The Rocket Men’s journey during the late seventies and early eighties under the stewardship of Graham Taylor and Elton John was one full of unexpected twists. Now the story of Ian Bolton, Luther Blissett, Ross Jenkins and Steve Sherwood – the only four players to have featured in every division - has managed to continue the adventure by helping children over 7000 miles away in Malawi to honour the memory of their former manager.

Proceeds from the book that the four men featured in were donated to a charity called Kit Aid, of which Taylor was the patron until his death in January 2017. The decision was made in agreement with Taylor’s wife Rita that the charity, that recycles unused football kits and helps to fund education projects in some of the poorest countries of the world, should benefit from the money raised.

The amount so far has totaled in the region of £3000 which was able to fund the purchase of brand new textbooks for a secondary school run by Kit Aid’s partner charity in Malawi – Friends of Mulanje Orphans (FOMO).

Watford Observer:

Adam Leventhal with student’s at FOMO Independent Secondary School where new textbooks were purchased.

Sky Sports presenter Adam Leventhal is director of Tales From, the books publishers, and he has just returned from visiting the school and seeing the work of FOMO as they care for some of Malawi’s one million orphaned children.

“We wanted to ensure that Rocket Men made a difference in memory of GT, and it was an honour to go and see the work being carried out in the Mulanje region to help care for the orphans,” Leventhal explained.

“The textbooks that proceeds were able to fund ranged from English to Agriculture, Science to Shakespeare – it is such a wide array of books that have already started making a difference to the school which comes under huge pressure when there is a national change of syllabus. Everyone who has purchased a copy of Rocket Men should feel very proud of themselves.”

Watford Observer:

Leventhal plays children video messages from Rocket Men recorded especially for the trip. 

The children at the secondary school were introduced to some of the book’s key characters.

“It was fantastic to be able to stand in front of one of the classes not only to explain to them about Watford but also play them videos from both Steve Sherwood and Ross Jenkins, who both recorded personal messages – Steve even turned his hand to the language Chichewa in his, which was a lovely touch.”

Proceeds from Rocket Men – which recently won an international publishers award - will continue to go to FOMO for the lifetime of the book. The co-founder of the charity Mary Woodworth knows how imperative it is to improve education and is delighted with the impact of the Watford linked project.

“We have joined hands to look after these children, so they have a chance in life - because they are the future of this country,” she outlined.

Watford Observer:

Two local teams wear kits donated at the last Tales from the Vicarage Live event. 

In addition to the proceeds from the book, canvases with images of the four Rocket Men and Watford shirts that were collected at the last Tales from the Vicarage Live event were taken to Malawi and donated to two teams in the region, who now sport the Hornets colours from down the years at Vicarage Road.

You can purchase Rocket Men here.