NLT donates 10,000 football titles to reluctant readers

The National Literacy Trust (NLT) is donating 10,000 Roy of the Rovers books, recently re-published by Rebellion, to reluctant readers across the UK.

The NLT will distribute 5,000 copies of Roy of the Rovers: Scouted by Tom Palmer and 5,000 copies of Roy of the Rovers: Kick-Off by Rob Williams and Ben Willsher via its ‘hubs’ in Swindon, North Yorkshire, Peterborough, Middlesbrough, Bradford, Nottingham, Hastings and Stoke-on-Trent.

Oxford-based Rebellion acquired the rights to Roy of the Rovers along with characters from late 20th century comics like Tammy, Battle, Whizzer and Chips last year by purchasing the Fleetway archive, which was sold by media group Egmont.

Rebellion c.e.o. Jason Kingsley said: “We’re delighted to be bringing brand new Roy of the Rovers comics and novels to children up and down the country. Over the years Rob was many youngsters’ route into reading, and we often hear from journalists, authors and, of course, footballers, who went on to have careers inspired by the comic. It’s a real pleasure to be bringing the joy of reading to an entirely new generation of readers.”

Roy of the Rovers was created as a comic strip by Frank S Pepper in the 1950s. The story followed the life and times of fictional footballer Roy Race and was first published in Tiger magazine in 1954.

Roy Of The Rovers: Kick-Off was published on 1st November (h/b, £9.99), and Roy Of The Rovers: Scouted was released on 4th October (p/b, £6.99).