Rippa!
Couldn't load pickup availability
It’s 1989 and a surf-loving Aussie teenager flukes a dream move to an English footballing giant. Problem is, it’s never been his dream, and in the brutal big leagues he has a fight on his hands to ensure his laidback life doesn’t turn into one giant nightmare.
Before Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka and Tim Cahill became household names in English football, and once Craig Johnston retired, there was another Aussie name on every football fan’s lips.
Rippa - Joey Rippa.
This 19-year-old high school drop-out wants to be on the waves or smoking pot and strumming his guitar in his small Western Australian beach town, instead of being on a football pitch. But the round-ball game is where his real talent lies and when he has the match of his life for the State team against a travelling West Ham United side in a glamour friendly, he’s offered a pro contract with the English First Division side. With the bill’s mounting in his father’s bar, his beloved uncle facing homelessness, and his band needing a new recording, he reluctantly signs and heads over to the UK.
But the dream move turns sour the moment he lands when he discovers that The Hammers’ manager, Bobby Noll, has been sacked and with no one at the club having any idea who this blonde-stubbled Kim Wilde-lookalike is, he’s farmed out to Middleby United, a struggling non-league provincial outfit.
And in the most landlocked town in Britain, and with its howling wind, never-ending rain and permanent grey skies, he feels a million miles away from his beloved sand and sun lifestyle.
Rippa is faced with isolation, loneliness, terrible cuisine and a dressing room and stadium of home fans who think of him, at best, as a novelty, and, at worst, a pathetic joke.
Still mourning his beloved English-born football-loving mother (who vanished six years earlier), he finds an unlikely ally in the club’s female physio and tries to buckle down and make it in the brutal sink or swim world of English football. And along the way, he makes his family and hometown back in Australia proud, reminds West Ham that he actually exists, and get struggling Middleby back to the big time.
This is the second football novel from P.J. Laverty. His first The Gaffer was published in 2022.
More Information
More Information
- Format: Paperback
- Published: June 2024
- ISBN: 978-1-925914-33-7
- ISBN: 978-1-925914-34-4
- Weight: 0.4kg
- Size: 219mm x 152mm
- Pages: 288
- Imprint: Popcorn Press
About the Author
About the Author
P.J. Laverty is a Scottish-Australian writer specialising in historical football fiction (with a comedic spin), with a PhD in Creative Writing from Curtin University.
Under the moniker Paul J Laverty, he is the host of 94.9 Main FM literary book show, The Quiet Carriage, which airs nationally on the Community Radio Network. He has written two novellas, Man Overbored and Cider Country (RoadHouse Media). He also wrote the first biography on Grammy award winners Arcade Fire and another on Beck (Artnik / Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf Verlag).
He is a football tragic who will never tire of telling anyone within earshot all about his adventures in Germany during World Cup 2006. P.J. lives in Castlemaine, Victoria, with his wife and two children.
Shipping Information
Shipping Information
We offer standard postage services at cost provided by Australia Post to all destinations, which varies by weight and destination (Australia, New Zealand, and Rest of World).
We aim to dispatch Australian book orders within two working days and worldwide orders within five working days. Australia Post standard delivery schedule is 3-5 days after postage within Australia; up to 10 working days to New Zealand; and up to 15 working days elsewhere in the world. You will receive an email from us when your order has been despatched.
If you do not receive your order within the anticipated delivery time, please let us know and we will make inquiries of the postal service.
We also offer a self pick-up option at Balgowlah Heights Shopping Village in Sydney.
Returns Policy
Returns Policy
You may return most new, unopened items within 10 working days of delivery for a full refund. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item).
You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper. This time period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper, the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it, and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request.
If you need to return an item, please Contact Us with your order number and details about the product you would like to return. We will respond quickly with instructions for how to return items from your order.
We do not accept returns of digital books or audio books.
Collapsible content
🖤💛❤️ Acknowledgement of Country
🖤💛❤️ Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge Australia's traditional owners and storytellers, and pay our respects to its Elders past, present, and emerging. We acknowledge and respect their continuing connection and culture and their contribution to the life of our nation, cities, and regions.
- Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.