T.J. and the Winning Goal (14 page)

‘But who’s going to collect it?’ asked Jamie suddenly. ‘We didn’t decide.’

They all looked at each other, and then they all looked at Rob. None of them had any doubt. ‘You’re the captain,’ TJ said to him.

‘No,’ said Rob. ‘I can’t.’

‘Of course you can,’ said Mr Wood. ‘And they’re right. It has to be you, Rob.’

All of the Parkview supporters cheered wildly, as the players walked forward one at
a
time to collect their medals. Miss Berry and Tulsi helped Ebony to walk between them. TJ felt as if he was dreaming as Marshall put the medal around his neck and shook his hand.

But it wasn’t a dream. It was even
better
.

Then Rob was standing in front of the table and Marshall gave him his medal, and picked up the Regional Championship Cup.

‘Before I present the trophy, I’d like to say a few words,’ the Premier League player said, and the crowd hushed. ‘Six months ago Parkview School didn’t even have a football team,’ he told them. ‘Believe it or not, they didn’t even have a pitch to play on. And now look at them! Regional Champions!’

There was loud applause.

‘So,’ said Marshall, when it had died down a little, ‘it’s my pleasure to present this cup to Parkview School.’

Rob walked forward. He had put his glasses on, and he looked a most unlikely captain, but Marshall handed him the cup and he lifted it high above his head, and TJ thought the cheering would never stop.

Finally the crowd began to break up and the Parkview players prepared to go and get changed. ‘TJ,’ said an unfamiliar voice, and TJ turned to see Danny’s dad standing behind him, with little Rosie in his arms. ‘I just wanted to thank you and your mum,’ he said. ‘Danny told me how you helped him.’

TJ felt his face growing hot. ‘It’s OK,’ he said. ‘We needed Danny in the team. You can see how good he is.’

‘I can see how good you all are. I’ve been away working for six months and I come back and I find all this has happened. As if having two new babies in the house wasn’t enough to get used to!’

‘Are they OK?’ asked TJ. ‘Danny said one
of
them was ill.’

‘She’s fine. They both are. And it looks like they and Danny have made a lot of new friends.’

A short distance away Danny was showing his baby sisters proudly to the rest of the team. ‘Another few years and these two will be ready for our new Centre of Excellence for girls,’ said Phil, who was looking on.

‘You mean it?’ said Tulsi. ‘It’s really going to happen?’

‘Sure,’ said Phil. ‘And I’d like you to be a part of it, Tulsi. You were great today. You know how to lose a marker and you know how to bring other players into the game. If there was a Man of the Match award today, you would have won it.’ He saw the look on Miss Berry’s face. ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I mean Player of the Match, don’t I? And I’d like Ebony and Leila to come along for trials too.’

He looked over their heads, as they
hugged
each other with excitement. ‘Hey, Krissy Barton,’ he called. ‘Come here a minute. I wouldn’t want you to miss out. It’s not just going to be for Parkview players, this School of Excellence. You’ll come along for a trial too, won’t you?’

Krissy looked as if she was going to faint until Tulsi grabbed hold of her and started dancing around. ‘I suppose you guys have told everyone your news?’ said Phil to TJ.

TJ looked back at him blankly. ‘What news?’ he said.

‘We didn’t want to tell you before the tournament,’ his dad said, smiling. He pulled an envelope from his pocket. Nearby, Jamie’s dad pulled an identical envelope from his jeans. ‘What is it?’ demanded TJ.

‘Can’t you guess?’

TJ shook his head.

‘It’s from the Wanderers Academy,’ Mr Wilson said. ‘They want to talk to us, TJ –
me
and your mum and you. They want to discuss whether you’d like to start a six-week trial. Jamie’s got a letter too.’

‘Actually,’ said Rob’s dad, who had been standing quietly in the middle of all the excitement, ‘I got one of those letters as well. They want Rob to go along. I don’t know much about it, this Academy. Is it a good thing?’

Everyone stared at him, and then they all began laughing and cheering. ‘You bet it’s a good thing,’ said TJ, as the dinner ladies hurled their blue and white pom-poms high into the air and the Parkview supporters cheered on and on, and Rob’s mouth fell open in astonishment. ‘It’s the best thing in the whole world!’

Who Parkview’s star striker?

Here are the goal-scorers from this fabulous season, including all friendlies, league games, Cup games and Tournament matches.

Total goals scored: 54

And if you want to know how many goals were headers, chips or blasted into one of the top corners, you’ll have to ask Rob!

A
N
OTE FROM
T
HEO

Scoring goals is great, but you get just as much satisfaction from setting them up. Football is a team game and no one can score goals without the help of their team-mates, as Tulsi learns in this story.

So keep on practising – and make sure you play as part of a team as you will all enjoy it more together.

Theo Walcott

About the Author

T
HEO
W
ALCOTT
was born on 16th March 1989 and grew up near Newbury. After joining the youth scheme at Southampton, he became the Saints’ youngest ever player, before joining Arsenal in January 2006.

Following Theo’s surprise selection in Sven-Göran Eriksson’s World Cup squad, Theo set another record in making his England debut at the age of just 17 years and 75 days, and was named the BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2006.

Theo is now a star player for both Arsenal and England and in September 2008 became the youngest player to score a hat-trick for England.

Also by Theo Walcott

T.J. AND THE HAT-TRICK

T.J. AND THE PENALTY

T.J. AND THE CUP RUN

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T.J. AND THE WINNING GOAL

AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 407 09844 9

Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Random House Group Company

This ebook edition published 2012

Copyright © Theo Walcott (Promotions) Limited, 2010
Illustrations copyright © Jerry Paris, 2010

Photograph of Theo Walcott © Arsenal Football Club

First Published in Great Britain

Corgi Childrens 9780552562485 2010

The right of Theo Walcott to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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