Neil Squires The Fall and Rise of the Mölkky Bar Kids

*Longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2026* Too old to lift a World Cup, too burned out for the Ashes - and with too many aches to take on Augusta - the Mölkky Bar Kids are friends who, after a lifetime of trying, found their true calling in sport. It just happened to be a convoluted game of Finnish skittles. When Neil Squires took up the obscure game of Mölkky, he had no idea that it would carry him to Japan, where he would represent his country and take his shot at sporting immortality. Sometimes those conversations in the pub can really get out of hand. This is the hilarious tale of four middle-aged men who go halfway across the world, in ill-fitting Team GB kit, to compete for the nation and become unlikely Japanese media celebrities, all the time wondering just how on earth they ended up there. It's a story about friendship, growing older and what happens when you allow yourself to get carried away and dream big.