B is for Birnham. Hayley Birnham saved Foul and Fair. The original version of the story, which went through several drafts and got as far as me sending it out (unsuccessfully) on submission, featured James but no Hayley. The whole novel was told with him as the lead character, with no digressions from anyone else's point of view. One of the problems with that version of the story was that there wasn’t enough sense of jeopardy: all the dodgy things James does in pursuit of his worthy objectives were allowed to drift away unpunished. The book needed a sense that his indiscretions were catching up with him, that justice was closing in. That impending doom for James ultimately took the form of Hayley. Adding a narrative thread from her perspective meant that the reader could know what James didn’t, seeing the noose potentially tightening around him.

Of course, Hayley had to be more than just James’ ticking timebomb; she had to work as a character in her own right, with her own priorities and her own objectives. Putting her son, Jayden, into one of the other football teams in the book also allowed me to show another perspective on kids’ football: that of the parent. Specifically, Hayley represents parents who aren’t football fans. Most of the football action in Foul and Fair is seen with the intensity of someone who cares deeply about the game and understands its nuances. I wanted to also include how it looks to someone more likely to associate the international break with foreign holidays, to think a rabona was a blackcurrant-flavoured drink, and to wince at the prospect of a dead-ball. Those people may not live and breathe football the way some of us do, but they are deeply – and rightly – motivated by how football affects their children. Those parents are part of the grassroots game as well, and it’s something that us ‘proper fans’ would do well to remember.

B is also for Billy Bragg, whose song ‘Accident Waiting To Happen’ is alluded to in chapter 2 of the book. Apart from the fact that the title is so apt for James when we meet him, several lines from the song are perfect for different parts of the story. It’s also a great song by one of my own favourite singer-songwriters, so I was very happy to squeeze it in. I deliberately dialled down the musical references in Foul and Fair, as they didn’t feel as integral to the storyline as the ones in Dead Man Singing, but it seemed appropriate to give the Bard of Barking his place, particularly as he was completely absent from my previous book (Billy’s punk origins meant that I felt Dave wouldn’t have a lot of time for him; frankly, that’s Dave’s loss – Billy’s great.)