A FOOTBALL coach has added to his impressive CV by becoming a successful children’s author.

Paul Barry, 42, from South Woodham Ferrers, is celebrating the release of his third children’s book, after discovering a hidden love for writing during lockdown.

The father-of-two first swapped pitch for pen and paper in March 2020, when coaching moved to the virtual world because of Covid.

Paul realised he had much more time on his hands, and as an already keen reader and father to seven-year-old Sophia and 12-year-old Lucia, he always had ideas for stories.

He said: “I loved stories as a child; there’s something about the weight of a book and feeling of turning a page.

“As a father I read to my own children a lot and have always had ideas for stories in my head.

“I didn’t however have a clue where to start writing until I spotted the Centre of Excellence online.

“I discovered the Writing Books for Children Diploma course and thought I’m going to do this. I’m so glad that I did.”

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Paul released his first book, Keep the Tap On, in January 2021, which tells the tale of Terry, a young tap-dancing frog ostracised from his peer group for his love of dancing.

It reached number four in Amazon’s new hot releases for children’s short stories.

Using this as motivation Paul got to work on releasing book two, Swing Your Heart Out – the story of Chase the Chimp who overcomes his fear of heights.

This earned Paul a place of Amazon’s number one top-selling Hot New Children’s Short Story.

At the start of this year Paul scored a hat-trick with book number three – Frankie Crosses the Rainbow Bridge, a tale based on Paul’s family dog that died.

Another two are planned for release this year.

Paul is now the Assistant Head of Coaching at Crystal Palace Academy, joining the club in January after leaving Arsenal’s academy after four years, but continues to write, with the dream of having one book animated by the BBC.

He says his family is very supportive, and that his daughters are his biggest fans.

Paul said: “Sophia and Lucia think daddy’s a big established author, alongside that of Julia Donaldson.

“That’s something I can only aspire to but I’m happy to see their faces come alive when reading my books.”