'Our sports teams helped put the school on the map' - Legendary former Cannock PE teacher launches book in front of some of his pupils

Around 70 former pupils of Cardinal Griffin RC School gathered at Bar Sport in Cannock for the launch of 'Beyond Four Walls,' written by Nenad 'Pop' Popovic who spent nearly 40 years as head of PE there.

He is credited with putting the school on the map through the sport of handball which he introduced to the Stafford Road school in the early 1980s when a sports hall was built - Cardinal Griffin would go on to play all over Europe in tournaments and produce a number of international players.

The Manchester born teacher - who also worked at Wolves Academy as a football coach - is still involved in the game and the book chronicles his exploits both in and out of school in what he says is a 'warts and all' tale for ex pupils and non ex pupils alike.

It also tells the tale of how Cardinal Griffin gained international fame and media coverage in 1983 when a greyhound Pop owned became the focal point of a bid to save the school from closure, with the winnings from races added to the fighting fund.

Some of the handball players he mentored were at the re-union and book launch including Andy Jenkins who played for the England Youth Team, and Nick Sweeney - many of those present count themselves as close friends of Pop, who still lives just a short throw from the school.

He said: "I loved every minute of my time at Cardinal Griffin though there were challenges as there would be over such a long time.

"But the main thing I took away from my career was my relationship the pupils. I loved working with them, there were some great characters, not only good athletes and that's what makes the difference on a day-to -day basis.

"I specialised in football coaching when I went in there but I wanted to give the lads a sport to keep them fit in summer so studied the rules of handball and we started playing in the newly built sports hall and it all went from there.

"We had so many good players who went onto play for Cannock Olympia and for Great Britain and as a school we had to turn down invitations to go and play abroad there were that many. We did well in football as well and for a school of a relatively small size we probably punched a bit above our weight.

"The book has been tremendously well received, not just here where I still live but all over the world.

"A lot of it is based on what happened at Griffin, but there is also the tale of how I came to be there and of outside activities and characters. which I hope people will find interesting."

Beyond Four Walls - The untold stories of an extraordinary life i education and sport is available from Amazon  or by e-mailing scoreuk.books@gmail.com

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