFL?
thetimes.com/article/5c24e3f…
🚀NEW BOOK ALERT!🚀
Score Like a Striker, the first book in my new Football Skills series, is out today! Tips, drills (& terrible jokes) for football-crazy kids. Let’s get our young readers outside kicking a ball around! Enjoy! ⚽ 📚 🙏
amazon.co.uk/Score-Like-Stri…
Ben Lyttleton retweeted
⚽📚 Learning through football! The brilliant author @benlyt delivered a wonderful workshop for our #PLPrimaryStars, bringing school curriculum to life❤️
We enjoyed a drama session, danced, sang and took on Mighty Red in a penalty shoutout✨ @PLCommunities
Ben Lyttleton retweeted
Wow! 🤩 More than half a million (561,299 to be exact!) school children joined us for the Great Big Footy & Booky Quiz with @PLCommunities and @WorldBookDayUK.
Thank you @benlyt and @kitbrownnn for presenting.
Missed it live? Watch back: youtu.be/axb1DAkSwrE
ALT Class of school children watching the quiz on an interactive white board.
ALT School children watching interactive whiteboard A guest footballer is on screen.
ALT Class of school children deep in concentration as they watch the quiz.
ALT Collage showing children watching the quiz and a school whiteboard where answers have been written down. The class scored 9/10 on round 1 and 10/11 on round 2.
Teachers! Don’t forget to sign up to @Literacy_Trust @PLCommunities football & books quiz for @WorldBookDayUK next Thursday. Special guests from Premier League, WSL & Lionesses. Over 500k kids took part last year! Sign up here: literacytrust.org.uk/events/…
Ronaldo decisive to the end there. It looked like he won the toss for 🇵🇹 and chose to kick second. My research has kicking first an advantage as the pressure increases on players when kicking second later in the shootout. So ends 🇫🇷 pen hoodoo!
For those who enjoyed last night’s penalty drama, you will love @GeirJordet new book Pressure, which goes deep on shoot-out tactics and psychology research. Highly recommended!
Pens! Look out for: advantage to team kicking first; players’ reaction time after ref whistle (CR7 too quick, nerves); body language & celebs after scoring; GK distraction efforts. In previous WC & Euros, pen No 8 (kick 4 for team going 2nd) is decisive, conversion only 55%
Very harsh on Maignan, who dominated the space before both Lewandowski penalties. Lewa gets to stutter but MM is penalised? Still feel France 🇫🇷 might have won WC final vs 🇦🇷 if Maignan had subbed on for Lloris pre shoot-out
Thank you to all the teachers & almost HALF A MILLION children who joined me & the brilliant @kitbrownnn to celebrate books & football - amazing! And thank you to @PLCommunities & @Literacy_Trust for donating 50 THOUSAND books - what a way to mark #WBD2024! 🎉📚⚽️
We had a great time yesterday at The Great Big Footy & Booky Quiz! Thank you to our amazing presenters @kitbrownnn and @benlyt 🥳
Just under half a million pupils tuned in, our biggest event ever! We hope you all enjoyed seeing some famous faces and celebrating #WorldBookDay!
ALT School pupils stood in front of a computer screen holding up their free World Book Day books
Teachers, parents & football fans! I can’t wait to celebrate @WorldBookDayUK with great authors & TOP (like, VERY TOP) footballers in a huge quiz with @literacy_trust @PLCommunities and @kitbrownn ⚽️🏆📚 Last year over 170,00 kids took part! Sign up here: literacytrust.org.uk/events/…
This year, @BookTrust want to give out 17,000 festive book gifts through community food banks and to children in care. Please help! #MagicOfBooks booktrust.org.uk/xmas
🚀LAUNCH DAY!🚀 THE FOOTBALL SCHOOL ENCYCLOPEDIA is out today! Packed with facts, trivia, flags, kits and the odd terrible joke, it’s everything you want to know about football and more - and the perfect stocking filler 💥⚽️amazon.co.uk/Football-School…
The new FOOTBALL SCHOOL Encyclopedia, written with @alexbellos, is out next week! A treasure-trove of facts, stunning illustrations & in full colour - the perfect gift for curious football minds of all ages. Enjoy! amzn.to/456AVYE
Ben Lyttleton retweeted
⚽️* FREE TALK ALERT * ⚽️
In the last 18 months, @benlyt and I have visited more than 50 primary schools in the UK for FREE to get kids reading.
We love these visits and want to visit 50 more in the next 18 months.
If you would like us to come to YOUR school pls read👇
Yes, 2 tosses; 1st, by ref who picks heads/tails for which end (that went Luton end, but their captain didn't win that toss in the literal sense). 2nd toss to decide who kicks first, captain choice (Luton won & went 1st). Note: there's NO advantage in shooting twds your own fans
Ben Lyttleton retweeted
The moment I remember most from the days I spent with Pelé writing his autobiography was when he opened his briefcase and took out a wooden spinning top.
He said he carried it everywhere, and whenever he checked into a new hotel room would spin it on the floor. (1/2)