Forbidden Football
Everybody knows about the Miracle of Bern, but hardly anybody knows the Miracle of Essen
Wuppertal, 1956. Elise’s heart belongs to football. Growing up in difficult family circumstances, she finds freedom and courage on the football pitch. But when she reaches puberty, the boys on her football squad don’t want to play with her anymore, even though Elise is by far the best on the team, even better than her sweetheart Paul, the captain of the team. Disappointed, she puts together a group of women who also like to play football. On this team, everybody works together. What they all want is for the team to play in a huge stadium, despite women’s football being banned by the German Football Association. To realise her dream, Elise makes a decision, one that will also affect her granddaughter Katja …
- A moving, wise novel about the history of women’s football, bound up with a gripping family story
- Based on a true event: The untold story of The Miracle of Essen
- For readers of Carmen Korn
Sophie Herzog was born in Berlin in 1990, and still lives there with her family. When she’s not writing, she loves to go for long walks. And of course, she prefers watching sports to playing them herself.
