Suffolk County Council education bosses have turned down the offer of 500 free copies of the Ipswich ‘Til I Die book, published earlier this year by Ipswich Town Ist, the Supporters Trust. The council was unhappy with alcohol references made in the book and also criticised the grammar in an introduction written by Sir Bobby Robson.
The book is part of a series produced by Legends Publishing in which supporters of all ages tell their tales from their years of supporting their clubs.
In addition to the Trust's involvement, the project has been funded by the National Literacy Trust, who checked the book's grammar prior to its launch, Supporters Direct, Ipswich Town's Community Trust, the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Football Foundation. Previous books have been gratefully accepted by local education authorities throughout the country.
Jane Summerfield from the Trust says the decision is disappointing: "It is a real shame because right from the start one of the aims was to help promote literacy amongst groups that find it difficult to access books - such as young boys who may not be interested in reading.
"As a result we were very conscious of not including anything that would cause offence because we wanted it to be used as an educational tool.â€Â
The council particularly took issue with references to drinking, specifically in one of the 40 stories entitled What, No Vodka?, which is about a group of fans attending the UEFA Cup game in Helsingborg in 2002.
Summerfield says the story doesn't actively promote drinking: "We believe the story it does not glorify alcohol, but instead shows how drink was the cause of everything that went wrong. A teacher could easily read this passage to a class of 14 and 15-year-olds, asking where the fans went wrong, and could use this to introduce a lesson educating children about alcohol.
"They also said the book displays poor examples of grammar and the leader of the committee that turned it down actually made a comment criticising Sir Bobby Robson's introduction.â€Â
A spokesman for the council says the alcohol issue was their main concern: "We need to be careful with what we would be seen to be endorsing if we offered it directly to pupils as young as 12 in our schools.
"We need to be very clear that we are not confusing any messages to young people about how to behave sensibly.â€Â
Judge for yourself whether Ipswich ‘Til I Die is suitable for schools by buying a copy via TWTD here.
Revenue from the book will go to the club's Community Trust and to Ipswich Town Ist to be used for community-based schemes. Free copies have been distributed to local libraries and community groups.