The Fall and Rise of the Mölkky Bar Kids
July 9 @ 18:30 – 21:00
Immerse yourself in a blazing tale of sporting slendour that began as a pub conversation gone awry. Join Leeds-based Neil Squires on the launch of his new book; an unlikely story of four men from Yorkshire who found themselves crossing the globe in search of international glory.
Hilarious, moving and surprisingly profound, The Fall and Rise of the Mölkky Bar Kids is a lesson in enduring friendship, growing older and the importance of throwing your hat (and your Mölkky stick) in the ring when you’re offered a new adventure.
About the Book
Suddenly in his mid-fifties, Neil Squires found himself at a crossroads in life. With a journalism career in oscillation and trips to the barber starting to focus more on his eyebrows than hair, he desperately craved a sporting adventure akin to the ones he had spent his life reporting on. But when he took up an obscure Finnish throwing game, he had no idea it would lead him and three school friends halfway across the world, in ill-fitting Team GB kit, to compete for the nation, becoming unlikely Japanese media celebrities in the process.
Travelling 5,500 miles from home to Hokkaido in pursuit of a gold medal at the Mölkky World Championships, with the weight of the nation on their rapidly stiffening backs, the newly formed Mölkky Bar Kids faced humiliating loss, unexpected victories, and learned of the power of writing a bonkers twist into your story at a stage in life when most people begin to disregard you.
“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