FOOTBALL fanatic Dan Freedman, who like many children dreamed of playing for England, has used his own ambition to write books that inspire youngsters to read.

Mr Freedman was at Bishops Cannings Primary School, near Devizes, last week to get pupils enthralled by reading.

As a boy he wanted to be a professional footballer but went on instead to become a journalist and ended up working for the Football Association and interviewing his heroes.

He has now written a series of books with football mad Jamie Johnson as the hero. The first instalment Born To Play was made into a drama for CBBC.

Mr Freedman said: “Girls and boys alike are intrigued by the fact that I got to meet and interview stars of the pitch, such as David Beckham and Lionel Messi, but I feel the most important message I can give the students is how much I now love reading and writing books.

"Although it was quite a journey to get here, in fact, when I was the age of the students I steadfastly refused to read anything at all."

Bishops Cannings headteacher Jonathan Barber said his pupils found the talk gripping. Year 6 pupil Dan Rossi said: "He is very inspiring, especially when you hear how he didn’t used to like reading.

"It just shows, even if you don’t like something you can change and then go on to achieve whatever you want."

During the visit Mr Freeman signed a number of his books including one for football fan Joseph from Year 4.