Description

Too old to lift a World Cup, too burned out for the Ashes – and with too many aches to take on Augusta – the Moelkky Bar Kids are friends who, after a lifetime of trying, found their true calling in sport. It just happened to be a convoluted game of Finnish skittles.

When Neil Squires took up the obscure game of Moelkky, he had no idea that it would carry him to Japan, where he would represent his country and take his shot at sporting immortality. Sometimes those conversations in the pub can really get out of hand.

This is the hilarious tale of four middle-aged men who go halfway across the world, in ill-fitting Team GB kit, to compete for the nation and become unlikely Japanese media celebrities, all the time wondering just how on earth they ended up there. It’s a story about friendship, growing older and what happens when you allow yourself to get carried away and dream big.

Publisher Review

As my ghostwriter, Neil Squires actually managed to make one of my books interesting and funny. This is what you get from him when he isn’t compromised by such poor material. * Jonny Wilkinson * Funny and uplifting. * Ben Ainslie * Woefully lacking in Moelkky strategy and tactical detail. * Dom Leckie, Moelkky GB international and 2024 Yorkshire Open finalist * It’s obvious to me that the four middle-aged gents had met up in the Head of Steam in Leeds and were 5 pints in when they decided to get international sports recognition playing Moelkky. None of them knew how to play but that seems to have been a mere detail . Read on… it’s bloody hilarious! * David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd * Clever and funny. * Oliver Holt, Daily Mail * What a delightful and endearing story this is. If you have ever dreamt about representing your country and had to admit that ship has sailed, this is the book for you. * John Murray, BBC Sport commentator * A beautifully absurd story in which a group of fiftysomething beta males fulfil their dreams of becoming international sportsmen. Neil Squires takes us with him and manages to chuckle at himself and this shared sporting odyssey in almost every sentence. Highly recommended for any sporting obsessive, especially those not minded to take themselves too seriously. * Owen Slot, The Times chief sports writer * The greatest/silliest underdog story ever told. * James Briggs, author of From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads *